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47
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This Department of Justice might not be able to win in court, but they appear to be hard at work on a strategy where some Trumpers can win by never appearing in court. The trial run (or maybe "no trial" run?) involves one Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn (ret.).
As a reminder, Flynn got busted in 2017, early in his brief term as National Security Advisor, for talking to the Russians and then lying about it. He was caught red-handed enough that he got fired from the first Trump administration, and then agreed to plead guilty to the charges.
Thereafter, however, Flynn did a 180. He withdrew his guilty plea, ostensibly because he didn't realize how much prison time he was going to get. He then managed to drag things out until the corrupt-as-hell AG Bill Barr filed a motion to drop the charges. Then, Flynn was granted a pardon by Donald Trump, less than 2 months before the end of Trump's term. The pardon turns out to have been necessary; District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he likely would not have agreed to drop the charges, but for the fact that the pardon rendered them moot.
That did not mark the end of the saga, however. Flynn, who has a highly developed MAGA victim complex, decided that he had been criminally wronged by the Department of Justice. So, in 2024, he sued for $50 million in damages. The claim was so obviously laughable that it was quickly dismissed by District Judge Mary Stenson Scriven. This setback afforded Flynn a critical insight: "If you're going to file a silly lawsuit, asking for wholly unwarranted damages, wait until Donald Trump is in office again."
And so, once Trump was re-elected and re-inaugurated, Flynn re-filed. Yesterday, a DoJ spokesperson announced that Flynn was indeed a victim of the "Russia hoax," that his case is very, very strong, and that rather than risk an eight-figure judgment, Pam Bondi has decided to settle the case for a mere $1 million. What a bargain!
It is certainly possible that this is, in effect, Trump using the government's money to reward an underling for his silence. After all, a lot of former Trump insiders turned against him and spilled their guts, particularly after 1/6. Flynn did not, and now he's been twice rewarded, with both a pardon and a million bucks. This sends a very distressing message to other would-be miscreants: Not only will Trump kill any federal charges you may face, he might even arrange to fatten your bank account.
That said, and as we write above, we think this is more probably a trial run for Trump's schemes to enrich himself (and some of his acolytes, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC). Those suits, demanding outrageous damages, have already been filed. If the Flynn settlement stands—and it's hard to see who would have standing to get involved AND would actually do so—then the skids are greased for an eight-or-nine figure "settlement" of Trump's claims (and, probably, an eight-figure settlement of Graham's claims). It's grift that is both blatant and, under current circumstances, likely impossible to prevent. (Z)