Lieut. Gen. Michael Flynn, 2012
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Michael Flynn, 2018
There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice. – Montesquieu
Judge Sullivan was expected to agree with the prosecution and sentence Gen. Flynn to no prison time. Instead he excoriated Flynn and postponed sentencing. The judge misstated the evidence, claiming that Flynn had acted as a lobbyist for Turkey while he was National Security Advisor, when in fact this relationship had ceased before Flynn’s appointment. The judge thus showed himself to be poorly prepared and biased against Flynn. In addition, Flynn was neither charged with nor pled guilty to this allegation, and it was thus irrelevant to his sentence and prejudicial to mention.
The judge went so far as to ask the prosecutor whether this rose to the level of “treason.” The judge thus showed himself to be ignorant of the law. Treason is defined in the Constitution and can be charged only during a declared war. For example, the Rosenbergs were convicted of giving atomic secrets to the Soviet Union and executed – but for espionage, NOT treason.
If a witness makes seriously incorrect statements, he loses credibility and can be prosecuted for perjury. If a lawyer makes seriously incorrect statements, he can be sanctioned by the judge and referred to the bar association. If a judge makes seriously incorrect statements, he can be reversed on appeal. But if you plead guilty, you may not be allowed to appeal. In that case, the judge’s misstatements carry no penalty whatsoever. Have a nice day.
So why didn’t Flynn withdraw his guilty plea when asked? If you withdraw your guilty plea, we’ll charge your wife and son with conspiracy or other felonies, so you better just shut up! No, we don’t have a justice system, we only have a legal system – big difference.
Judge Michael Mukasey, former Attorney General, commented that in his life, he had heard only one other judge make such “bizarre” comments, and that judge was “off his rocker.” See: https://video.foxnews.com/v/5981235231001/?#sp=show-clips
Prosecutors set up Flynn to trap him, and now the judge expresses prejudice as well as ignorance of the facts and ignorance of the law. If Gen. Flynn didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all. Appeals will take years, huge amounts of money, and are uncertain. A presidential pardon will evoke a volcano of criticism, but it may be the only remedy.
We do not have a KGB here. And it is deeply ironic that those who claim “Russian collusion” are the very ones who are trying to create one.
Chief Justice Roberts lectured us on respecting an “independent judiciary.” But independent of what? Judge Sullivan clearly is independent of the Constitution, independent of the law, independent of judicial decorum, and independent even of the appearance of impartiality. But independent of politics? Not so much.
No, Mr. Chief Justice – respect is earned. A black robe doesn’t make Sullivan a judge any more than a white coat would make him a physician. He is a rude, self-important, biased, ignorant political hack. Respect for the judiciary? I will show respect on the day Judge Sullivan is sanctioned or removed from the bench, and on the day Gen. Flynn is returned to his family a free man, and allowed to sue the government for the money he took from his family in order to defend himself against political charges – but not one day before then.
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