[AMV] Amerikaanse politiek #584: 17 verschillende onderzoeken

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:01 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

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MSNBC twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 17:59:52 In sentencing hearing, judge tells Flynn that he will take into consideration his “years of service and sacrifice, and your cooperation,” but he can’t minimize the very serious crime: “Arguably, you sold your country out. The court is going to consider all that.” reageer retweet

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kylegriffin1 twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 18:05:04 Judge Sullivan: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense." https://t.co/pCxlqMQYw1 reageer retweet

Het lijkt erop dat de rechter de aanbeveling van 0-6 maanden gevangenisstraf in twijfel trekt?

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:14 schreef AnneX het volgende:
Daar komt Flynn toch niet makkelijk vanaf, toch?
En wordt hij gelijk al gesentenced? / veroordeeld?
Kan Flynn / advocaten in beroep?

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:16 schreef westwoodblvd het volgende:

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Ik geloof dat de rechter vindt dat Flynn een landverrader is en dan is 6 maanden wel erg weinig.

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MSNBC twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 18:15:54 Judge orders recess in Flynn sentencing until 12:30 p.m. ET. reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:17 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

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Dit is sentencing-day. In beroep gaan lijkt me niet handig in zijn geval. Hij heeft het al erger gemaakt door de omstandigheden van zijn interview aan te voeren.

Edit: Hoor net: Flynn waves the right to appeal

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kylegriffin1 twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 18:10:05 Judge Sullivan asked, hypothetically, could Michael Flynn have been charged with treason.Prosecutor Van Grack: "Because it's such a serious question, I am hesitant from answering." —@MSNBC reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 17:52 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

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MSNBC twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 17:48:34 Judge to Flynn: “This is a very serious offense -- a high ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the FBI while” at the White House. reageer retweet

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President Trump on Tuesday retreated from his demand that Congress give him $5 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, backing down amid acrimonious GOP infighting that left him with few options four days ahead of a partial government shutdown.

The news, delivered by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in an interview on Fox News, represented a major shift from Trump’s declaration last week that he would be “proud” to shut down the government to get the money he wanted for his border wall.

Democrats, who will reclaim the majority in the House just weeks from now, have consistently refused to give Trump anywhere near the $5 billion he wants.

But Sanders told Fox News Channel: “We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion.”

“At the end of the day we don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border,” Sanders said.

Sanders said the White House was exploring other funding sources and believed it could be legally done.

“There are certainly a number of different funding sources that we’ve identified that we can use, that we can couple with money that would be given through congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our border,” she said.

The apparent White house capitulation does not guarantee that a shutdown will be averted. Democrats were just beginning to assess the implications of Sanders’ comments to see if the White House is now willing to sign onto a budget deal they they could embrace.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) are meeting Tuesday at midday. Asked whether there was a deal to be had as she entered the meeting, Pelosi responded “we’ll see.”

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:39 schreef crystal_meth het volgende:

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Maar gaat dit niet over z'n bewering dat hij de sancties niet had besproken met de ambassadeur? Waarvan de FBI toen (eind februari 2017) zei dat hij niet opzettelijk gelogen had? (omdat hij niet over de economische sancties had gesproken, enkel over de uitgewezen diplomaten)

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In that interview, according to court documents, he claimed that he did not recall ever asking then-Russia ambassador Kislyak during a phone call in December 2016 to not have Russia retaliate against the United States for sanctions imposed on the country after accusations that Russia had interfered in the recent presidential election.

Flynn also told the agents, "No," when asked if he made any comment to Kislyak about Russia voting in a certain manner at the United Nations on a resolution sponsored by Egypt condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Both of those statements to the agents were false.

Bron

twitter:

MSNBC twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 18:54:21 DEVELOPING: Flynn defense team: “We are prepared to take your honor up on the suggestion of delaying sentencing."Live coverage now on @MSNBC. https://t.co/gaTgzEk3C9 reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:36 schreef Ulx het volgende:
Martha McSally krijgt de zetel van McCain heeft de gouverneur van Arizona besloten.

(Zes weken nadat de kiezers haar ongeschikt vonden en ze de verkiezingen verloor.)

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realDonaldTrump twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 12:41:27 Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion! reageer retweet

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SethAbramson twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 19:10:34 Trump screwed himself with today's tweet. Everyone sensed Flynn was anticipating a pardon and planned to withdraw a bit—in consequence—from his active cooperation with Mueller, so what does the judge do? Threatens—brilliantly—prison, thus forcing a delay and more Flynn cooperation. reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 18:50 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

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Jawel:

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Edit: bovendien heeft Flynn zich (in het geheim) laten betalen door de Turken om in hun naam te lobbyen. Dat heeft hij bekend maar is daar niet voor aangeklaagd blijkbaar.

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 19:40 schreef crystal_meth het volgende:

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Ah, dat van die stemming in de VN wist ik niet. Tja, vrij dom, ligt toch voor de hand dat ze Kislyak's gesprekken afluisteren.

Vervolging wegens het niet registreren als foreign agent is zeldzaam ("In September 2016, DOJ issued a report that tallied all the prosecutions under FARA since 1966—a total of seven.")

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 19:48 schreef Toby56 het volgende:
Goeie rechter. Hij verwerpt gewoon Muellers advies, doet niet aan gemakkelijke vriendjespolitiek en lijkt te zeggen: juist iemand als Flynn, met zo'n indrukwekkende en lange staat van dienst als dienaar van het land, is het zwaar aan te rekenen dat hij moedwillig liegt tegen de FBI en de vice-president. Plus alle shit met Oekraïne, Turkije, weet ik veel, ik ben het kwijt allemaal.
"Arguably you sold your country out."
En er dan mee wegkomen door een beetje met een onderzoek mee te werken. Hallelujah! No way!

Het voelt voor mij (gelukkig) als een vol punt voor de Trias Politica. (Waar Trump zo'n schijthekel aan heeft.)

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 19:24 schreef martijnde3de het volgende:

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Een veilige en niet verassende keuze, maar niet echt netjes aangezien ze net de verkiezingen heeft verloren.

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 19:56 schreef AnneX het volgende:

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Eensch!

Zou Mueller verwacht hebben, dat de rechter zijn aanbevelingen zou verwerpen en zelf wel kan beslissen...

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 19:48 schreef Toby56 het volgende:
Goeie rechter. Hij verwerpt gewoon Muellers advies, doet niet aan gemakkelijke vriendjespolitiek en lijkt te zeggen: juist iemand als Flynn, met zo'n indrukwekkende en lange staat van dienst als dienaar van het land, is het zwaar aan te rekenen dat hij moedwillig liegt tegen de FBI en de vice-president. Plus alle shit met Oekraïne, Turkije, weet ik veel, ik ben het kwijt allemaal.
"Arguably you sold your country out."
En er dan mee wegkomen door een beetje met een onderzoek mee te werken. Hallelujah! No way!

Het voelt voor mij (gelukkig) als een vol punt voor de Trias Politica. (Waar Trump zo'n schijthekel aan heeft.)

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Op dinsdag 18 december 2018 20:18 schreef martijnde3de het volgende:

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Maar waarom zulle mensen nog meewerken met Mueller als de rechters toch eigen conclusies en het advies niet overnemen? Je kan dan net zo goed je mond houden.

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washingtonpost twitterde op dinsdag 18-12-2018 om 20:53:00 Government shutdown still possible after Democrats reject new GOP offer on immigration, border security funding https://t.co/3aByPFMDH9 reageer retweet

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Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed

On Saturday, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro engaged in a bit of wishful fantasizing.

Earlier that week, Michael Flynn’s attorneys seemed to imply that he was tricked into lying to the FBI. In response, the judge in Flynn’s case asked for more information about Flynn’s interview. Pirro wagered that the judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, might blow up special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s entire case.

She hailed Sullivan as “a jurist unafraid of the swamp, a judge who has a track record of calling out prosecutorial misconduct, a man who does not tolerate injustice or abuse of power.” She suggested Flynn’s guilty plea might be thrown out: “The amazing part of it is, if he does it, then the house of cards of Robert Mueller falls.”

That’s decidedly not what happened Tuesday. In fact, quite the opposite.

At Flynn’s sentencing, Sullivan made a point of making sure that Flynn stated (and restated) that he lied to the FBI, that he knew it was wrong to do so and that he accepted responsibility. Sullivan asked Flynn whether he knew that lying to the FBI was illegal, and Flynn said, “I was aware.” The judge gave Flynn several chances to withdraw his guilty plea, and Flynn opted to proceed.

Then Sullivan went big. “Arguably, you sold your country out,” he told Flynn, adding: “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense.” He even invoked treason, asking the government whether they considered such a charge. (The government said it had not.) Sullivan suggested Flynn was working as a foreign agent while serving in the White House — a claim which he later backed off.

Sullivan was clearly seeking to uproot the seeds of doubt planted by Flynn’s attorneys in the sentencing memo, which alleged that the government treated Flynn differently than other witnesses by urging him not to bring an attorney to questioning and failing to tell him that lying was illegal.

Bron: WaPo

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Judge Emmet Sullivan is throwing another wrench into former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s plans.

Just hours after delaying Flynn’s sentencing, Sullivan is now saying Flynn must stay within 50 miles of the District of Columbia come Jan. 4.

Flynn had been allowed to travel freely under the conditions laid out by another judge. But Sullivan says he only learned of that today. He is now requiring Flynn to get his permission before he travels outside that zone, as he typically does in such cases.

The order could cause some complications for Flynn, who has been living in Middletown, Rhode Island, near his family.

Sullivan says he is approving Flynn’s already planned international travel but will also require him to surrender his passport in January.

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Mueller Probe Cost $25 Million So Far, Report Says. It’s Pulled in $48 Million From Tax Cheats

Robert Mueller's investigation has cost just over $25 million in the first 16 months of its investigation, according to CNBC.

The Special Counsel's Office released new an expenditure report Friday which revealed that the six months between the beginning of April through September cost about $4.5 million. More than half of the total cost is attributed to personnel compensation and benefits.

Since beginning the probe in May 2017, investigating whether Russia was linked to the Trump presidential campaign, Mueller has filed more than 100 criminal charges.

Though the investigation comes with a hefty price tag, it may have actually paid for its own investigation, with its probe leading to monetary estimated gains of up to $48 million for the government through the tax evasion the investigation has revealed.

Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, was sentenced for conspiracy and obstruction of justice in September. As part of his plea deal, Manafort agreed to forfeit assets that amount to between $42 million and $46 million, including about $22 million in property, CNBC reports. The case revealed how Manafort avoided paying more than $15 million in taxes by laundering $60 million from pro-Russian Ukrainians, CNN reports.

Manafort reportedly violated the conditions of his plea deal, and last month prosecutors said that he could face more charges.

Earlier this week, Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes including paying hush money to a porn star and Playboy model. As part of his deal, Cohen agreed to pay $1.4 million in unpaid taxes and hand over $500,000 in assets as well as pay $100,000 in fines.

Throughout the investigation, Trump has called efforts by Mueller's team a 'witch hunt' and has blasted the special counsel for its growing cost.

With Mueller's investigation not yet completed, it's difficult to say how much it will ultimately cost American taxpayers. An investigation into President Bill Clinton, which took place between 1994 and 1998, reportedly cost about $40 million.