Remember David French?
The National Review writer and lawyer was famously vetted as a potential conservative presidential alternative candidate to Donald Trump. Nothing ever came from that process, but French remains a prominent voice in one of the most popular conservative magazines in the country.
A lawyer by trade, French has examined the bombshell news this morning that former White House National Security Adivsor Michael Flynn plead guilty on charges of lying to the FBI. The charges stem from the ongoing investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia, being led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and that’s it.
Just in: Robert Mueller has charged former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn with “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia’s ambassador. pic.twitter.com/WqvDmytYiZ
— David Wright (@DavidWright_7) December 1, 2017
French’s reaction was initial confusion. He writes, “I was struck by an immediate thought. If this is all there is, then Flynn is the victim of a monstrous injustice. If not, then brace yourselves.”
What should we be bracing for exactly? French catches this key detail: “The sharp-eyed reader will note that Flynn is being charged with lying to the FBI about activity that isn’t criminal.”
Isn’t criminal is the key. Why did Flynn lie then? French thinks there is more to the story, and that a plea deal may be in place.
He explains further:
What does this mean? Either an immense amount of reporting about Flynn’s foreign ties is sensationalistic and wrong (possible), or prosecutors entered into a classic plea deal where a defendant pleads guilty to a minor crime to escape accountability for more serious crimes in exchange for cooperation and potential testimony against the true targets of the investigation. A sweetheart deal plus continued cooperation strongly signals that Donald Trump’s former national security adviser (an extraordinary high-level official) is not the ultimate target of Mueller’s probe, and that Mueller believes that Flynn’s testimony is valuable enough to let him off with a relative slap on the wrist.
Time will tell whether or not Flynn rolls on Donald Trump. We still need to know more information. But, at this point, things aren’t looking great for the White House.
What do you think? Is Flynn about to sell Trump out to Mueller? Tell us your thoughts below!
H/T National Review
Wouldn’t surprise me, but what exactly is he going to sell Trump out to Mueller about? As French – a charter member of the #Never Trump crowd at NR – points out, “Flynn is being charged with lying to the FBI about activity that isn’t criminal.” Well, why not? After all, Mueller himself has been appointed Special Counsel to investigate activity that isn’t criminal either – a total misapplication of the Special Counsel law. Name an occasion when something good resulted from one of these Special Counsel investigations. They chew up massive amounts of time and money, and in the end the mountain roars and brings forth a mouse – the conviction of “Scooter” Libby on charges unrelated to the purpose of Patrick Fitzgerald’s farcical investigation of the asinine Plame affair being the quintessential example of just how monumentally stupid and wasteful these things always are. But then seeking justice isn’t really the objective; finding some way – any way – to invalidate Trump’s extraordinary electoral victory and unorthodox presidency is. This tragicomedy will drag on interminably, nailing whatever hides it can successfully hound into committing some kind of infraction, no matter how minor or irrelevant, to the wall and doing more and greater damage to the fabric of America than the alleged Russian meddling and colluding in our election ever did or could. It’s a travesty.