Former National Security Adviser and Trump surrogate Michael Flynn on Tuesday admitted guilt for a second time at a sentencing hearing in federal court.
According to CBS correspondent Steven Portnoy, Judge Emmet Sullivan effectively forced Flynn to re-plea after his attorneys and President Donald Trump suggested that the former national security adviser had been entrapped by federal investigators.
Read Portnoy’s tweets below.
WHOA. Judge Sullivan says the circumstances of Flynn's FBI interview, as raised by his attorneys last week, "concerned the court."
Sullivan says they raise "issues that may call into question his guilty plea."
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan asks Flynn if he wishes to challenge the circumstances under which he was interviewed.
Flynn says NO.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan asks Flynn if he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal.
"I was aware," Flynn says.
He is NOT taking Sullivan's offer to withdraw his guilty plea.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan asks if Flynn is ready to accept responsibility
"I am, your honor," Flynn answers forcefully.
Sullivan asks if Flynn would rather postpone the proceedings. He declines the offer.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI.
"No, your honor," says the lawyer.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge is still probing, asking Flynn's attorneys:
"My question is, how is raising those contentions about the circumstances [of the FBI interview] consistent with his acceptance of responsibility?"
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Defense Attorney Robert Kelner says Flynn "fully accepts responsibility" and "stands by his guilty plea." He says he included for judge information he "might want to see" for sentencing purposes.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Saying he's "puzzled" by the documents he's seen, Sullivan makes it explicitly clear he was concerned by the circumstances of the FBI interview, but Flynn and his attorneys are *repeatedly* declining the judge's offers to delay or steer the proceeding off course.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
One final time, and still sounding skeptical, Sullivan asks Flynn, "If you want to proceed because you are guilty of this offense…"
Flynn says he is, and wants to proceed.
Sullivan accepts the plea.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan has sent Flynn and his attorneys back to their table.
He says he wants to now go over Flynn's plea agreement and the facts that went into it.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan describes Flynn's crime as a "very serious offense" — a high ranking government official lying to the FBI, and doing it "while on the physical premises of the White House."
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Mueller prosecutor Brandon van Grack haltingly tells Sullivan it is a "possibility" that Flynn is still cooperating with the special counsel's office.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Prosecutor Van Grack says Flynn provided "substantial assistance" in the case announced yesterday, involving his work as an unregistered agent of the government of Turkey, and could have been charged in connection with that case.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan is giving Flynn yet another chance to delay — now telling him it's his "prerogative" whether to move forward — because he hasn't necessarily finished offering helpful information to the government that might mitigate a sentence.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan repeats the phrase "very serious offense" to describe Flynn's crime… "in the West Wing!"
"The aggravating circumstances are serious," Sullivan says.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
SULLIVAN WARNS FLYNN OF A PRISON SENTENCE:
"You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the president!
"Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense."
Giving Flynn the chance to delay until he's finished cooperating, Sullivan says he "can't promise anything" about the sentence he's about to hand down.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
I gotta tell you folks, this is pretty good drama.
It's a shame federal courts have decided the public shouldn't be able to see this on television.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
DID FLYNN COMMIT TREASON?
Sullivan is now asking the special counsel's office whether it ever considered charging Flynn with treason.
Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack struggles to answer, saying it wasn't considered.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
Sullivan recesses until 12:30pmET because Flynn has asked for the chance to confer with his lawyers before moving forward…
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018
