[View here as a Twitter thread]
Remember Flynn’s sentencing memo when he asserted, as a mitigating factor, that the FBI didn’t warn him that lying was a crime before they asked him questions? Yeah, I know. Appropriate reaction=
Mueller (SC) has responded, asking the court to “reject” Flynn’s “attempt to minimize the seriousness of the false statements to the FBI.” SC then gives a list of reasons for rejecting his attempt to minimize the lies:
Reasons: Flynn lied to lots of other people, including the WaPo, and he allowed the lies to be broadcast on national TV. He made the false statements in filings to other branches of the DOJ—and he made these while represented by counsel.
As former head of an intelligence agency, a retired Lieutenant General, etc, Flynn knew better than to lie to FBI agents. Flynn was offered a chance to have WH counsel present (and DOJ lawyers) but he agreed it was better to keep the interview quiet. There was no coercion.
Remember, Flynn lied about the fact that he was instructed by a Trump campaign official to secretly contact Russian Ambassador Kislyak and ask the Russians not to respond to Obama’s sanctions. The Russians did as Flynn asked. More info here:
SC offers a few new details about the meeting in which Flynn lied to McCabe, Strzok, etc: McCabe told Flynn he wanted to set up a meeting to discuss “sensitive” matters regarding “media coverage and public discussion about his recent contacts with Russian representatives.”
Flynn said he was trying to “build relationships” with the Russians, and he said McCabe “probably knew what was said . . .” Important: Flynn seemed to know, going into the meeting, that the FBI had listened to his conversation and knew what he had said to Kislyak.
When Flynn, McCabe, Szrok and another agent met, Flynn was relaxed, treated the agents as “allies”—and he lied. When Flynn said he couldn’t remember what he had said, the agents used the exact words he had used in his phone conversation with Kiskyak to prompt him.
He still lied. He lied so well that the agents had the impression that either he was not lying, or he didn’t think he was lying. The WaPo and others have asked: If Flynn knew the FBI had listened to his conversations with Kislyak and knew what he said, why did he lie?
And why did he lie without any fear? I’m going to step away from the facts and suggest a (preposterous) theory: Maybe Flynn thought the FBI was okay with all of it. Maybe he knew he was dealing with Republicans, and his experiences over the past year had persuaded him that all R’s believed “better Russian than Democrat.” Then (so goes my shot-in-the-dark theory) when he learned law enforcement wasn’t on Trump’s side, he flipped, and spilled everything. How can that be? It seems to me that cooperating to save his family. . .
. . . and avoid prison isn’t inconsistent with Flynn believing that Mueller, McCabe, Szrok and others are part of a deep state conspiracy to undermine Hero Trump’s attempts to save America by making the US more like Russia. About that lying that people find so perplexing.
The far right wing is comfortable with contradictions. Take Flynn’s son. The fact that something is logical doesn’t matter. The whole Alex Jones set is perfectly fine embracing apparent contradictions. Can’t Flynn cooperate AND believe he’s a victim of the deep state?
I’ve written about why Trump’s supporters believe any lie he tells. The corollary is that Trump’s circle are perfectly comfortably lying, which they don’t actually see as lying, because for them, the lying gets to an important truth.
Look at Papadopoulos. Non-Trumpsters (people not caught up in the cult) expected that if Papadopoulos was remorseful, spilled everything on his former pals, and served time, he’d be “cured” and he’d see that conspiring with Russia was a bad idea.
On the contrary, he wants to settle into a Republican enclave, find a wealthy donor, and run for Congress. As a victim of the Deep State. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/14/george-papadopoulos-run-for-congress-1065721 …From Stanley, seeing themselves as victims is part of any fascist cult. And of course, facts never matter.
View as a thread on twitter:
https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1073983957497044993
