An American Dreyfus: The case of Lt Gen Flynn
The
US case of Lt General Flynn, the former Trump White House NSA advisor, has been interesting to follow. He was caught up in the House Democrat’s
Russian collusion affair and charged with perjury. Is he an American Dreyfus?
Prima
facie, the FBI’s abuses of process, the rule of law and overbearing
unconscionable duress (which one may think of as akin to blackmail) by lawyers
and law enforcement officers make this case an appalling example of the politicisation
of law. At the human level it
demonstrates a reckless disregard for Lt General Flynn who has lost his career,
house and savings.
A Wall Street Journal
article has reported that the FBI did not have to interview Flynn as it already
had the transcripts of the interview he had had with the Russian ambassador and
knew that was said and had cleared Flynn.
That was also confirmed in reports made after the FBI
interview (without legal counsel or it seems a Miranda warning nor advice on
not telling the truth) by the FBI.
The FBI then Director, Mr Comey, smugly admitted on a 92ndSt
Y interview caught by MSNBC - 10 December
2018- that he took advantage-and opportunistically so - of the new
administration disorganisation in just coming in and purposely did not follow
the established protocols in not clearing
the interview with the Department of Justice (the Attorney-General, White House Chief of Staff or White House Counsel.
Mr Comey’s interview may come back to haunt him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxNhjFrjXqI)
as may his ‘rivers of justice’ comment and his ‘higher calling’ absent the rule
of law.
The FBI was going to close the file there being no
case to answer but this was countermanded by Mr Comey and Mr Strzok (the
interviewing officer and infamous for
his ‘insurance policy’ texts) says he
did it because of a 7th-floor directive (Mr Comey’s floor).
What does Robert Mueller’s 2iC prosecutor Andrew Weissman
say in an MSNBC interview last week? There “is nothing new” in the
unsealed documents and there is no perjury trap. That says that the FBI and its prosecutors knew that Lt General Flynn had no case but
they went ahead anyway making it a political matter and interfering with
the Chief Executive office.
The factual matrix to date unquestionably
discloses a substantive dereliction of process and an abuse of power seemingly
with an arrogant and grotesque sense of impunity.
I cannot imagine a greater breach of the rule of law than
this given the WSJ’s Ms Strassel’s points in tweets cited in the article.
The blackmail: The plea only came because he was being blackmailed that
if he did not plead they would prosecute his son. He crumpled under duress
at that point.
The Dreyfus case in France from 1894 to 1906 comes to
mind as a parallel.
Lest we forget that Flynn is a Democrat worked in
the Obama administration as an NSA. He went to work for the
Trump campaign as an NSA advisor and ended up in the
Administration because he is basically competent at his job.
Obama had, it is suggested in some media, set this
process in train. He had fired Flynn over policy views on terrorism and
seems to not like him as he advised Trump before the hand over not to
appoint him. Andrew McCarthy in the National Review on 2 May states:
” The objective of the Obama administration
and its FBI hierarchy was to continue the Trump–Russia investigation, even
after President Trump took office, and even though President Trump was the
quarry. The investigation would hamstring Trump’s capacity to govern and
reverse Obama policies. Continuing it would allow the FBI to keep digging until
it finally came up with a crime or impeachable offence that they were then
confident they would find.”
The new White House Secretary Kayleigh McEnany made a point of asking the Press Corps on Friday why the some of the mainstream media were not covering the story. “…
does it trouble you that the FBI said that we got to get Flynn to lie? ” “…. Doesn’t
that trouble you as a journalist? And
not only that, as an American citizen?” It ought to be troubling and
a lesson.
Ms Sydney Powell has done a great job for Lt General Flynn. She represents what
lawyers are supposed to stand for.
The abuse of power with impunity, and with such reckless disregard for a fellow
human being - and in this case and others I have experienced- should never
stand. The abuse is astonishingly by
lawyers. When lawyers, who should know
better, are playing ‘getcha’ due process is the first
thing to go. They are not the Twitchfork mob.
It is only in an open society with values of
free speech, liberty of conscience and due process that wrongs can be put
right. But it is some only some and not all wrongs are righted. Some take
an ‘investment in the past’ for the salvaging of reputation, standing and
vindication.
Reputation is a highly important particular for professionals and those in the public eye.
The interests of justice- and justice burns in us- should not suffer offhand taunt of victimhood.
Lt General Flynn is fortunate in having such
a good lawyer in Ms Powell which reflects admirably on the good and better side
of human nature.
Graham Hill
Nelson
3 May 2020
Nelson
3 May 2020
First Published on Solopassion.com.
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