Author: James V. DeLong
Comments on the revelations about the FBI's effort to put Michael Flynn in a fork whereby he either admitted to a crime or lied to the agents have been vague about exactly what crime he was suspected of.
The answer is a violation of the Logan Act, and understanding this makes the FBI's actions even more despicable than one might have thought.
The Logan Act, passed in 1799, says:
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
The Encyclopedia Britannica provides the background, which involved the volatile relations between the U.S. and France during the Napoleonic era. Four facts about the law are crucial:
First, it has never been used. One indictment was filed over 200 years ago, but no one has ever been convicted, and no one else even charged.
Second, it is an impossible law. Anyone who communicates with a foreign official for any purpose could be accused of a violation.
Third, taking the words at face value, this must be one of the most violated laws on the books, given the number of U.S. citizens who have communicated with foreign officials during the past 221 years. In particular, all incoming U.S. administrations quickly establish channels to smooth the transition and avoid drift during the interregnum. And the mind boggles when considering how many congressmen violate it all the time.
Fourth, because of these realities, everyone has simply ignored the existence of the law. But this means that it has never been cabined by sensible judges and has never bitten deeply enough to incentivize any serious effort at repeal.
To the Democrats and the Deep State, this spelled opportunity.
Flynn was interviewed by the FBI on Jan. 24, 2017 and pushed out as national security adviser a few weeks later, after conversations between White House counsel and acting A.G. Sally Yates. Yates, apparently, hinted that Flynn might be subject to blackmail by the Russians over an earlier telephone call with Soviet ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The exact nature of his offense was not spelled out, but later Yates said he was suspected of violating the Logan Act because he had discussed with the ambassador the U.S. sanctions against Russia. During the rest of 2017, as documented by Byron York, the Democratic/MSM echo chamber resounded with dark ruminations about the Logan Act and horror that it might have been violated. York confirmed that the Logan Act was at the heart of Yates's representations to the White House.
So when the FBI agents went to interview Flynn, they had the transcript of his call, and they must have expected him to admit that, yes, he had talked substantive matters, sanctions in particular. Or he might deny it. Flynn is an intelligence professional, and need-to-know is in his DNA; what need did two random FBI agents have to know about his talk with Kislyak? Either way, they had him.
In the event, Flynn denied such a discussion with Kislyak, but in a way that convinced the interviewing agents of his veracity. Subsequently, he has said he simply does not recall any discussion of sanctions but cannot swear that there was none. Full Story - American Thinker
General Flynn vs. The Deep State
Flynn's problems arose as a result of the Deep State's efforts to take down Donald Trump
Cardinal Richelieu reportedly said, "If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men I will find something in them with which to hang him.
Later, Josef Stalin's director of the NKVD Soviet secret police, Lavrentiy Beria, said, “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.” Harvey Silverglate has written a book, Three Felonies a Day, which suggests that anyone can be convicted of a crime if government officials desire it.
General Michael Flynn has pled guilty to lying to the FBI. Pleading guilty is not unusual behavior when confronting the enormous power of the state. During the Soviet purge trials Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev and many others pled guilty to ridiculous charges. We believe that things like this should not happen in the United States. Read More
Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice
by Sidney Powell
This true legal thriller debunks everything the media and the government told us about the Department of Justice’s destruction and prosecution of the venerable accounting firm Arthur Andersen, Merrill Lynch executives who did one business transaction with Enron, Alaska Senator Ted Steven’s, and more. The common thread through it all is a cabal of narcissistic federal prosecutors who broke all the rules and rose to great power. Still in the news today―Robert Mueller s “pitbull" Andrew Weissmann and other members of Obama's inner circle―are wreaking havoc on our Republic. This is the book that began exposing “the Deep State.” Read More
