Breaking news out of D.C. where in a pretty shocking twist, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has asked a federal judge to delay his sentencing over his guilty plea to lying to FBI investigators:
UPDATE: Flynn will NOT go through sentencing today and will continue to cooperate with the Federal Government.
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) December 18, 2018
BREAKING – michael flynn’s lawyer says they are asking for a delay in sentencing because flynn may be asked to testify in the charges brought against two former associates yesterday in VA>
— kelly cohen (@politiCOHEN_) 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
And whoa:
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
Earlier in the proceedings, Judge Sullivan Flynn he “sold your country out” and even questioned prosecutors if they ever considered charging him with treason:
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
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Sullivan: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense."
Giving 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.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
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
Flynn and his legal team were not prepared for this:
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 Pérez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
NEW — Judge slams Michael Flynn:
“All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out."
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) December 18, 2018
Flynn made the decision to continue after a brief recess to confer with his legal team over the judge’s harsh words:
Sullivan recesses until 12:30pmET because Flynn has asked for the chance to confer with his lawyers before moving forward…
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Earlier in the proceedings, Flynn was given multiple opportunities to delay the sentencing which, in retrospect, should have warned us something was up:
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
The judge did walk back his treason talk after the recess:
Judge Sullivan is now trying to walk back some of his rhetoric before the break. Says he was just asking about treason, not saying that Flynn committed it. “Don’t read too much into the questions I asked.” Sullivan says he couldn’t even tell you what the elements of treason are.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
"I felt terrible about that," Sullivan says, after the prosecutor notes Flynn's conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-Nov 2016.
"I'm not suggesting he committed treason," Sullivan adds, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) 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 Pérez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018
Judge returns to his hypothetical question on treason:
“I wasn’t suggesting he was committing treason. I was just curious if he could have been charged. Lots of conspiracy theories out there.”
Prosecutor:
“The gov't has no reason to believe” that Flynn “committed treason.”
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 18, 2018
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