Flynnghazi: Justice Dept. warned WH that advisor vunlnerable to blackmail.

[Felya]

There was a Russian plant in the White House, Trump refused to fire him even after being informed by DoJ. In fact, there probably are more Russian plants, including Trump himself.

But her EMAILS...

The sad part is that Flynn isn't a good analogy for Clinton email. That would be his meetings and security briefings at his golf course, while club members took selfies with the nuclear football... which also happened this week... and it's only Tuesday...

[Machismo]

This needs to be restated to @Venant and other Trumpkins.

It's highly likely that one of the key sources for Trump Administration leaks, particularly on this issue is from.

-> The Reince Priebus faction
-> The Mike Pence faction / VP's office
-> Mattis loyalists at the NSC (especially given who Flynn's successor is likely to be).
-> A rival of Flynn's within Bannon's inner circle
-> Bannon himself (unlikely, but plausible)

Teams of Rivals murder each other.

They keep trying to blame random White House staffers, as if it's some holdover maid releasing all of this information. If I had to bet, it would be part of the Reince team, because it's no secret that Priebus hates Trump, and vice versa. Of course, I think Priebus is about to get canned. I think trump wanted him there, while planning to fire him all along. That way, he could rub it in his face one more time.

It could be the VP's team, because they are the most likely to know all the things that have been released, and have the least loyalty and ideological agreement with Trump. I don't know if it's the Mattis loyalists, because a lot of this information that has been leaked spreads past what they would likely know. This particular leak may have come from them, but that would mean they have two or more leaks...

Bannon and his crew are wild cards, but I doubt it's him. His entire reputation relies on the Trump presidency being a success. He's a smart guy, so I would think that he would be able to quickly determine if someone on his team were leaking information. He would compartmentalize who learned what, and see what information came out.

[Flarelaine]

We are sitting here in 2017 watching a man trying to call corruption in the highest levels of government "reform". That is the doublespeak nightmare the world is in today, because partisan brain rot has reached critical mass.

Our government has been on this since 2010. And that means they have even gotten reelected since. Partisan brain rot indeed. Though I cannot pass up the opportunity to note that they are supported by much the same demographics as Brexit and Trump.

[Narwal]

"§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects."

- - - Updated - - -



You have been whining this entire time about people holding Trump and his administration accountable for their actions. The questions still stand.

If Trump were to announce publicly that he opposed sanctions on Russia and would repeal them, before he was sworn in as President, would that be breaking the Logan act? Isn't that the same thing? Wouldn't announcing anything about your foreign policy publicly, especially naming policies you would change, be against the Logan act?

I think the Logan act is being applied to broadly here. If all that took place was Flynn telling Russia Trump doesn't support sanctions. I don't understand, in this circumstance, how the Logan act applies. The clarifying context to when this act applies seems to be this:

in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States

Based on the assumption that the news is saying that the simple act of mentioning the sanctions broke this act, I would disagree because of the quoted context I posted above. I want to know what it is that Flynn said to Russia which defeated any measures of what was at the time the Obama administration. Flynn was not going around to the foreign governments applying sanctions with the US telling them to stop working with the US on sanctions. He simply relayed to Russia what was already public information, that a Trump presidency would not support the sanctions. This type of interaction seems like it would take place all the time in government. This was not an undermining of the sanctions as they were set up by the Obama administration, this was simply foreshadowing of the position of the next president, again, public information.

Again, my opinion here is all based on the assumption that Flynn didn't do anything but relay the Trump position. I fully expect that type of communication to be taking place, especially to countries with whom our relationship is strained due to the current administration.

[Paranoid Android]

Hey Guys, Flynn is not important. The real question is:

Who's the snitch!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...10532318429184

What a piece of shit. The most credit I can give Trump is he is trying to deflect this huge shit pile as much as he can. I mean if no leaks, no scandals, right?

[Breccia]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...10532318429184

Holy shit! That's what he went with? "How dare evidence of me and my staff's misdeeds be seen by the public"?

This is someone who openly praised WikiLeaks during his campaign speeches. Often.

[TZucchini]

Just in case anyone is keeping score. This is the THIRD adviser to Trump that has stepped down due to their questionable ties with Russia.

1. Paul Manafort

2. Carter Page

3. Michael Flynn


Nothing to see here, folks. Fake news. Unfair treatment. Etc.

[Machismo]

The last two presidential administrations allowed the deep state to run amok with surveillance/funding terrorism/overthrowing countries and who knows what else. There is a reason why these institutions were anti-Trump, because he posed a risk at reigning them in that Clinton did not. There is a reason why John McCain and politicians/talking heads like him were the most ardent anti-Trumpers.

I hope you will put more consideration into your position beyond the media narrative of 'Trump is a Russian agent', which is an absurd claim

But Trump has every desire to continue that authoritarian mentality. He has even stated that he would re-introduce torture. He has pushed for aggressive foreign policy, backs things like stop-and-frisk policies, and has made no moves to reduce the NDAA or Patriot Act. Not only that, he has called for increased scrutiny and monitoring of Muslims and mosques in this country. The police state is still very much alive in this country.

[Shadowferal]

So what part of the Logan act was violated? What changes did he try to influence in the 4 weeks between Obama's sanctions and when Trump was sworn in?

I guess you think those in congress don't know the law as well as you..
Perhaps you should tweet your support to Flynn...and Russia.

[Paranoid Android]

Holy shit! That's what he went with? "How dare evidence of me and my staff's misdeeds be seen by the public"?

This is someone who openly praised WikiLeaks during his campaign speeches. Often.

Yeah more irony.

[Machismo]

So what part of the Logan act was violated? What changes did he try to influence in the 4 weeks between Obama's sanctions and when Trump was sworn in?

When he discussed sanctions, and even lifting them, that likely broke the Logan Act. not only that, he lied about it (intelligence agencies got it on tape, apparently), which makes him susceptible to blackmail. That alone makes him a security risk, which means he cannot even do his job.

[Felya]

The last two presidential administrations allowed the deep state to run amok with surveillance/funding terrorism/overthrowing countries and who knows what else. There is a reason why these institutions were anti-Trump, because he posed a risk at reigning them in that Clinton did not. There is a reason why John McCain and politicians/talking heads like him were the most ardent anti-Trumpers.

I hope you will put more consideration into your position beyond the media narrative of 'Trump is a Russian agent', which is an absurd claim

Are you saying that republicans like McCain and democrats like the Clintons were telling you Trump is incompetent, because they are in cahoots to stop the only guy that can save us? Not because he is so incompetent, that for what seemed like 10 years, it was seemingly the only thing they agreed on? I get that Manafort resignation due to Russian ties was not enouph... but, can you at least not be flippant about Russian ties in a thread where despite warning from those evil in the establishment of Flynn's ties, Trump still kept him... and he resigned due to his ties to Russia?

You cannot really complain about the evil establishment Trump was fighting, in a thread where they explicitly right.

[Belize]

Well, when I get to work today I'll be betting the gas money I made off of Flynn's resignation that Conway will be next.

You may be right.

Conway looks increasingly... discheveled.

[jugzilla]

You people made an unacceptable moral compromise in Trump. You made your bed. You get to lie in it. Right now... yes... you are the villians. You threw in your lot with a racist... with a guy who made fun of disabililites, with a xenophobe, with a misogynist, who devalued our allies and said he'd order our sons and daughters to commit war crimes. And you did it while believing his lies about bringing back your jobs, which is so far beyond his power, it's absurd you believed it.

You had so many chances to get off the crazy train... no... don't expect pity. When Trump falls... and he will... the horror you feel will be richly deserved. You people made the most un-American candidate in decades... a living rejection of conservatism and monument to pathological immorality... President of the United States.

WHAT YOU MEAN YOU PEOPLE?

But it is really like that to you, maybe. This election wasn't about misogyny or disabilities. This was about jobs. That isn't a moral compromise. We see our jobs ship overseas. We hear..."oh its all automated now, those jobs don't exist anymore." Then why are those jobs still going overseas? We don't believe it. We know the blue counties don't give a damn about us in the hinterlands, and we voted in our interests. I WISH for every Trump/Hitler comparison that I could see a Trump/Perot comparison.

Russia will never be our ally versus China, and in any event, their cooperation versus China would _never_ be worth the price. It is better to have a harder time with China, and not cede ground in Europe or elsewhere in the world, than to cooperate with Russia towards stopping them, and giving Russia what it wants. Russia's cost is too high.

Being hostile to both is not exactly a display of skilled statesmanship. It is only a history lesson, but Russia has pretty much saved the world from dictatorship twice already, and has also been a horrible expansionist dictatorship once as well. They can go either way. I think you could use a dose of Nixon here.

[ControlWarrior]

Just in case anyone is keeping score. This is the THIRD adviser to Trump that has stepped down due to their questionable ties with Russia.

1. Paul Manafort

2. Carter Page

3. Michael Flynn


Nothing to see here, folks. Fake news. Unfair treatment. Etc.

I'm sure glad I'm not a Lieutenant General who has to listen to experts such as yourself discredit my career.

[Machismo]

If Trump were to announce publicly that he opposed sanctions on Russia and would repeal them, before he was sworn in as President, would that be breaking the Logan act? Isn't that the same thing? Wouldn't announcing anything about your foreign policy publicly, especially naming policies you would change, be against the Logan act?

I think the Logan act is being applied to broadly here. If all that took place was Flynn telling Russia Trump doesn't support sanctions. I don't understand, in this circumstance, how the Logan act applies. The clarifying context to when this act applies seems to be this:

Based on the assumption that the news is saying that the simple act of mentioning the sanctions broke this act, I would disagree because of the quoted context I posted above. I want to know what it is that Flynn said to Russia which defeated any measures of what was at the time the Obama administration. Flynn was not going around to the foreign governments applying sanctions with the US telling them to stop working with the US on sanctions. He simply relayed to Russia what was already public information, that a Trump presidency would not support the sanctions. This type of interaction seems like it would take place all the time in government. This was not an undermining of the sanctions as they were set up by the Obama administration, this was simply foreshadowing of the position of the next president, again, public information.

Again, my opinion here is all based on the assumption that Flynn didn't do anything but relay the Trump position. I fully expect that type of communication to be taking place, especially to countries with whom our relationship is strained due to the current administration.

Saying it in a campaign is a lot different than calling up foreign government officials and discussing getting rid of the sanctions once someone gets into office. Apparently, the intelligence agencies recorded those calls. Then, Flynn chose to lie about the conversations, which makes him vulnerable to blackmail.

The issue was that he was not in the government at the time, and would have been no different than if you or I had called up the ambassador, and made promises to do things for them once I was in power.

[Machismo]

I'm sure glad I'm not a Lieutenant General who has to listen to experts such as yourself discredit my career.

Well, considering he resigned... it would appear that Flynn knew he was screwed. Either that, or he was tossed under the bus... or both.

[Narwal]

When he discussed sanctions, and even lifting them, that likely broke the Logan Act. not only that, he lied about it (intelligence agencies got it on tape, apparently), which makes him susceptible to blackmail. That alone makes him a security risk, which means he cannot even do his job.

How did discussing sanctions with the country who is the target of those sanctions breaking the Logan act? It didn't stop the sanctions from taking place. It didn't stop any other countries from working with the US on sanctions. It was most likely a position statement, which was already common knowledge. What Flynn was doing was setting up the communications channels, and assuring Russia on Trumps position in order to give the Trump administration some leverage in working with Russia, hopefully warming the relationship from the cold war Obama has put us back into.

Not Al Qaeda, you said Russia,” Obama continued. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because you know, the Cold War has been over for 20 years.

[TZucchini]

I'm sure glad I'm not a Lieutenant General who has to listen to experts such as yourself discredit my career.

Deflect deflect deflect!!!!

Whatever makes you feel better about our obviously compromised Commander in Chief.

[Felya]

So what part of the Logan act was violated? What changes did he try to influence in the 4 weeks between Obama's sanctions and when Trump was sworn in?

Let's have an investigation into it. Because apparently the conversation he had was recorded by US intelligence. In fact, him not realizing it would be, is incredibly stupid for someone who held the position he has held. There seems to be enouph on that recording to convince Flynn to resign due to possibility of blackmail, instead of going the fake news route.

Again, he resigned... making him, as pointed out above, the third adviser Trump has had to resign due to ties to Russia.