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The Robert Mueller Investigation


Hugo Stiglitz

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My guess on Flynn is that the sentencing keeps getting delayed because Flynn is wavering on his guilty plea and he may be trying to leverage his perceived advantage in the case as a result of the supposed Comey/McCabe/FBI investigators supposedly claiming that they did not think Flynn lied.  If, and it is a big if, those agents did say that then Flynn may think he has leverage to get a greatly reduced sentence.

Also likely hinges on what Flynn has to provide on trump collusion and whether or not Mueller finds any collusion.  If Mueller does not find any collusion, as I predict, then I think it is likely that Flynn gets pardoned or gets a drastically reduced sentence.  If Mueller finds collusion then Flynn will likely be dealt with more harshly.

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5 minutes ago, sheeeit said:

My guess on Flynn is that the sentencing keeps getting delayed because Flynn is wavering on his guilty plea and he may be trying to leverage his perceived advantage in the case as a result of the supposed Comey/McCabe/FBI investigators supposedly claiming that they did not think Flynn lied.  If, and it is a big if, those agents did say that then Flynn may think he has leverage to get a greatly reduced sentence.

Also likely hinges on what Flynn has to provide on trump collusion and whether or not Mueller finds any collusion.  If Mueller does not find any collusion, as I predict, then I think it is likely that Flynn gets pardoned or gets a drastically reduced sentence.  If Mueller finds collusion then Flynn will likely be dealt with more harshly.

lemme guess....you have none, nada, zero, zilch experience in any aspect of criminal law.

...or law in general for that matter.

 

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7 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

lemme guess....you have none, nada, zero, zilch experience in any aspect of criminal law.

...or law in general for that matter.

 

He sounds like an expert to me. He is probably next in line to be Trump's attorney. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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3 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

He sounds like an expert to me. He is probably next in line to be Trump's attorney. 

He's got the complete lack of shame despite being repeatedly embarrassed thing down cold. 

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10 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

lemme guess....you have none, nada, zero, zilch experience in any aspect of criminal law.

...or law in general for that matter.

 

Maybe you can enlighten me on what I posted that would be in contrast with criminal law.

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Just now, sheeeit said:

Maybe you can enlighten me on what I posted that would be in contrast with criminal law.

this...

Quote

My guess on Flynn is that the sentencing keeps getting delayed because Flynn is wavering on his guilty plea and he may be trying to leverage his perceived advantage in the case as a result of the supposed Comey/McCabe/FBI investigators supposedly claiming that they did not think Flynn lied.  If, and it is a big if, those agents did say that then Flynn may think he has leverage to get a greatly reduced sentence.

Also likely hinges on what Flynn has to provide on trump collusion and whether or not Mueller finds any collusion.  If Mueller does not find any collusion, as I predict, then I think it is likely that Flynn gets pardoned or gets a drastically reduced sentence.  If Mueller finds collusion then Flynn will likely be dealt with more harshly.

 

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41 minutes ago, sheeeit said:

My guess on Flynn is that the sentencing keeps getting delayed because Flynn is wavering on his guilty plea and he may be trying to leverage his perceived advantage in the case as a result of the supposed Comey/McCabe/FBI investigators supposedly claiming that they did not think Flynn lied.  If, and it is a big if, those agents did say that then Flynn may think he has leverage to get a greatly reduced sentence.

Also likely hinges on what Flynn has to provide on trump collusion and whether or not Mueller finds any collusion.  If Mueller does not find any collusion, as I predict, then I think it is likely that Flynn gets pardoned or gets a drastically reduced sentence.  If Mueller finds collusion then Flynn will likely be dealt with more harshly.

So you think Flynn might have lied about the fact that he lied? 

Makes sense. 

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In the federal system, and in some states, sentencing takes place months or weeks after a guilt determination by either trial or plea.

 

An essential part of the sentencing hearing that takes place is the preparation of the Pretrial Sentencing Report by the US Probation Office.  This provides a thumbnail social and criminal history of the defendant as well as, staggeringly, presenting initial determinations of the presence or absence of aggravating or mitigating factors used in the sentencing guidelines calculus.  At a sentencing hearing, among other things, the prosecution and defense argue as a factual and/or legal matter whether those factors exist or apply, all on a preponderance of the evidence.  As a result of this horrific charade, a defendant can be sentenced (receive a sentencing enhancement of many years), based on conduct specifically acquitted by the jury.  For crude example, possession or brandishing a gun could be a different crime (robbery as opposed to theft) and a jury acquits of robbery, but finds guilty of theft.  The prosecution and Probation Office can suggest that the defendant possessed or brandished a gun and if the judge finds that to be the case by a preponderance, BOOM add 5-10 years or worse.  This is why the guidelines are advisory rather than mandatory, but they have mandatory effect about 80% of the time.

 

So it's normal for the sentencing hearing to be months after the conclusion of trial or a plea bargain.  One factor that could be holding this up is a recommendation of leniency from the government for substantial cooperation or assistance.  However, as far as I recall, in the plea agreement, the government did not agree to make any such recommendation, which would normally be there, I believe.

 

Edit:  Left out the finish to the above paragraph.  They could be quibbling over the application of the guidelines, or whether or how much the government will recommend leniency (namely no prison time, I'd think) based on cooperation or another factor.  This was my first thought.

 

It is also possible that Flynn is crawfishing on his guilty plea.  While it isn't going to be looked upon favorably by the judge or anyone else, accepting a plea when the defendant wants to back away from it is asking for trouble (ie an almost sure reversal).

Edited by TwiceHorn
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10 minutes ago, Tuco said:

Uday's graphic looks comically complicated.  It's actually missing quite a bit.

 

It's not my graphic so I can't take credit. 

It's a graphic that New York Magazine published to help readers understand the thesis alleging a Trump-Putin plot that originated in 1987.  They didn't want to add too much detail or it could confuse the reader.

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5 minutes ago, udaydanceparty said:

It's not my graphic so I can't take credit. 

It's a graphic that New York Magazine published to help readers understand the thesis alleging a Trump-Putin plot that originated in 1987.  They didn't want to add too much detail or it could confuse the reader.

That explain why they are reaching back to Emelianenko.  I had to look up the connection. Affliction Clothing started Affliction Entertainment, for which Donald had a stake and Cohen was the CEO. It was started in June 2008 and was defunct by July 2009, after two events, both of which held in California.  Emelianenko was fighting exclusive in this league.  While it seems like a hell of a stretch, Emelianenko was interviewed by the FBI in April 2018.  Probably just following up on every possible lead.  

Wendi Deng has denied dating Putin and I haven't seen a hint of evidence to refute that.

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1 hour ago, Lagunamadre said:

So you think Flynn might have lied about the fact that he lied? 

Makes sense. 

As usual, this is not even remotely what I postured.  First, even though you guys keep ignoring it, it is, in fact, within Flynn's legal rights to rescind his guilty plea.  He is not bound by his plea until sentencing.  He can rescind it and ask for a jury trial.  The likelihood of him actually winning a jury trial at this point (after he has plead guilty) is extremely low.  The govt could also add new charges.  About all Flynn could argue is that the govt withheld evidence from his lawyers and that he would not have plead guil;ty if he knew of that evidence.  I seriously doubt the govt actually withheld evidence but it is obviously very unusual for a judge to order the govt to turn over evidence to a defendant's attorneys AFTER the defendant had already plead guilty.  All that I am suggesting is that it could give Flynn some perceived leverage.  

Any one of you can read the plea agreement that Flynn signed.  There are general sentencing guideline recommendations in the plea agreement.  Flynn could easily be trying to use new information to get a more favorable recommendation on his sentencing.  That is neither unusual or uncommon.

It is also not at all unusual for Flynn to want to see what happens to Trump in the mueller probe.  IF Trump is vindicated by the Mueller report then Trump will have way more political capital to pardon Flynn.  If the Mueller report is damning to Trump then he obviously has a lot less political capital and touching Flynn might be too much.  Trump may have no intention of pardoning him in any event.  None of us knows.  It is just a factor to consider.

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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/unpacking-a-strange-violent-connection-between-trump-and-putin-630690/

Quote

So why is the FBI interested in this man? Because back in 2008, both Emelianenko and his heavily tattooed brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, who was convicted of sexual assault, were involved in a short-lived venture called Affliction Entertainment, which was launched in partnership with Donald Trump. The company’s chief operating officer was Trump’s attorney and “fixer,” Michael Cohen. The details of the FBI’s interview with Emelianenko are unknown, but their interest in him almost certainly stemmed from the raid on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room in April.

Emelianenko also has very close ties to Vladimir Putin and to Putin’s United Russia Party – making him a weird, offbeat link in the sprawling pattern of Trump-Russia connections.

giphy-downsized.gif

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Just now, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

raise your hand if you don't believe Trump has been laundering dirty Russian money for more than a decade.

Honestly, I have no idea.  I certainly think that Trump properties have been used as laundering vehicles for Russians, but I have no idea what level of involved Trump had, or even would have been necessary to facilitate it.  It's possible his organization was covering up suspicious transactions.

I absolutely believe that Trump has no problem working with organized crime to get projects built, whether they're from New Jersey or Moscow. 

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/paul-manafort-wants-trial-moved-to-roanoke-says-alexandria-too-liberal/2018/07/06/0b6b72c6-8167-11e8-b658-4f4d2a1aeef1_story.html

Also on Friday, attorneys for the special counsel made clear in a filing how they plan to link Manafort’s alleged bank fraud to the Trump campaign.

“The government does not intend to present at trial evidence or argument concerning collusion with the Russian government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye writes.

However, he said prosecutors will present evidence that a banker helped Manafort obtain $16 million in loans because he hoped to get a position in the Trump administration.
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48 minutes ago, Tuco said:

So, what, you posted a stupid graphic from the New York magazine because you thought it would serve as a strawman?

Thanks and fuck off.

 

I agree that the graphic is stupid.  I mean, why do they have 2 degrees of separation between Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka?  (insert joke here)

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4 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Right. Like it's just a coincidence that your photobucket account is registered under the name udaydanceparty. 

My Twitter handle has a username here as well.

You are supposed to think those are my socks so you turn against me.  Looks like it’s working.  

Do you really think I would make another username that would be easily connected to this account? 

I have cyber stalkers, it sucks but whatever.  It comes with the territory when you’re as prolific a poster as I am. 

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8 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Right. Like it's just a coincidence that your photobucket account is registered under the name udaydanceparty. 

It's not a coincidence at all. It's one of our right wing crazies stalking and impersonating him. Hugo is many things, but he's not a moran. He's not going to use his own photobucket account name as a sock to troll himself. 

Edited by Pods
Hugo beat me by a few seconds while I was reviewing before posting.
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39 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

My Twitter handle has a username here as well.

You are supposed to think those are my socks so you turn against me.  Looks like it’s working.  

Do you really think I would make another username that would be easily connected to this account? 

I have cyber stalkers, it sucks but whatever.  It comes with the territory when you’re as prolific a poster as I am. 

Meh I'll take your word for it

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1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

My Twitter handle has a username here as well.

You are supposed to think those are my socks so you turn against me.  Looks like it’s working.  

Do you really think I would make another username that would be easily connected to this account? 

I have cyber stalkers, it sucks but whatever.  It comes with the territory when you’re as prolific a poster as I am. 

I don't pay any attention to that user whether it's you or not. For someone with whom I ostensibly agree, it's your constant posting from early in the morning until late at night, usually just posting embedded tweets, that I find tedious. That's your best argument for not having any socks -- that you don't have time. The notion that you get paid per post certainly seems plausible.

I actually put you on ignore to make the forum more user friendly. I can choose which posts I want to read. When I see seven consecutive ignored posts of yours in one thread it makes me think it was the right move. And it's not like I don't know how to see who's on Fox & Friends every day if I want to know. 

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13 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

what's the word on the street these days?

Word on the street is Trump wants to meet with Putin alone because he’s a fucking traitor to the United States and he needs to give his handler more kompromat without any witnesses.  

Because the last time he gave kompromat to the Russians in the Oval Office, the note taker busted him on it. 

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Here's a tweet:  new filing in US v Manafort 

Spoiler

 

One take I saw: out of total desperation and being the only play left, Manafort's team will attempt something so vile that it will result in a mistrial.  Hence the attempt by team Mueller to request the above limits.

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