OPINION

Flynn's Lawyers Expose KGB-style Behavior At the DOJ and FBI

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On April 24, the DOJ produced exculpatory evidence to Michael Flynn's defense team. While the contents are currently under seal, we received a glimpse of what was handed over through Flynn's defense filing with the court. The new evidence "proves Mr. Flynn's allegations of having been deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI," wrote Michael Flynn's lawyers, Sidney Powell and Jesse Binnall, in a scathing brief to the court, supplementing their prior motion for a dismissal of Flynn's criminal charges. "This case is a shameful blight on the American justice system," the defense declared. 

Flynn's new brief alleges that federal agents hid evidence, conspired to create crimes for Flynn, conspired to get him fired, made baseless threats, engaged in unlawful side deals, and then attempted to cover it all up. Forgive me for the language, but this is some KGB-level sh*t. Sometimes there's no better way to say something than to call it as it is. The Flynn prosecution sounds like something out of a Putin-playbook. When did the FBI turn into the KGB?  

"[P]artisan FBI and DOJ leaders conspired to destroy Mr. Flynn ... deliberately suppressed this evidence from the inception of this prosecution knowing there was no crime by Mr. Flynn," his defense team wrote boldly yet reservedly. Had Flynn kept his prior lawyers, who pled him guilty to the bogus accusations, we would have never known that FBI and DOJ officials played KGB games with unsuspecting Americans. Powell and Binnall have exposed government abuses of power that we have only previously seen in movies — "corrupt agents at the top of the FBI." Flynn's new defense team achieved the seemingly impossible: they drilled a hole in the Iron Curtain that has shielded the deep state from public scrutiny, giving us a peek at the "public servants" acting as unscrupulous puppeteers of our justice system.

According to The Federalist's source, an FBI official, the documents produced to Flynn's team "will reflect poorly on the FBI." Well, talk about an understatement! America is not a playpen for the FBI, Mr. Secret Agent Man! 

Quick Rewind

Michael Flynn publicly declared his innocence after hiring the new defense team. "I am innocent of this crime, and I request to withdraw my plea," is the essence of the Declaration he filed back in January. In it, he explains what happened and why. He took the plea because his former lawyers conveyed legal threats from the FBI and DOJ, "charges against me, my son, as well as the potential of a long term prison sentence." A 15-year prison sentence, his lawyers said, plus "the Manafort treatment." Flynn was intimidated by the dire prospects and did what he was advised by counsel to do in order to preserve his son's freedom — he plead guilty. His former lawyers told him what to say and how to say it, and Flynn did as he was advised by the people he trusted. Little did he know, Flynn's lawyers had other interests at heart, conflicting interests, to be precise. 

But all the while, Flynn's lawyers were concealing the truth: that the federal agents who interviewed him at the White House believed there was no indication that Flynn ever lied to them. Instead, his lawyers led Flynn to believe that federal agents could prove that he lied and that there was a solid case of falsification against him, Flynn conveys in the Declaration. That was the foundation of his plea. 

"People think that a three-star general must know everything, but I was a fish-out-of-water in a terrifying and completely foreign situation, with none of the legal skills necessary to deal with the many things being thrown at me." Little did he know, Michael Flynn wasn't just dealing with complex legal issues, he was being set up by the FBI and his own lawyers. 

After Flynn realized from watching the news that the case against him was suspicious, he tried to reverse the plea, but his former lawyers kept patronizing him, telling him the guilty plea was "a good deal." But a good deal for who? 

According to a January filing by the new defense team, what Flynn didn't know at the time was that his former lawyers were being bullied by the DOJ into believing that they were personally involved in a criminal enterprise. This fear was accompanied by the possibility of criminal prosecution for their own actions resulting from botched documents the former lawyers filed with the DOJ in Flynn's case back in 2017. Instead of notifying Flynn of the conflict at hand, the attorneys charged Flynn hundreds of thousands of dollars for attempts to fix their own mistakes. They also progressed with the representation of Flynn, in violation of court rules that require their withdrawal under such circumstances. "Mindful of their own interests, Mr. Flynn's former counsel repeatedly gave him advice that was not 'within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases'... They did irreparable damage to Mr. Flynn," his new defense team revealed. Powell and Binnall exposed egregious attorney misconduct: in essence, the former defense team was looking out for their personal interests in trying to secure a guilty plea for Flynn, trying to avoid their own prosecution — "they worked to position themselves favorably [with the feds] at Mr. Flynn's expense." That is why "they kept from [Flynn] information they knew was crucial to his decision [of whether to plead guilty]." It was in the former counsel's personal best interest for Flynn to plead guilty — it would get them off the hook for their botched DOJ filing. 

"As God as my witness, the truth is I am innocent," concluded Gen. Michael Flynn in his Declaration of innocence. "I will fight to restore my good name."

Back to Present Day

Federal prosecutors, who for the duration of Flynn's prosecution have been aware of both the conflict of interest of Flynn's former counsel and the set-up by the FBI, nonetheless opposed Flynn's effort to change his plea. How does government counsel justify this position as ethical? Is this another case of prosecutorial misconduct, as Flynn's lawyer, Jesse Binnall, previously asserted of the Roger Stone prosecutors? Or is this even worse? Is this malicious prosecution?  

Powell and Binnall's masterful illumination of the Michael Flynn prosecution has exposed unacceptable FBI and DOJ practices, activities by top officials that shame our country, practices that draw direct comparisons to our ideological enemies. All the while, Flynn's defense team insinuates that this is just the beginning, that there remains more to show us. In the end, what will the defense of Michael Flynn reveal about the law enforcers acting on behalf of the United States of America? What else have the federal giants been hiding behind their Iron Curtain? What will become of the FBI and the DOJ? 

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