Excerpt �Disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn is prepared to testify that President Trump �directed him to make contact with the Russians� during last year�s presidential campaign, according to reports.�
Michael Flynn. (photo: Sky News)
Flynn Set to Testify Trump Told Him to Contact Russians During Campaign
01 December 17
This story has been updated. The
previous version was posted in error and was not related to the original
headline. 
isgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn is prepared to testify that President Trump �directed him to make contact with the Russians� during last year�s presidential campaign, according to reports.
Flynn has promised special counsel Robert Mueller his full cooperation as he pleads guilty to lying to the FBI, ABC News� Brian Ross reported on Friday.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian diplomat, but was convinced to cooperate after he learned the extent of the information Mueller's team had on him, Ross said.
�He is prepared to testify, we are told by a confidant, against President Trump, against members of the Trump family and others in the White House,� Ross said.
Flynn is ready to spill the beans on Trump, according to Ross.
He is prepared to testify that, as a candidate, Trump �directed him to make contact with the Russians.�
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras said during Flynn�s plea hearing that the government will decide how effectively Flynn is cooperating as part of a plea agreement.
Flynn said, �my guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel's Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country.�
ABC also reported that Flynn made the decision to cooperate with Mueller only in the past 24 hours, as he faced mounting legal bills and intense pressure from prosecutors. �He is distraught about the decision, but feels he is doing the right thing for his country,� Ross said.
Ross� report and the information from the plea hearing raised more questions about what exactly was asked of Flynn.
�If true, what kinds of things did Trump direct Flynn to request from Russians officials during and after the campaign?� former federal attorney Preet Bharara tweeted. �Trump is not know for caution or modest requests.�
Robert Costello, the former deputy chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney�s Office of New York�s southern district, said Flynn�s guilty plea is �highly significant� for Mueller�s team.
�This can clearly create problems for Donald Trump,� Costello said.
Flynn may have violated the obscure Logan Act, a 1799 law barring citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.
�Unless you�re the U.S. government, you�re simply not allowed to contact the Russian government to discuss policy. That�s just a fact,� he said.
�President Trump is certainly more concerned today than he was yesterday,� Costello added.
Others noted the range of crimes that Flynn has been linked to, including violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act and failing to disclose contacts with Turkish officials, when compared to the one charge he faced on Friday.
�The fact that Flynn was charged with, and is pleading guilty to, such a minor crime, suggests a bombshell of a deal with prosecutors,� Cornell law professor Jens Ohlin told Reuters.
�Flynn was facing serious criminal liability for a variety of alleged missteps, including his failure to register as an agent of a foreign power,� Ohlin added. �If this is the entirety of the plea deal, the best explanation for why Mueller would agree to it is that Flynn has something very valuable to offer in exchange: damaging testimony on someone else.�
Costello, a registered Republican, said he believes Mueller�s probe could lead to Trump�s exit from the White House.
�He will clearly continue to work up the chain, it�s the standard game plan,� Costello said. �They try to get as many people to cooperate as possible, before they take final action, whatever that might be.
�In this case I think it could be impeachment,� he added.
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Your love for the Constitution-ha ting NSA is duly noted.
Walter? Did you write this?
The Canadian equivalent is the Toronto Globe&Mail which likes to fancy itself as Canada's "newspaper of record". I parted company with them when they recommended electing a Conservative majority govt (Stephen Harper as PM) in the last federal election campaign. They got their wish - I often wonder if they regret it. Common sense would suggest that they should. Anyway, for that and other reasons I gave up on them and shifted to the Toronto Star - which is also partisan but unlike the G&M doesn't pretend it isn't - and is partisan in a more civilized way. Also, the Star has much better columnists: Haroon Siddiqi, Heather Mallick, Linda Mcuaig, Thomas Walkom, Tim Harper, Rick Salutin, Chantal Hebert, ...
1) Participatory Media who's shares are owned by all Founder, Worker, Supplier & Consumer stakeholders who are represented in systems of Progressive Ownership in distinct associations & on the corporate board of directors. Time-based accounting in participatory companies accords credits for each stakeholder's exceptional natural contributions. When each of these 4 stakeholders exceptionally contribute expertise, time, resources, money, property, good, services or patronage, there are ways to measure the market value & accord shares.
https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/7-participatory-companies
2) The news presented covers all perspectives, reporting from all sides with often conflicting vantages given. If media is not presenting all sides, they have a particular agenda, are lazy & usually are deliberately lying. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/both-sides-now-equal-time-recorded-dialogues
In 1975, the WP's unionized printers went out on strike. The post's response was to fire them and replace them with non-union labor. One can I think make a reasonable case that this became the precedent for Ronald Reagan doing the same thing to the unionized air traffic controllers in 1981 (hard to imagine Reagan's staff was unaware of this move on the part of the "liberal" WP and figured hey if the "liberal" WP can do it it's a no brainer for us to do the same).
We cannot.
And All Scoundrels Rejoice.
What goes around comes around. What do we expect for the invasions & destruction of humanity's sustainable vastly abundant worldwide 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generatin g') cultures? Do we expect to just continue on in the destructive colonial patterns we worship? If we want to move forward as a sustainable people, then we will have to address our foundations. www.indigenecommunity.info
Major General Albert Stubblebine, a member of U.S. Military Intelligence Hall of Fame,
tried to get the truth out that no plane hit the Pentagon and the WTC towers were brought down by controlled demolition. No mainstream media including The Guardian would cover his statements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daNr_TrBw6E
Ted Gunderson, former head of FBI for Los Angeles, Houston and Memphis, gave his opinions on why 9/11 was an inside job. No mainstream media would cover that either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRaezLTU2a0
So why is the media covering Snowdon?
9/11 is the key to ending war forever, in my opinion.
If the majority knew the truth, it would certainly end the fake war on terror. But would that cause our illusion of democracy to be replaced with the very apparent police state that is lurking in the background, stockpiling millions of rounds of hollow-point bullets?
They have the wealth. They own the media.
They have the police state in place.
And most of the people I talk to have bought their lies.
So why is he cheap if you didn't know?
The answers are 1) Nothing, and 2)Because the rightwing (and extreme left) saw this as an opportunity to vilify Obama.
The uninformed majority in this country would most likely buy the false premise that if it is criminal to reveal the spying, the spying must be legal.
Are Snowden's actions worse than Berger's who only had to pay a fine?
Yes, of course they are! Snowden stole and SHARED classified US intelligence with foreign powers who do not necessarily have our best interests at heart. That's textboook espionage and probably legally treasonous.
Just keep tracking !
Anyone read today's Paul Craig Roberts article about Putin's remarks at the G8?
So thankful for anyone (like Greenwald) who believes that facts are good things, and competency should be a requirement in journalism. Or call the reports and paper, "opinion", not news.
God protect and preserve you, and the nothing but True Liberty and Freedom, and True Journalism, that you represent and uphold, Glenn Greenwald. God speed, True Patriot; and may you live long and prosper in those continued pursuits!
The case of Gary Webb is monumental. When he published his stories in the San Jose Mercury about CIA and cocaine traffic to gangs in LA, the WaPo lead the attack on Webb for his reporting. I recall Pincus was a leader in that attack.
We must remember that Walter Pincus was one reporter exposed in the 70s as having taken payments from the CIA. The Church Committee exposed 300 US journalists who took bribes from the CIA -- regular payroll they called it.
The WaPo story on Greenwald is not new. This is what Pincus and the Post have done over and over. They are the gatekeepers of news. They break the stories that they think americans should know and they cover up what they think americans should not know. Katherine Graham, long time owner of the Post, said exactly this in an interview, "there are some things the people should not know." Hardly, the right attitude for an owner of a major newspaper.