I follow a bunch of good lawyers on Twitter. One of the websites they are from is Just Security, which deals with the legal aspects of national security matters. Hence, the Flynn guilty plea and the Russian antics. They’ve got a post up with analysis of this morning’s events and documents.
With the announcement, Mueller’s team released a criminal information document, detailing what Flynn is pleading guilty to. Although there is evidence that Flynn potentially committed other crimes, it appears he is only pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents who were investigating his contacts with Russian officials as part of the larger probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Following Flynn’s hearing, the Mueller team also released Flynn’s plea agreement and a statement of offense.
It looks like the tweet I posted earlier from a colleague was right:
Based on the plea document, we now know that on the same day (Dec. 29) that the Obama administration announced new sanctions against Russia and kicked out 35 Russian officials in response to Russian hacking, Flynn got on the phone with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and asked him not to escalate the situation. The White House repeatedly denied that this is what Flynn discussed with Kislyak.
We also know that on Dec. 22, Flynn spoke with Kislyak about a pending UN Security Resolution on Israeli settlements. He told the FBI that he did not ask the Russian ambassador to delay or defeat the vote on it, but we now know this was not true. The Obama administration resisted pressure by the Israeli government and abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction to be adopted. Trump tweeted his disapproval on Dec. 23.
From Asha Rangappa, a former special agent in the New York office of the FBI,
“I think Flynn is giving up the goods, big time.”
On a related subject,
The Flynn story broke just before 09:30 EST. The Dow opened flat. At 11:00 EST, McConnell announced he had the votes to pass the tax bill. At 11:10, the Dow crashed. Just sayin. https://t.co/HKcRNxMov1
— Sam Greene (@samagreene) December 1, 2017