No worries, I’m sure Rick Perry is on the case.
I’m being a bit contrarian here, but it just kind of boggles the mind that Flynn, a retired lieutenant general in the US Army, is a Russian lackey of any kind. A guy who has risen so high in the US Army can be anything but a patriot? I find it hard to believe.
Trump’s explanation of why he didn’t fire Flynn earlier sounds ok to me. As a high ranking national security official isn’t it his JOB to talk to foreign countries? And isn’t it good sense established in the Cold War that you should talk to your enemy privately? It is pretty much a policy of Trump to go easy on Russia, so if Flynn discussed the possibility of removing sanctions on Russia, that would be consistent with Trump, and not like Flynn is selling out his country or anything. If the law says as a private citizen Flynn cannot engage in diplomacy, then sure then he got a serious problem.
I just haven’t figured out the game Russians are playing. Are they actively compromising US national security officials (which would be AMAZING BALLS if that happens), or are they just planting false evidence to create an impression of compromise and let the Americans friendly fire on themselves?
I think Russia is eagerly using any lever available to disrupt western unity and especially to mess up the US in order to free their hands in Ukraine, in the Baltic, in central asia, and in the arctic for their oil reserves. I think they have something on Trump, whether it’s the carrot of financial assistance previously or currently offered through their banks, or the stick of embarrassing revelations.
I too find it hard to believe Flynn is an actual agent, but his behavior is really inexplicable otherwise. It’s hard to believe someone like him who grew up in the cold war and became a ranking military officer could possibly be so imbecilic as he has evidently been without some kind of leverage being employed to coerce him. But maybe he really is just that stupid; after all he chose to work for someone who wins the prize for stupidity and malice.
IF Trump and company are telling the truth, why did Flynn lie to Pence about his discussions with Russia? Why on earth would he lie?
Why not revenge? Possible he was extremely pissed about being shown the door for how he was running dia. It also doesn’t have to be willing. All they need is someway to get leverage and for him to not have the courage to come clean about it. Is that what happened? I doubt it, but who knows what was going on.
Was that a lie? Or was that mis-remembering details? On the face of it, it could be either way. Lying would require an intention to deceive, and I’m simply questioning whether Flynn, with years of experience in the US Army, would have that intention, in service of the Russians.
Misleading Pence of course is a serious enough offense, but mis-remembering things, and then owing up to the mistake, is entirely forgivable in my book.
Trump’s rant about leaks has a point. If this is all kept in-house, an honest mistake can be forgiven, especially committed by someone so early in his job. If it is all out in the public, there is no other way but to do everything by the book.
It’s inconceivable that he could perform high-level negotiations with a Russian diplomat or other representative of their government and have no idea what he was saying. This is not something he’s done a whole lot of. It would have marked a major moment for him as Trump’s advisor to be trusted with this communication. And the communication itself must have smelled so strongly of impropriety it’s hard to imagine it not being very deliberate and memorable. So whether or not he was coerced or leveraged or was a complete imbecile or a willing dupe, I think he lied about it afterwards.
Given the conspiracy bullshit he’s peddled, he’s either losing it or morally corrupt. Either explanation fits.
Yeah, we’re talking about a PizzaGate person who is widely regarded as crazy. I’m not giving him much slack in the honesty department. Remember, he was forced out of the DIA for being a chaotic, abusive, unreliable, liar.
He was loathed in the Intel Community and still is.
Anyone who believed in pizzagate is a worthless crank not to be trusted on anything.
So too is anyone who believed in Birtherism and promoted it for 5 years, by the way.
Flynn was clearly unhinged – he was enthusiastically behind Trump from the beginning. Leading chants of ‘lock her up’ and everything.
I can buy that Flynn has gone off the rail, but then the whole Team Trump isn’t exactly on the rail most of the time…
Oh hey. You know what would really spice up this whole story? Mob connections!
The NYT had a story this morning about Flynn being sent a plan to drop sanctions against Russia, which is pretty bombshelly in and of itself:
A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia.
Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul D. Manafort.
But set aside the whole yes-Trump-is-Putin’s-bitch angle for a moment. Who exactly is this Felix H. Sater?
I’m glad you asked!
https://twitter.com/20committee/status/833439985680388096
And Sater himself is no angel, according to the Times:
Mr. Sater, 50, a Russian-American, pleaded guilty to a role in a stock manipulation scheme decades ago that involved the Mafia.
… And just to make things extra interesting, the scheme Sater was involved in was run by the good ol’ Italian-American Mafia. See, Trump really is bringing the world together!
Thank goodness he’s draining the swamp.
Where we’re going we don’t need rails.
Speculation that Sater potentially a good fit for Source E in the Trump dossier, click to see thread of evidence.
(From the woman who overturned the case in the first season of Serial because she noticed a tiny detail in a cover letter btw.)
Lotta ex-spooks seems to think this is something of note. I don’t see what, but I don’t know all the players either.
Yeah, seems very doubtful to me. He’s a loyal Putinite so far as we know, and could anyway be much more easily be killed at home next time he returns. And he’s not so significant as a mere mouthpiece to make his death seem to be worth much to some unknown faction in the MVD or whatever. But I suppose he could be part of a Bratva war or something like that, though they are mostly getting so much from their FSB affiliations that seems unlikely too.
It can just as easily be a rogue CIA faction assasinating him to start shit. Assigning blame and insuinating at this stage is extremely premature. But it does reflect one’s worldview. It’s really hard to be objective, sometime we are prejudice even without realising it.