Judge delays Michael Flynn sentencing for lying to FBI
Lock him up.
Donald Trump's disgraced former national security advisor Gen. Michael Flynn went to court today to be sentenced for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the United States.
Flynn's sentencing will be delayed, to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Judge Sullivan repeated a statement that he will not make any promises about no jail time when it comes time to deliver Flynn's sentence.
In the Washington courtroom, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan pressed Flynn and his attorneys aggressively during the hearing about the guilty plea, and his interactions with the FBI.
Prosecutors say Flynn may continue to help the government in ongoing investigations.
The judge began by basically calling bullshit on the last-minute court filings by Flynn's defense teams last week, which implied the former general was entrapped into lying by crooked FBI agents.
This was a bogus implication, and Judge Sullivan was not pleased.
The judge queried Flynn and his team, point by point, essentially asking them if they wanted to relitigate that part of the legal process -- the FBI part.
In response, Flynn told the judge, "I was aware that lying to the FBI was a crime."
"Are you continuing to accept responsibility for your false statements," Judge Sullivan asked.
"I am, your honor," said Flynn.
Trump began the day of his former National Security Advisor's trial by wishing Flynn 'good luck.'
Not a good look for Individual-1.
After a series of interrogations from the judge, and responses from Flynn and attorneys, Judge Sullivan asks one final time, and still sounding skeptical:
"If you want to proceed because you are guilty of this offense..."
Flynn replies that he is, and says wants to proceed.
Sullivan accepts Flynn's guilty plea.
One of many reasons this judge appears to be pissed -- the utter gall of Mike Flynn, whom the judge says "sold our country out." Here is the infamous TheHill.com op-ed Michael Flynn secretly wrote on behalf of Turkey, while working in the Trump campaign. It was published *on election day* in the United States.
After pausing to review the plea agreement documents, judge Sullivan talks about Flynn's crime as a "very serious offense" -- a high ranking government official lying to the FBI, and committing this offense "while on the physical premises of the White House."
Mueller prosecutor Brandon van Grack then haltingly speaks to Sullivan -- van Grack says that it is a "possibility" that Flynn is still cooperating with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.
(Um, yeah he is.)
Prosecutor Van Grack then tells the judge Flynn provided "substantial assistance" in that Turkey case announced yesterday, involving his work as an unregistered agent of Erdogan's government. Prosecutor says Flynn could have been charged in connection with that case, had he not assisted.
Judge Sullivan is giving Flynn yet another chance to delay -- now telling him it's his "prerogative" whether to move forward -- because he hasn't necessarily finished offering helpful information to the government that might mitigate a sentence.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan repeats the phrase "very serious offense" to describe Flynn's crime... "in the West Wing!"
"The aggravating circumstances are serious," Sullivan says.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
SULLIVAN WARNS FLYNN OF A PRISON SENTENCE:
"You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the president!
"Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
This is the part of the hearing where Sullivan gets super saucy.
Judge Sullivan says, "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense."
He gives Flynn the chance to delay until he's finished cooperating.
Sullivan says he "can't promise anything" about the sentence he's about to hand down.
(In judge vibes, this means I AM GOING TO SEND YOU TO PRISON, maybe cooperate some more first, buddy, because I'm not clear you have cooperated enough to merit your sorry ass not going to prison).
And then, another shocker. Judge Sullivan asks the special counsel office's prosecutors if they had considered prosecuting Flynn with treason.
DID FLYNN COMMIT TREASON?
Sullivan is now asking the special counsel's office whether it ever considered charging Flynn with treason.
Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack struggles to answer, saying it wasn't considered.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan now prodding prosecutor Van Grack whether Flynn defense memo takes away from the credit he gets for taking responsibility.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Judge asks for a brief recess. After 20 minutes, Flynn returns to the courtroom, where he sits quietly in his chair between his lawyers. Not smiling.
All wait a few minutes for Judge Sullivan to re-enter the courtroom.
Sullivan is then reported to be speaking with Flynn's lawyers to confirm that they want to proceed with sentencing today.
Recess over. Flynn Atty Rob Kelner tells judge Flynn shouldn't be punished for a filing his lawyers made.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan then returns to the bench. He begins with a clarification: he did not mean to suggest that Michael Flynn committed treason, rather he was asking prosecutors about treason to get a sense of Flynn's offenses.
"I was just curious."
Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack says the government had no reason to believe Flynn committed treason.
"I felt terrible about that," Sullivan then says, after the prosecutor adds that Flynn's conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-November of 2016.
"I'm not suggesting he committed treason," Sullivan says, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.
Judge Sullivan is back on the bench, says he misspoke in suggesting Flynn was a foreign agent while in the White House. And also says he never meant to suggest that Flynn committed treason. He says not to read too much into the questions he asks
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
And then: a very loud pause.
Flynn's lawyer told the judge they're prepared to delay sentencing to allow Flynn to fully finish cooperating with the government, noting that they expect he'll be asked to testify in the EDVA case unsealed yesterday.
Michael Flynn's sentencing will be postponed to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Judge Sullivan repeats the statement that he will not make any promises about no jail time when it comes time to deliver Flynn's sentence.
Above, that famous video of Flynn yelling "lock her up" at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
And below, more of the live tweets from reporters in the courtroom.
Judge Sullivan notes Lt Gen Flynn accepted responsibility but that defense memo focused largely on circumstances of Jan 2017 FBI interview. Judge says Flynn suggests he was unguarded in FBI interview because he wasn't warned about lying.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Flynn tells judge he doesn't want to challenge circumstance of FBI interview. He says he was aware that lying to FBI was a crime.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Flynn, flanked by his Covington & Burling lawyers, says he still wants to take responsibility for false statements. Flynn says he still wants to plead guilty.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Under a series of questions from the judge, Flynn says _ his sentencing memo notwithstanding _ that he doesn't want to challenge the circumstances of his interview with the FBI. Lawyer Rob Kelner says he doesn't believe Flynn's rights were violated during the FBI interview
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
Flynn's attorney says the reason the sentencing memo argued that he wasn't told lying was a crime and that he didn't have an attorney was to argue that Flynn's case is different from others - like G. Papadopolis.
- Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) December 18, 2018
Significantly, defense lawyer Rob Kelner says he made the points in the sentencing memo that he did to distinguish Flynn from other Mueller cases in which defendants were informed it was illegal to lie to the FBI AND were joined by lawyers but nonetheless lied anyway
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
Saying he's "puzzled" by the documents he's seen, Sullivan makes it explicitly clear he was concerned by the circumstances of the FBI interview, but Flynn and his attorneys are *repeatedly* declining the judge's offers to delay or steer the proceeding off course.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI.
"No, your honor," says the lawyer.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge is still probing, asking Flynn's attorneys:
"My question is, how is raising those contentions about the circumstances [of the FBI interview] consistent with his acceptance of responsibility?"
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan is going thru defense filing, says it raised concerns about whether Flynn still wanted to plead guilty. Flynn lawyer Rob Kelner says they aren't contesting false statements guilty plea as a result of any misconduct by FBI.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
NEWS: Michael Flynn just deflated Trump's contention that he was duped into lying to FBI. "I was aware" that lying to FBI investigators was a crime when he did so over interactions with Russians, Flynn tells judge
"I do not" seek to withdraw the plea, Flynn tells the judge.
- Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan has sent Flynn and his attorneys back to their table.
He says he wants to now go over Flynn's plea agreement and the facts that went into it.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge asking Flynn if he wants to postpone sentencing until AFTER his cooperation is totally done, warns him that if he's sentenced now won't take into account any future cooperation he offers and the credit he would be entitled to for it
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
I gotta tell you folks, this is pretty good drama.
It's a shame federal courts have decided the public shouldn't be able to see this on television.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan tells Flynn that serving as unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as National Security Adviser means "arguably you sold your country out." Judge says he can't hide his "my disgust, my disdain." Flynn and lawyers seemed stunned.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
This process usually is shorter when both prosecution and defense recommend no jail time. Flynn quietly says "yes your honor," as Judge Sullivan rails about "very serious offense" he has pleaded guilty to.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Judge tells former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn: "Arguably you sold your country out." Also says he can't "hide my disgust, my disdain" for Flynn's criminal offense
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
If Flynn, a purported model cooperator, is not given full credit for his cooperation despite having pleaded guilty early on _ wonder how that might affect the incentives of other would-be cooperators to go "all in" on their own cooperation
- Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018
Flynn has reentered the courtroom, after taking the judge up on his offer to confer with his lawyers before moving forward to sentencing.
We're waiting on Judge Sullivan to come back.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
STORY, Part I: A Federal Judge Told Michael Flynn "Arguably You Sold Your Country Out" At His Sentencing https://t.co/nYpHgHGuLe
- Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan appears to have seen some coverage during court recess, so he wants to clarify: he isn't accusing Flynn of treason; and clarifies that Flynn's work for Turkey ended before he became national security adviser. The judge has clarified himself.
- Evan Pi(C)rez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Re: Flynn's arg his case is different from Mueller defendants who pleaded guilty to lying and went to jail, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, the judge says he doesn't think the cases are analogous - neither was a high-ranking govt official who lied in the White House
- Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018
Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner argues that on the flip side, when Flynn decided to cooperate, he did so knowing that his status would send a message. Sullivan asks if they want to proceed to sentencing, Kelner asks for a moment, jokes that he's "building up to it"
- Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018
A SIGNAL --
Judge Sullivan says he disagrees with the plea agreement that saw Gen. David Petraeus avoid felony charges.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan repeats he won't make any promises when it comes time to deliver his sentence.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan concludes the proceedings by wishing the parties happy holidays.
And this dizzying sentencing-hearing-that-wasn't ends at 12:57pmET.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
NOTE -- Flynn's sentencing has not been set for March.
A status hearing, at which both sides will report the situation then in place regarding Flynn's cooperation in other cases, will occur in March.
- Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018