So Flynn not expected to be charged by FBI,

[PorterRockwell]

Puzder wihdraws as sec of Labor and Vegas has Trump as -110 to complete his term oh and Trump says general Flynn is a wonderful man and senior trump aides were in contact with the Russians throughout the election. Just another day in America 

[Puget Ute]

Doesn’t matter. Sessions a) won’t recuse himself, and b) won’t prosecute anyhow.

[Jumpmasterute]

Sounds a lot like what Loretta Lynch did with Hillary and here illegal email arrangement. Don’t you think?

[Puget Ute]

Surely you realize that Lynch actually did recuse herself in that case, as the law and the DOJ regulations and ethics require.

[Jumpmasterute]

Only after being caught having a private meeting with Slick Willy. But I’m sure they were just talking golf and grand kids.

[Puget Ute]

Lynch did the right thing and recused herself over a 30-min meeting. Sessions on the other hand was an integral part of the campaign as an adviser, and yet is refusing to recuse himself. It will be interesting to see who the NYT is referring to, besides Flynn. There are several businessmen who are Trump friends who will likely be in hot water, a la Paul Manafort.

[Jumpmasterute]

Puget. The right thing would have been for her not to have had the meeting in the first place, as head of the DOJ she new better. As for Sessions I’m still waiting to see a little bit more credibility in the reports before I come to a conclusion. If the reports turn out to be accurrate then I would have to agree with you.

[SkinyUte]

I agree with you on this. It was a stupid move by both of them, and the damage it caused more than offset any potential benefit.

Regarding Sessions, I’d put the chances of him doing the right thing and recusing himself somewhere between “slim” and “none”.

[Puget Ute]

Bill Clinton went to her plane, not the other way around. And it was unannounced.

[SkinyUte]

Yeah, I know.

Like I said…stupid move.

[UtahFanSir]

You are probably correct. Now that Flynn is gone, the GOP lawmakers want to move on as fast as a speeding bullet. No investigation. Maybe there is nothing to this, just dumb mistakes by an eager soon to be cabinet member, but it would be nice for Trump’s gang to get a clean bill of health just to alay fears the voting public may have. Not sure the citizens in this country are going to get that. The GOP, just as Napoleon BonaTrump did, will literally walk away from the outstanding question.

[Stradlater]

Republica first!

[Utah]

The Republican party is a mess right now. 

[Duhwayne]

We are doing it to ourselves.

[Utahute72]

Too narrow.  It seems like the whole system is teetering on the edge.  

[Jumpmasterute]

 Utah. Did you really say that! Bahaha! Dems just lost their A** in the election in all three phase’s, then hired Donna Brazile as the head of the DNC who was fired by CNN ( Clinton News Network) for providing debate questions on numerous occasions to Clintons staff and you can actually say that with a straight face. Dude you made my night. I’m laughting so hard I can’t breath.

[SkinyUte]

Awfully touchy, aren’t we?

I didn’t see where Utah made any assessment of the Democratic party (which is also a mess, in many regards). He merely stated an opinion on the GOP, one which many tend to agree with.

[Jumpmasterute]

Skiny at times I can be. But not this time. Utah’s post was Liz Warren ( Bat Sh*t ) crazy. I’m still laughing

[SkinyUte]

Guess it’s good to know that at least someone is enjoying Trump’s three-ring-circus.

[Jumpmasterute]

I don’t always give thumbs up to liberals… But when I do it’s Skiny. 🙂

[Utah]

How f**ked is the Democratic party? They just lost to Donald Trump. So, yeah. 

Doesn’t change the fact that the republican party is an absolute mess. They have a democrat as their president right now. 

And somehow, they’ve duped the people that vote for them into thinking he is some sort of right wing savior. 

And the democrats lost to that. So…yeah. 

Be proud of your s**t puddle. Good for you. 

[Utahute72]

I think the FBI investigation of Flynn is still ongoing.  IF they don’t find any instances of further deception beyond what has been found to date, they expect that to be the case.  Whoever leaked the information to the news media may be in trouble though.

[Puget Ute]

The fact that he spoke with the Russian ambassador is kind of ‘meh’. Kissinger did that with the Vietnamese in 1968 and Reagan did that with Iran in 1980.

The leaks are also kind of ‘meh’, and should be treated as whistleblowers (although the Obama admin was historically tough on whistleblowers).

But if Flynn lied to the FBI, then he is in very deep doo-doo. Prob could face a few years in jail and get busted down a number of ranks. Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury for lying to federalist investigators and received a 30-mo sentence (which Bush commuted, and later pardoned).

[UtahFanSir]

Must be time for some wiretaps.

[Puget Ute]

Good thing we have that NSA data center in Utah collecting data and phone calls from all overseas sources.

Also a protip for everybody: Your cell phone company uses overseas servers for data, so all of your texts are considered to have come from an ‘overseas’ source and thus are probably stored at that data center. Food for thought next time you drunkenly send a sick pic to your sweetie.

[Anonymous]

NSA monitors everything. Even this entirely useless conversation. 

[Puget Ute]

That is part of the problem. They can’t legally monitor the discussions of US citizens inside the US without a warrant. But that won’t stop them and Congress won’t bring them to heel.

[Anonymous]

But the evidence was obtained without a search warrant, so it is impermissible and they have no case. FBI knew that so someone surreptitiously leaked to accomplish their agenda via the media. And that is why the swamp needs to be drained.

[ladyinred]

The fact that he spoke with the Russian ambassador is kind of ‘meh’

Amazing. The 180 that has happened as it pertains to Russia is just mind boggling. Just 4 years ago, the Republican’s standard bearer called Russia our #1 geo political foe, and the Obama administration was chided by Republicans for having any dialogue with them. Putin’s behavior is still just as bad as it was 4 years ago, and yet now we are ok with all these interactions with the Russians? It’s not just Flynn, there’s also Manafort, Tillerson, Trump himself man crushes on Putin openly on Twitter, and news is coming out now that many in the campaign team had contact with Russians during the election. At least John McCain has the integrity to maintain a consistent position.

*RE: Russia. Don’t get me wrong, my username has a double meaning, I heart Russia! I just can’t stand Putin.*

[ladyinred]

Damnit to zoob hell, just after I posted that I am now getting ads for Russian singles.

[UtahFanSir]

Tell us how that works out. ;–)

[ladyinred]

No worries, I just visited Lululemon.com so now I am back to yoga pants ads which is truly my happy place. =)

[PorterRockwell]

Ours too 🙂

[Puget Ute]

Russia, like most countries, is full of great people and a vibrant culture, tremendous art, etc. It unfortunately has had to endure a s**tty government for most of the last several centuries.

[sweetgrass]

I’ll admit, the last 8 years when we had a foreigner in the White House was better 😉

[Minnesota Ute]

I’m no fan of Trump, nor was I a fan of Obama and certainly not Clinton, so take this as merely an observation, but one that is true I think.  First, while there are many accusations and suspicions, I have yet to see one news source actually present any evidence that there was any crime here. IF he lied to the FBI then maybe, but nobody credible has made that charge.  IF he was engaged in sedition, then maybe, but nobody has made a credible argument that it was.  For all we know, this was simply a guy who knew he was in line for this position and was freshening up his contacts in preparation for his duties in the very immediate future.  Many Presidents and their staffs have done the same and examples are out there.  Yes, he may have lied to the VP, but that is not a crime, and frankly was stupid given the fact that the “cover up”, if you can even call it that, is what is getting him in trouble.

All that said, there is most definitely a crime in the fact that this person (Flynn) was illegally wiretapped without his identity being protected and then leaked to the press.  Soooo, something we know happened is that an agency of unelected security bureaucrats illegally wiretapped an American citizen, did not protect his identity or his side of the conversation as the law requires, and then leaked it to the press apparently in an effort to undermine the new administration.  Yet nobody sees this as a problem

 

This is a very weird story in my opinion, and frankly, while I have no love for anyone involved, I think Flynn is getting screwed.  And the biggest lesson of all is that both sides are unbelievably hypocritical when they blow up a story about the other side and stay silent when something equivalent happens on their side.  To me , this is the biggest reason why everyone, on both sides of the debate need to stop, take a step back, and realize that GOVERNMENT is the problem, not left or right, but the fact that DC is awash in money and power. This whole thing, all of it, not just Flynn, but every single story, every single conflict, debate, bill, rule, subsidy, tax, etc is 100% about consolidating, retaining, and profiting from power.

[SkinyUte]

All that said, there is most definitely a crime in the fact that this person (Flynn) was illegally wiretapped without his identity being protected and then leaked to the press. Soooo, something we know happened is that an agency of unelected security bureaucrats illegally wiretapped an American citizen, did not protect his identity or his side of the conversation as the law requires, and then leaked it to the press apparently in an effort to undermine the new administration. Yet nobody sees this as a problem

From what I understand, this wasn’t uncovered by anyone tapping Flynn. The communication was discovered because they were tapping the phone of the Russian ambassador, something that Flynn – with his experience – probably should have known was going on. This article does a pretty good job of summarizing it, including the legal aspects.

You’re probably correct that charging Flynn due to the discussion isn’t likely, as the Logan Act seems to be a bit fuzzy on what specifically is and isn’t legal in that regard. What’s not in question is that it’s a massive breach of diplomatic protocol, which is what likely led to his resignation. Flynn’s bigger problem is that he reportedly lied to the FBI, which (again, as I understand it) is the action likely to get him criminally charged.

The leaks are another issue, one on which people’s opinion likely falls along party lines (whistleblower vs. illegal leak).

[Puget Ute]

The Logan Act is unfairly punitive and hopefully it will not be used against Flyn. It is an outdated and largely useless law.

That lying to the FBI, however, is still very much Perjury. They will probably tack on additional charges beyond that.

[BaldHatu]

Boom!  Agree.  Hack jobs to the right of us; hack jobs to the left of us.  The losers?  America.