The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: Chosen Daughter on February 14, 2020, 09:03:23 pm
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Report: Barr orders re-examination of Flynn case, others
Flynn is awaiting sentencing for lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation
By Evan Perez, David Shortell and Katelyn Polantz | CNN
Attorney General William Barr is ordering a re-examination of several high-profile cases, including that of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, US officials briefed on the matter say, in a move that could bring fresh scrutiny of the political motives behind actions at the Justice Department.
US Attorney Jeffrey Jensen of St. Louis has been tasked with taking a second look at some aspects of the sensitive cases, one of the officials said. It was not clear which other cases were under review, and what form the reviews had taken.
The revelation, first reported by The New York Times, comes days after Barr’s Justice Department undercut career prosecutors in the case of Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone to recommend a reduced sentence. The decision led four federal prosecutors to quit the case and invited fresh questions about the impartiality of Barr’s Justice Department from political matters. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Barr had also been pressing for a sentence for Flynn that would spare him from prison.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/14/report-barr-orders-re-examination-of-flynn-case-others/ (https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/14/report-barr-orders-re-examination-of-flynn-case-others/)
Flynn was forced out after just 24 days in the White House, fired after a drumbeat of news stories revealed that he'd secretly received thousands of dollars in payments for work he'd done on behalf of companies connected to the Turkish and Russian governments and that he failed to disclose. He also came under fire for discussing new U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Kremlin's ambassador while the Obama administration was still in office. And the FBI's former director revealed in June that Flynn was being investigated for lying to federal agents.
An indictment of Flynn would pose a special challenge for the Trump administration. The White House was quick to dismiss the allegations against Manafort as having occurred largely outside of his time serving the campaign, and they have noted that he was not a part of the administration. Papadopoulos was similarly characterized as just a "low-level" volunteer. But Flynn's association with Trump was more substantial, as was his service.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-11-02/what-paul-manaforts-indictment-means-for-michael-flynn (https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-11-02/what-paul-manaforts-indictment-means-for-michael-flynn)
Looks like that is what AG Barr is doing.
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Prosecutorial misconduct is like an STD. Previous contacts - in this case, previous prosecutions - must be back-tracked and checked.
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Fox, meet henhouse.
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:2popcorn: