Russiagate, Flynn and ObamaBidengate

Well, it was a bountiful day in the fields of Russiagate. I'm going to break this into two piecestoday, just in the interest of getting it done in segments, first Flynn and "Obama/Bidengate", then new updates on the remainder of "older" Russiagate.

There are at least two important moves in the Flynn case; first, in addition to soliciting amicus curae briefs on sentencing, Judge Sullivan has asked a friendly retired  New York federal judge John Gleeson to take the place of the prosecution, and argue against the dismissal of the case against Flynn by DOJ, and in fact, to consider a charge of perjury, based on Flynn's twice repeated guilty plea, which he has asked to be revoked. Wow! To call this all unheard of is an understatement. WaPoo,  Court asks retired judge to oppose Justice Dept. effort to drop Michael Flynn case, examine whether ex-Trump adviser committed perjury.  Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Judge In Michael Flynn Case Isn’t Tossing Charges Just Yet. Sundance at CTH, Andrew McCarthy Reacts to Judge Sullivan Requesting Amicus Briefs in Criminal Case…



More McCarthy from NR, The Politicized Order Inviting Amicus Briefs against the Flynn Case’s Dismissal. Capt. Ed at Hot Air, Judge To DoJ: Not So Fast On Flynn Withdrawal and John Sexton at Hot Air VIP, Federal Judge In Flynn’s Case Appoints Former Judge To Oppose The DOJ Dismissal.  Sundance, Outrageous – Flynn Judge Orders Retired Judicial Ally to File Brief Supporting Prosecution of Michael Flynn…. Matt Vespa, Town Hall, Clown Show: Flynn Was Never Charged With Perjury, But Now Could Be Facing Charges...of Perjury.  Law and Crime (a never Trump crowd), Federal Judge Orders Arguments on Whether Michael Flynn Should Be Jailed for Perjury and former conservative and now TDS victim Patterico, If Judge Sullivan Denied the Motion to Dismiss Flynn’s Case, Would an Appellate Court Uphold the Decision? Maybe There’s a Scenario Where the Answer Is Yes. Liz Vaughn at Red State, Judge Sullivan Appoints Retired Judge to Determine if Flynn Should Be Held in Contempt for Perjury, Turley Responds

In the Twitter thread which follows, Turley discusses this new development which he finds disturbing. He writes:

Considering a new charge based on Flynn’s effort to withdraw his plea. Consider the implications for many cases where defendants seek to withdraw pleas due to prosecutorial abuse. It would create a threat of a judicial charge even when prosecutors agree with defendants.”
He is now allowing third parties to make arguments in a criminal case on an unopposed motion…there comes a point where the Court appears too invested in the punishment of a defendant and too active in creating alternatives to dismissal.

Read the whole thread . . .

Insty, QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED: In Regards to Michael Flynn, What does Judge Sullivan hope to accomplish? Related: Judge considering holding Michael Flynn in criminal contempt for perjury in connection with guilty plea.

The other big happening in the Flynn drama is the the release, by Senators Johnson and Grassley, of Rick Grenell's list of the people who had Flynn's name unmasked from intelligence reports in the waning days of the Obama administration. The three page list curiously includes then Vice President Biden. Brooke Singman at Fox, List of officials who sought to 'unmask' Flynn released: Biden, Comey, Obama chief of staff among them. Matt Margolis, PJ Media, List of Obama Officials Who Sought to 'Unmask' Flynn Released, Capt. Ed at Hot Air, CBS: Look At All The People Who Requested To Unmask Flynn — Including One Joe Biden. Sundance, DNI Grenell Releases Names of Obama Officials Who Requested Unmasking of NSA Reports Containing Michael Flynn… and Flashback: James Comey Explains FBI Unmasking in 2017 – Today The FBI is Conflating Two Collection Aspects…. and Devin Nunes Discusses Unmasking: “It’s Much Worse Than This” – The Entire Trump Transition Was Under Surveillance… and Senator Rand Paul Reacts to Obama Officials Unmasking and Leaking Trump Transition Team Communications … Twitchy, ‘Sad and pathetic’: Kellyanne Conway and others LEVEL WaPo fact checker’s attempt to downplay list of Obama officials who requested Flynn unmasking.

Biden's Rapid Response Guy appears to be Rapidly Freaking Out over today's news. Here he attacks a tenacious reporter merely for breaking the news about (admittedly explosive and bad for Biden) public documents. https://t.co/oSynS6Rmd9

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 13, 2020

Insty. DOUBLE STANDARDS ARE THE BEST STANDARDS BECAUSE YOU GET TWICE AS MANY AS LESS-PRINCIPLED PEOPLE DO:

The same media that went nuclear defending a no-talent CBS reporter who has never broken a big story in her life & was clearly purposely grandstanding at the WH briefing, will now ignore Team Biden's attacks on a CBS reporter who is actually respected for breaking major stories🤡 https://t.co/ASqJrPD4wq

— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) May 13, 2020

Susan Ferrechio at WaEx, 'Obama was in this up to his eyeballs': Rand Paul requests Grenell testify about Flynn unmasking. J.C. McCallum at News Thud, WATCH: Rand Paul holds presser, says Joe Biden has been caught red-handed eavesdropping on a political opponent. RCP, Rand Paul: "Vice President Biden Is Guilty Of Using Government To Go After A Political Opponent"

"These rumors have been going around for years that Obama's administration was abusing te power of unmasking, and this sounds like they were using it to go after a political opponent, which is a serious offense and should be investigated," Paul said. "The fact that Vice President Biden is directly involved in the unmasking of a political opponent -- think about it. You remember impeachment? They said the president was using the government to go after a political opponent? This is Vice President Biden using the spying powers of the U.S. to go after a political opponent and he is caught red-handed here... eavesdropping on a political opponent's phone calls."

"Every reporter in the country needs to ask this legitimate question. They need to come out of hibernation and ask Vice President Biden, do we think it is a legitimate function of government to eavesdrop on political opponents, illegally unmask them and listen to their private conversation?"

Tristan Justice at Da Fed, Joe Biden Denies Then Admits To Knowledge Of FBI’s Flynn Set Up. Da Wire, Rand Paul On Flynn Case, Russia Probe: I ‘Strongly Believe’ Obama Gave ‘Direct Oversight And Direct Permission For This’

And some miscellaneous Flynngate, Fox, KT McFarland reveals how she and Michael Flynn were 'ambushed' as part of an FBI 'setup'. Eric Lendrum at AmGreat wants Michael Flynn for Vice President, while MSNBC Suggests Russia Behind Dropping of Flynn Case, from Bongino.

Jeffry Lord at AmSpec proclaims Obamagate "What did the ex-president know and when did he know it?" John Daniel Davidson at Da Fed, ‘Obamagate’ Isn’t A Conspiracy Theory, It’s The Biggest Political Scandal Of Our Time. Michael Goodwin at NYPo, Get ready for ‘Obamagate’ to become ‘ObamaBidengate’: Goodwin, and finally from CNS News, Ken Starr: Barack Obama Has Opened Himself to 'Huge Questions'