Hitherto unknown meeting between Michael Flynn and his son with Russian Ambassador revealed in House Intelligence Committee report.

Courtesy of TPM: 

The House Intelligence Committee’s report from its Russia investigation published on Friday revealed another meeting former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had with the Russian ambassador before he joined the Trump campaign. 

Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn, Jr., met with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at his Washington, D.C. residence on December 2, 2015, according to emails reviewed by the House Intelligence Committee. Flynn’s son described the meeting as “very productive” in an email to the Russian embassy, according to the committee’s report. According to the report, “emails indicate that the meeting was arranged at the request of General Flynn or his son.” Neither Flynn sat with the committee for an interview, leaving congressional investigators with few details about the rendezvous. 

The meeting with Kislyak took place about a week before Flynn traveled to Moscow to speak at the Kremlin RT news organization’s annual gala. Flynn sat next to Vladimir Putin at the dinner and was paid by RT to attend the event. 

Flynn’s December 2015 meeting with Kislyak also came after he met with President Donald Trump for the first time, but Flynn did not formally join the campaign until 2016.

So between the time that Flynn met with Donald Trump for the first time, and this event took place...

...Flynn also met with this guy?

And that doesn't seem like collusion to the House Republicans?

Interesting.

Flynn's son certainly was quick in his attempt to play it down.

The #fakenews media is a joke.....

friggin @TMZ 2.0 pic.twitter.com/L9cvfxdnKr

— 🇺🇸MFLYNNJR🇺🇸 (@mflynnJR) April 27, 2018

You know I am not sure if these House Republicans could recognize collusion if it were delivered to them under their tree on Christmas morning.

Donald Trump's lawyer John Dowd once floated the idea of pardoning Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

A lawyer for President Trump broached the idea of Mr. Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. 

The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and they raise questions about whether the lawyer, John Dowd, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation. 

The talks suggest that Mr. Trump’s lawyers were concerned about what Mr. Flynn and Mr. Manafort might reveal were they to cut a deal with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in exchange for leniency. Mr. Mueller’s team could investigate the prospect that Mr. Dowd made pardon offers to thwart the inquiry, although legal experts are divided about whether such offers might constitute obstruction of justice.

I heard one of the reporters on cable news this morning clarifying that this suggestion came before Michael Flynn pleaded guilty and started cooperating with the Mueller investigation, and before Manafort's indictment.

Of course the question to ask is WHY would Donald Trump's personal attorney, who was not representing either Manafort or Flynn, have broached this option?

Just what are they so concerned about Mueller learning from these two?

And does it rhyme with "allusion?"

Of course John Dowd and the White House deny this conversation ever took place, which by the new fact checking rules of the Trump Administration means it ABSOLUTELY happened.

Lawyer for Susan Rice explains that Obama Administration was justifiably worried about sharing classified intelligence with the Trump team. Gee, really?

Courtesy of Politico:

A lawyer for President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, told Congress late Friday that the outgoing administration was fearful of sharing classified intelligence with members of the incoming Trump team, especially Rice’s successor, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. 

In a letter to lawmakers, Rice’s lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, said Rice drafted a Jan. 20, 2017, email to herself on the advice of White House counsel to memorialize the outgoing administration’s reluctance. 

“President Obama and his national security team were justifiably concerned about potential risks to the Nation’s security from sharing highly classified information about Russia with certain members of the Trump transition team, particularly Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,” 

Ruemmler wrote. Ruemmler’s letter was a response to GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had inquired about the email that Rice sent herself just hours before the Obama administration left office.

I would say that the Obama Administration was quite justified in their apprehension.

After all keep in mind that Rice was handing her job over to Michael "I'm a foreign agent" Flynn. 

And since that hand off of power literally EVERYTHING that Trump and his people have done reinforces the idea that Susan Rice and her boss had very good instincts.

This bullshit inquiry was launched because the Right Wing seems to think that this meeting that Rice had with Obama was all about the  Steele Dossier, and that it was being used to justify the Justice Department investigation, but in fact as the lawyer explains the meeting had nothing to do with that dossier.

Damn do I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

Trump team prepares to throw former security adviser Michael Flynn under the bus to undermine any testimony that might hurt The Donald.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump’s legal team plans to cast former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn as a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of any wrongdoing, according to three people familiar with the strategy. 

The approach would mark a sharp break from Trump’s previously sympathetic posture toward Flynn, whom he called a “wonderful man” when Flynn was ousted from the White House in February. Earlier this month, the president did not rule out a possible pardon for Flynn, who is cooperating with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Attorneys for Trump and his top advisers have privately expressed confidence that Flynn does not have any evidence that could implicate the president or his White House team. But since Flynn’s cooperation agreement with prosecutors was made public earlier this month, the administration has been strategizing how to neutralize him in case the former national security adviser does make any claims. 

Flynn is the most senior former Trump adviser known to be providing information to Mueller’s team. The lenient terms of his plea agreement suggest he has promised significant information to investigators, legal experts said.

Trump’s legal team has seized on Flynn’s agreement with prosecutors as fodder for a possible defense, if necessary. In court filings, the retired lieutenant general admitted that he lied to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the December 2016 transition. 

“He’s said it himself: He’s a liar,” said one person helping craft the strategy who was granted anonymity to describe private conversations.

You may remember that Trump asked James Comey to back off of the Flynn investigation, and then fired him when he did not comply, which suggests that he has long feared what Flynn might reveal. 

This such an obvious and transparent attempt to discredit Michael Flynn that you would think Trump's attorneys would avoid it like the plague.

But the fact that this is where they feel they have the best hope of launching a defense speaks to their level of desperation.

In the early days of the presidency the White House counsel warned Donald Trump that Michael Flynn had probably lied to the FBI and yet Trump did not fire him until after a Washington Post article.

Don McGhan, White House legal counsel.

Courtesy of Foreign Policy: 

The White House turned over records this fall to special counsel Robert Mueller revealing that in the very first days of the Trump presidency, Don McGahn researched federal law dealing both with lying to federal investigators and with violations of the Logan Act, a centuries-old federal law that prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments, according to three people with direct knowledge of the confidential government documents. 

The records reflected concerns that McGahn, the White House counsel, had that Michael Flynn, then the president’s national security advisor, had possibly violated either one or both laws at the time, according to two of the sources. 

The disclosure that these records exist and that they are in the possession of the special counsel could bolster any potential obstruction of justice case against President Donald Trump. The records that McGahn turned over to the special counsel, portions of which were read to this reporter, indicate he researched both statutes and warned Trump about Flynn’s possible violations. 

McGahn conducted the analysis shortly after learning that Flynn, on Dec. 29, 2016 — while Barack Obama was still president — had counseled the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time, Sergey Kislyak, not to retaliate against U.S. economic sanctions imposed against Russia by the outgoing administration. 

McGahn believed that Flynn, and possibly anyone who authorized or approved of such contacts, would be in potential violation of the Logan Act, according to two of the sources, both of whom work in the administration.

I would contend that the "anyone who authorized or approved of such contacts" means Donald Trump.  Either directly or indirectly.

It is very clear that Trump, at least in the beginning of this presidency, was very hands on and was involved in essentially all of the decision making.

And that would explain this next part: 

Despite McGahn’s concerns that Flynn violated one or both of these laws, Trump allowed Flynn to continue in his job and only fired him after the Washington Post reported that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials about his contacts with Kislyak. That was 18 days after then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates informed McGahn of her own concerns about Flynn’s covert diplomacy with Russia prior to Trump taking office.

Why would Trump suddenly fire Flynn if Flynn was simply following his own orders?

I never believed that Trump fired Flynn for lying to Mike Pence, and have always seen that as a convenient excuse.

Flynn was let go because Flynn got caught, and now that he has made a plea deal with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller know EVERYTHING.

No wonder the White House and the Republicans are trying to undermine this investigation.

Robert Mueller's focus on the Michael Flynn timeline suggests that he is building a case for obstruction. Update!

Courtesy of NBC News:

Special counsel Robert Mueller is trying to piece together what happened inside the White House over a critical 18-day period that began when senior officials were told that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was susceptible to blackmail by Russia, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. 

The questions about what happened between Jan. 26 and Flynn's firing on Feb. 13 appear to relate to possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump, say two people familiar with Mueller's investigation into Russia's election meddling and potential collusion with the Trump campaign. 

Multiple sources say that during interviews, Mueller's investigators have asked witnesses, including White House Counsel Don McGahn and others who have worked in the West Wing, to go through each day that Flynn remained as national security adviser and describe in detail what they knew was happening inside the White House as it related to Flynn.

Some of those interviewed by Mueller's team believe the goal is in part to determine if there was a deliberate effort by President Trump or top officials in the West Wing to cover up the information about Flynn that Sally Yates, then the acting attorney general, conveyed to McGahn on Jan. 26. In addition to Flynn, McGahn is also expected to be critical to federal investigators trying to piece together a timeline of those 18 days.

Essentially Flynn lied to the FBI. two days later Sally Yates told Don McGahn that Flynn lied, McGahn told Trump, Trump fired Yates, and then only after the press started to report on some of this did Trump finally fire Flynn.

So it would appear that there is a solid case to be made for obstruction.

However I actually think that Mueller is coming at this from several different angles.

I think that he well might make a case for obstructionism, but that he is also looking to flip Manfort and then Kushner and make the case for conspiracy as well.

I think that is why Trump is starting to lose his shit and why there is increasing talk about firing Mueller, while the Right Wing propaganda outlets prepare the base to accept that decision.

Courtesy of New York Magazine: 

Trump is preparing to shut down Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 election. 

The administration and its allied media organs, especially those owned by Rupert Murdoch, have spent months floating a series of rationales, of varying degrees of implausibility, for why a deeply respected Republican law-enforcement veteran is disqualified to lead the inquiry: He is friends with James Comey, who is biased because Trump fired him; Comey is biased because he pursued leads turned up in Christopher Steele’s investigation, which was financed by Democrats; Mueller has failed to investigate Hillary Clinton’s marginal-to-nonexistent role in a uranium sale. 

The newest pseudo-scandal fixates on the role of Peter Strzok, an FBI official who helped tweak the language Comey employed in his statement condemning Clinton’s email carelessness and has also worked for Mueller. His alleged crime is a series of text messages criticizing Trump. Mueller removed Strzok from his team, but that is not enough for Trump’s supporters, who are seizing on Strzok’s role as a pretext to discredit and remove Mueller, too. The notion that a law-enforcement official should be disqualified for privately expressing partisan views is a novel one, and certainly did not trouble Republicans last year, when Rudy Giuliani was boasting on television about his network of friendly agents. Yet in the conservative media, Mueller and Comey have assumed fiendish personae of almost Clintonian proportions.

As I have said before, if this happens it will blow this investigation wide open, and essentially prove the case for obstruction.

I would bet big money that Trump is itching to fire Mueller and that the only thing holding him back are his lawyers and advisers telling him that it would be political suicide.

The only question is, how long can they hold him at bay?

Update:  

Okay this tidbit from the NBC report was brought to my attention, take a look at this: Mueller is trying to determine why Flynn remained in his post for 18 days after Trump learned of Yates' warning, according to two people familiar with the probe. He appears to be interested in whether Trump directed him to lie to senior officials, including Pence, or the FBI, and if so why, the sources said.

Okay well that is a whole new dimension to all of this.

That is suggesting that Mueller may have evidence that Trump not only ignored evidence that Michael Flynn lied to the FBI, but that he himself may have instructed him to do so.

If that pans out, I do not think that even the Republican majorities in the Senate and House can protect him from impeachment.

Rep. Elijah Cummings has evidence that Michael Flynn told a friend that one of the Trump Administration's first tasks would be to "rip up" the Russians sanctions. Update!

CUMMINGS in letter to Trey Gowdy: Michael Flynn told a business associate Russia sanctions would be "ripped up" as one of administration's first acts, according to a whistleblower. Full letter: https://t.co/DuVxH4tVpW

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 6, 2017

Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun:

President Donald J. Trump’s former national security adviser told a business associate that U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia would be “ripped up” by the new administration, according to a whistleblower account made public Wednesday in a letter written by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings. 

Michael T. Flynn, who pleaded guilty last week to lying to the FBI, was communicating with former business associates “within minutes” of Trump’s inauguration, according to the letter — reassuring them Russian investments would soon be available as the Trump administration lifted sanctions. 

The allegation — which suggests the Trump administration was eager to lift sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama and that Flynn may have blurred his public and private roles during his brief run at the White House — was outlined in a letter Cummings sent to Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

“I do not bring this whistleblower to your attention lightly,” Cummings, the Baltimore lawmaker and top Democrat on the committee wrote in the letter. 

“I have attempted to advance this investigation without exposing individuals to personal or professional risk. But the exceptionally troubling allegations in this case — combined with ongoing obstruction from the White House and others — have made this step necessary.”

D-damn! If this holds up it is proof positive that Flynn was trying to satisfy Putin's desire to get rid of those Russian sanctions, on day one!

You can read Cummings' letter here.

I imagine that Cummings has not only notified Gowdy but also Robert Mueller as well.

This just gets more interesting every single day.

Update: Trey "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi" Gowdy has responded to the letter by Rep. Cummings.

While Democrats may want every Committee of Congress to investigate the same fact patterns, it isn’t a prudent use of resources – something they used to be mindful of. pic.twitter.com/LHkcP5jvIJ

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) December 6, 2017

You know it's like hypocrisy is the drug of choice for Republicans and they are addicted to that sweet sweet high.

Donald Trump is now creating a conspiracy to redirect attention away from his administration and back toward Hillary Clinton.

President Trump: "I feel badly for General Flynn. I feel very badly. He's led a very strong life and I feel very badly…I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied and they destroyed his life." pic.twitter.com/xg8j3hZmGJ

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 4, 2017

Courtesy of Politicususa:  

When asked about Flynn, Trump said, “I feel badly for General Flynn. I feel very badly. He’s led a very strong life, and I feel very badly…I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and they destroyed his life. I think it’s a shame. Hillary Clinton went to the FBI on the 4th of July weekend, not under oath, it was the most incredible thing that anyone’s ever seen. She lied many times. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and it’s like, they ruined his life. It’s very unfair.” 

That’s not how any of this works. Lying to the FBI is a crime. Period. Hillary Clinton never lied to the FBI, or she would have been charged with a crime. Trump is inventing a conspiracy that the FBI is pro-Hillary Clinton and out to get him. 

Trump’s answer was crazy on so many levels, and his reflexive answer when he gets into any trouble at all is to retreat to Hillary Clinton happy place where he can either blame Clinton or accuse the world of being a Hillary Clinton conspiracy against him.

I imagine that right about now the stench of desperation must be all but overwhelming around Trump and his cohorts.

It seems like every day the Russian investigations keep picking up steam as they bear down on Trump and his administration.

It might be time to put the entire White House on suicide watch.

The SNL cold open last night was exactly what we needed.

By far my favorite part was the reappearance of Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, saying "Lock him up."

Especially since it echoes chants from actual protesters directed at Trump that same day.

Trump Motorcade arriving to chants of "Lock Him Up" in NYC https://t.co/fIFcUCLuIO

— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) December 2, 2017

And Michael Flynn was not left out of the fun either.

I love the smell of Schadenfreude in the morning.

Now Trump seems to be admitting that he knew Michael Flynn lied to the FBI and THAT was why he fired him. Update!

I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017

So wait, he fired Flynn for lying to the FBI and then fired James Comey for continuing to investigate Flynn?

You know the problem with habitual liars is that when their lies are exposed they just keep right on digging that hole.


As reporter Natasha Bertrand pointed out this tweet might also have just handed Robert Mueller his Christmas bonus.

"Just unreal": Trump's latest tweet about Flynn indicates he's either "utterly clueless about his own jeopardy" or "truly believes he is beyond accountability," experts say https://t.co/hDcwke2e5m

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 2, 2017

Courtesy of Business Insider: 

Trump told reporters at the time that he had been forced to fire Flynn because he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about those conversations. But the White House gave no indication at the time that it knew Flynn had lied to the FBI in a January interview about those conversations — a federal crime that Flynn pleaded guilty to on Friday. 

"I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence," Trump said during a press conference on February 16. 

He continued: "Very simple. Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So, it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn’t doing it. I didn’t direct him, but I would have directed him because that’s his job." 

Trump's tweet on Saturday appears to indicate that Trump was aware Flynn had lied to the FBI when he departed the administration in February. 

It also seems out of line with what a person close to White House counsel Don McGahn told the New York Times on Friday, which is that when former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned him about Flynn in January, she did not mention that Flynn had committed a federal crime. 

If Trump knew that Flynn was in the FBI's crosshairs when he asked former FBI Director James Comey, whom he later fired, to consider "letting Flynn go" the day after Flynn resigned, that could dramatically bolster the obstruction case federal prosecutors are building against him. 

I swear at this rate there will not be any surprises left to be revealed by the time Christmas morning arrives.

 Here is your "Holy shit!" update:

Maybe don't put this in writing, KT McFarland... pic.twitter.com/cqWnVDAApg

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 2, 2017

K.T McFarland wrote in an email to a colleague that sanctions announced hours before by the Obama Administration in retaliation for Russian election meddling were aimed at discrediting Mr. Trump's victory. The sanctions could also make it much harder for Mr. Trump to ease tensions with Russia, "which has thrown the U.S.A election to him."

Altogether now, "Holy shit!"

According to ABC News Michael Flynn will testify that Donald Trump personally directed him to reach out to the Russians before he took office.

Courtesy of ABC News:

Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation and, according to a confidant, is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.

The stunning turn comes as Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his back-channel negotiations with the Russian ambassador – talks that occurred before Trump took office. The special counsel made the plea agreement public Friday morning. 

The confidant provided ABC News with new details on Friday about Trump’s instructions to Flynn. During the campaign, Trump asked Flynn to be one of a small group of close advisors charged with improving relations in Russia and other hot spots. The source said Trump phoned Flynn shortly after the election to explicitly ask him to “serve as point person on Russia,” and to reach out personally to Russian officials to develop strategies to jointly combat ISIS.

The confidant told ABC News that Flynn felt abandoned by Trump in recent weeks, and told friends about the decision to make the plea deal within the last 24 hours as he grew increasingly concerned about crippling legal costs he would face if he continued to contest the charges. 

“Flynn is very angry,” the confidant told ABC News Friday. “He will cooperate truthfully on any question they ask him.”

Now this is problematic not only because incoming administrations are not supposed to interfere with the current administrations foreign relations, but also becasue Trump has declared that he did not personally instruct Flynn to start these talks.

Remember the official explanation for Flynn being let go was that he lied to Mike Pence about these talks with Russia, but if he was told to conduct them by Trump that excuse falls apart.

Most recently the White House has claimed that Flynn's conversations with the Russians were signed off on by the Obama Administration.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

“They are saying here at the White House that Flynn’s conversations with Sergey Kisylak were quote ‘authorized’ by the Obama administration,” CNN correspondent Jim Acosta said. 

“We should point out, that is something that we have not heard before in terms of a defense from this White House,” he said.

Yeah, well that's complete bullshit since Obama himself warned Trump not to hire Michael Flynn.

This morning a reporter managed to get Trump's response to Michael Flynn's plea deal.

JUST IN: President Trump makes first comments after Michael Flynn's guilty plea.

Reporter: "Are you concerned about what Mike Flynn might tell the special counsel?"

Trump: "No, I'm not." pic.twitter.com/UlDrdPMU2S

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 2, 2017

It's adorable how hard he is trying to make it seem like all of this is not killing him.

"Very senior member" of Trump Campaign named in Flynn guilty plea is son-in-law Jared Kushner. Update!

NBC News: “very senior member” named in Flynn guilty plea is Jared Kushner pic.twitter.com/tnPPCV0BlU

— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) December 1, 2017

Courtesy of CNN:

Jared Kushner is the "very senior member" of President Donald Trump's transition team" who directed incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn to contact the Russian ambassador to the United States and other countries about a UN Security Council vote on Israeli settlements, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. 

The court filings from Flynn's plea hearing Friday say a "very senior member" of Trump's transition team asked Flynn to contact officials from UN Security Council countries, including Russia, to learn where each country stood on the vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity. 

An attorney for Kushner did not respond to a request for comment.

And that means he is "Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!"

So that's part of why Mueller offered Flynn a plea deal, to get to Kusnher.

Now who will Kushner have to give up to get HIS pleas deal?

Oh, I think we know the answer to that.

I don't know about all of you but I never expected Santa to start delivering the items on my wish list quite this early.

Update: Apparently Trump suspected for weeks that Flynn had flipped on him.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:   

For weeks, Trump has vented privately to advisers and confidants about his anxiety over signs that Flynn had flipped. He noted the possibility that Flynn had “turned on me,” three sources close to the president independently recall him saying. These sources had relayed details of these conversations to The Daily Beast over the course of the past week. 

Trump’s fears came into sharp focus this past month, as several media outlets began to report that Flynn appeared to be cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. 

The president—an avid and voracious consumer of Twitter and cable news—began privately fuming, according to an administration official and two outside allies of Trump. Two of the three sources noted that it sounded at times as if Trump felt personally hurt by the prospect that someone whom he admired professionally and liked personally had potentially turned. 

Sources said that President Trump’s flourish in his Thanksgiving speech to members of the U.S. Coast Guard—during which he said, “You never know about an ally. An ally can turn”—was intended as not-so-subtle jab at his former national security adviser.

By the way if you are starting to get a little tired of popcorn, might I suggest putting a little cheddar flavoring or caramel coating to spice things up again.

After all it appears that there are buckets and buckets of popcorn in our future.

Michael Flynn has plead guilty to making false statements to the FBI about conversations with Russian ambassador. Can you say "plea deal?" Update!

NEWS: FLYNN will plead GUILTY to making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with KISLYAK pic.twitter.com/581L2ANkfH

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 1, 2017

Courtesy of CNN: 

Special counsel Robert Mueller has charged former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn with "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador.

The charge against Flynn is the first in Mueller's probe that has reached someone in the Trump White House and is the latest sign that the special counsel's investigation is intensifying.

Flynn's lawyers have previously criticized media reports about his connection to the Russia investigation as peddling "unfounded allegations, outrageous claims of treason, and vicious innuendo directed against him." Flynn hasn't spoken publicly since his ouster in February. 

The charges mark yet another stunning downfall for Flynn, 58, a retired general who rose to the highest ranks of the Army over a three-decade career -- only to see him drummed out of the military by the Obama administration before unexpectedly rising again on the heels of Trump's election victory. 

It is pretty clear that Mueller has a lot more on Flynn, and Flynn's son, so this guilty plea would clearly indicate that a deal has been struck.

And that means Flynn had something very significant with which to make such a deal. 

This seems like an appropriate place to share this again. 

Reminder: Flynn chanted “lock her up” at the RNC, said “If I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail.” pic.twitter.com/AQY79rlzhm

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 1, 2017

More popcorn anyone?

Update: Trump's initial response.

LATEST: Pres. Trump's initial response to news of Michael Flynn's plea was that he was not surprised Flynn lied to the FBI, given he lied to the White House, source tells @ABC. https://t.co/aiagnvIJDs

— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2017

Yeah, that may be his official response, but his unofficial one is more along the lines of "AAARRRGGHH!!!"

Mueller Time Update: Special Counsel questions Jared Kushner about meeting with Russian ambassador as new evidence points to deal with Michael Flynn.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, met this month with investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, and answered questions about a meeting with a Russian ambassador during the presidential transition, according to a person briefed on the investigation. 

The questions focused on a meeting in December between Mr. Kushner, the ambassador and Michael T. Flynn, who at the time was the president’s incoming national security adviser, the person said on Wednesday. 

Prosecutors also asked Mr. Kushner about other interactions between Mr. Flynn and the Russian government, the person briefed on the investigation said. 

It appears that Mueller's team is now zeroing in on the meetings that may provide the most evidence of collusion, and this one becomes even more interesting when you read this about Flynn's upcoming grand jury testimony.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has postponed an anticipated grand jury testimony linked to his investigation into Michael Flynn amid growing indications of possible plea deal discussions. 

Additional witnesses were expected to be questioned soon including a public relations consultant hired by Flynn's lobbying firm who was given an early December date deadline to appear before the grand jury, according to a person at the company. 

Ahead of the delay, the impression was that the testimony needed to happen soon, the source said. 

"Time seems to be of the essence," said the source at Sphere Consulting, the PR firm where the consultant worked. 

The grand jury testimony was postponed, the person said, with no reason given. There could be many reasons for a delay, including scheduling issues.

One of which is of course a plea deal which would mean that Flynn is spilling his guts and that Mueller is comparing his testimony against that provided by Kushner in those recent meetings. 

There has been quite a lot of talk about a possible subpoena headed Kushner's way in the near future, and it appears that may not have been such idle gossip.

It also appears that this investigation is in no way going to be over anytime soon, so I guess we can all look forward to watching Trump "blow a gasket."

So it appears that Trump's former national security adviser has flipped and is now working with the Mueller investigation. And here we go.

Sorry, it's you or me buddy.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, notified the president’s legal team in recent days that they could no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation, according to four people involved in the case — an indication that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal. 

Mr. Flynn’s lawyers had been sharing information with Mr. Trump’s lawyers about the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining whether anyone around Mr. Trump was involved in Russian efforts to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. 

That agreement has been terminated, the four people said. Defense lawyers frequently share information during investigations, but they must stop when doing so would pose a conflict of interest. It is unethical for lawyers to work together when one client is cooperating with prosecutors and another is still under investigation. 

The notification alone does not prove that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with Mr. Mueller. Some lawyers withdraw from information-sharing arrangements as soon as they begin negotiating with prosecutors. And such negotiations sometimes fall apart.

The Times article goes on to hedge its bets by suggesting that this is not absolute proof that Flynn is cooperating with Mueller, but of course it is.

We have been reading for months how the Mueller team has been working to turn Flynn, and get him to start cooperating, and it appears they have now done exactly that.

Not only that but Trump is clearly worried about it.

Will be speaking to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey this morning about bringing peace to the mess that I inherited in the Middle East. I will get it all done, but what a mistake, in lives and dollars (6 trillion), to be there in the first place!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

Interesting timing, because we heard yesterday that a Turkish agent (Michael Flynn) appears to be cooperating with Mueller. https://t.co/pzhvlumsiu

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) November 24, 2017

I wonder if Mueller can subpoena transcripts of phone calls like this?

I have a feeling that things are really starting to heat up, and that our Christmas Day conversations with those conservative relatives are going to be quite lively indeed.

Especially if Obama's former ethics czar is right about this part.

BAD NEWS FOR TRUMP. Flynn may or may not have dirt on the Prez, but he surely will roll over on Kush, who will flip like a pancake on daddy-in-law's obstrution. They are gonna have to start frisking Jared for a wire in the Oval. Today is Cursegiving not Thanksgiving for POTUS https://t.co/u8F9eMoU4b

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) November 23, 2017

Love to be a fly on the wall at whatever golf club Trump is wasting taxpayer money at right now. 

Robert Mueller targeting Michael Flynn over allegations that he discussed a deal with Turkey to orchestrate the return of a dissident for about 15 million dollars.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Federal investigators are examining whether former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn met with senior Turkish officials just weeks before President Donald Trump's inauguration about a potential quid pro quo in which Flynn would be paid to carry out directives from Ankara secretly while in the White House, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation. 

Investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's interference with the U.S. presidential election recently questioned witnesses about the alleged December 2016 meeting between Flynn and senior Turkish officials, two people knowledgeable with the interviews said. The questions were part of a line of inquiry regarding Flynn's lobbying efforts on behalf of Turkey. 

Mueller's investigation into Flynn's potential deal with Turkey was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

Four people familiar with the investigation said Mueller is looking into whether Flynn discussed in the late December meeting orchestrating the return to Turkey of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Erdogan who lives in the U.S. Additionally, three people familiar with the probe said investigators are examining whether Flynn and other participants discussed a way to free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, who is jailed in the U.S. Zarrab is facing federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions.

Mueller is specifically examining whether the deal, if successful, would have led to millions of dollars in secret payments to Flynn, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

Keep in mind this would mean that Michael Flynn was working for a payday from the Turkish government, to kidnap a dissident and spirit him out of the country, WHILE he was still working for the Trump campaign.

That is 50 shades of illegal right there.

Mueller is also taking a hard look at Flynn's son to see if he is also complicit in these negotiations.

Gee is there anybody who worked for the Trump campaign that was NOT secretly also working for a foreign government?

It looks like a good time to share this delightful video yet again as well.

If Flynn gets indicted, the condition for his bail should include that this plays nonstop during his house arrest. pic.twitter.com/fddLfjVMYB

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) November 5, 2017

I think the overall takeaway from all of this is that whatever members of the Trump campaign or White House accuse others of doing is definitely something that they themselves are doing.

English professor with a law degree explains why today's revelation that Mueller may be ready to indict Michael Flynn is such a big hairy deal.

Not to beat this drum again, but remember: if Mueller is willing to offer the former NSA of the United States a deal, his TARGET is Trump.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 5, 2017

2/ You don't flip the former NSA of the United States to get anyone but Trump (though you'll take the AG and Trump's family in the bargain).

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 5, 2017

3/ Moreover—just for those unfamiliar with investigations—you don't flip Flynn unless you have reason to believe he can *incriminate* Trump.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 5, 2017

4/ And finally, you don't use Flynn to get Trump on Obstruction—Mueller already has that case via other witnesses. No—this is about Russia.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 5, 2017

5/ So while today's breaking Flynn news may seem ho-hum—didn't we *know* he'd be indicted?—this is bigger than any news in the probe so far.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 5, 2017

Well, isn't THAT interesting?

I actually think that Mueller is ultimately targeting Trump himself as well.

In fact I think Mueller is willing to hand out deals like Halloween candy to get the big fish.

And I firmly believe that big fish has an orange tinged anus like mouth on its stupid face.

By the way I agree with this as well.

If Flynn gets indicted, the condition for his bail should include that this plays nonstop during his house arrest. pic.twitter.com/fddLfjVMYB

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) November 5, 2017

Talk about schadenfreude

It appears that Michael Flynn and his son are next up in the Robert Mueller indictment sweepstakes.

Courtesy of NBC News:

Federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser and his son as part of the probe into Russia's intervention in the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. 

Michael T. Flynn, who was fired after just 24 days on the job, was one of the first Trump associates to come under scrutiny in the federal probe now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. 

Mueller is applying renewed pressure on Flynn following his indictment of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, three sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.

The investigators are speaking to multiple witnesses in coming days to gain more information surrounding Flynn's lobbying work, including whether he laundered money or lied to federal agents about his overseas contacts, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

And just to add to the evidence that Flynn was working in cahoots with the Russians, there is also this: 

Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn followed five Twitter accounts based out of the Russian-backed “troll factory” in St. Petersburg—and pushed their messages at least three times in the month before the 2016 election. 

Over 2,750 troll accounts based out of the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency were made public by House investigators on Wednesday. The accounts, some of which had previously been identified by The Daily Beast as Russian-generated, were pulled from Twitter due to their ties to the troll factory over the past three months. 

The Daily Beast had previously discovered Flynn, Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale retweeted Ten_GOP several times in the month before the election.

We cannot possibly be surprised by this as I think most of us have known that Flynn is guilty, guilty, guilty for some time now.

I think the only thing that remotely surprises me is that he was not the first one indicted.

But this also likely means that after Mueller has rounded up the obvious suspects, he then shifts his attention to the persons of interest that are closest to Trump's inner circle.

"Paper trail leads directly back to Mike Pence—proof Pence knew Michael Flynn was a Russian agent" @Funder on #AMJoy https://t.co/mK7L0yJI2Y

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 5, 2017

So is this when Trump fires Jeff Sessions and appoints an Attorney General that will allow him to get rid of Robert Mueller? Possibly.

And Mitch McConnell does not appear at all interested in keeping that from happening.

Courtesy of Politico:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday that special counsel Robert Mueller is not in need of congressional protection from President Donald Trump. 

"I don’t hear much pressure to pass anything," McConnell told MSNBC's Hugh Hewitt. "There’s been no indication that the President or the White House are not cooperating with the special counsel." 

McConnell added, "I think the view up here is let him do his job."

Senators on both sides are submitting bills to protect the Mueller investigation and Yertle the Turtle just sits on his hands and does nothing.

If I were a cynical person I might think that the fix was in.

By the way according to a former adviser to Vladimir Putin, he believes he was responsible for Trump's victory, even if the Republicans do not:

It’s really difficult to understand what was the level of Putin’s involvement or blessing in that. After November, after Trump was elected, the situation changed. Now Putin understands, or he believed at least, that he was strong. I don’t know who believed in America that Putin elected Trump, but Putin believed that. Putin believed that, and that has become a political factor.

So yes, Robert Mueller and his investigation need to be protected, because as they say on the X-Files, "The truth is out there."

Robert Mueller version of "From Russia with Love."

Thought in light of todays news this would be very fitting.
This is amazing. #MuellerTime #Comeyday pic.twitter.com/67x9M76bUG

— AgentHades (@AgentHades) October 28, 2017

Yes, it's a little wishful thinking perhaps.

But you have to admit that it is well done.

Republican lawmakers believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is going in for the kill on the Russian investigations.

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

Republicans with close links to the White House increasingly believe that special counsel Robert Mueller is “going for the kill” in his investigation into links between President Donald Trump and Russia, according to a report from Axios Tuesday. 

Members of the GOP are said to have come to that stark conclusion based on Mueller’s hiring of lawyers experienced in dealing with money laundering crimes and the Mafia, as well as the intensity of his pursuit of both witnesses and evidence.

Trump has previously warned that investigation of his financial dealings is a red line that Mueller should not cross. But that is thought to be exactly what Mueller is doing, including looking into a proposal made during the 2016 campaign to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

I actually think that when Trump identified his finances as being the "red line" that Mueller then know exactly where he should focus.

Trump is like a child suddenly volunteering that if there are any cookies missing from the cookie jar that he certainly has no idea where they might have gone.

As for the contention that Mueller is "going the kill," if accurate that suggests that he is looking for a conviction of some kind, or to gather enough evidence to put impeachment on the table.

Oh, and he is still gathering evidence.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

The Trump campaign has begun handing over documents to Bob Mueller as his investigators probe potential interference by Russia in the 2016 election. 

A team of attorneys at Jones Day, the firm representing the Trump campaign, is finding the documents that relate to Mueller’s queries of the campaign, sources have told The Daily Beast. And John Dowd, an attorney representing the president, said that the campaign is in “total cooperation” with Mueller on the matter. 

I actually doubt that the campaign is totally cooperating as I think they have a lot to hide, but we will see exactly what their information reveals.

Speaking of cooperation there are still a few who are openly resisting that.

Courtesy of CNN:

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, has refused a new request to appear as a witness before the Senate intelligence committee, a congressional source tells CNN. 

Flynn first declined to comply with a Senate subpoena in May, asserting his Fifth Amendment rights. More recently, the committee has reiterated its request and Flynn has declined again, the source said. 

The Senate intelligence committee has sought testimony from Flynn as part of its investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, as well as whether Trump associates had any involvement. Flynn resigned from the White House in February amid controversy over his communications with the Russian ambassador to the US.

Now it could be that Flynn is pulling a Manafort and making the House subpoena his testimony to demonstrate that he is not a snitch, or it could be that, as has been reported by others, he has already made a deal with Muelller and does not want to participate in every Russia investigation out there.

We shall see.