The Health of the Nation

For John, BLUF:  For decades we screened immigrants for poor health, and excluded individuals  Now we are told COVID-19 is very dangereous, except for those coming across our Southern Border.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Federal Court Ruling Just Made the Border Crisis Infinitely Worse

From PJ Media, by Reporter Rick Moran, 17 September 2021, 9:34 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

A federal judge in Washington has ordered the government to stop using a public health law to deny families entry into the United States illegally.  U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave the government 14 days to appeal before the order is implemented.

Title 42 was instituted in March of 2020 in response to the pandemic.  The law allows for expedited removal of most illegal aliens, including families.

The immediate effect of Sullivan’s ruling will be dire. Families that show up at the border will not be turned away.  Instead, they will be processed and released as they await their court hearing — possibly as long as five years away.

This strikes me as revolutionary.  I remember going to the US Embassy in Manila, The Philippines, and seeing long lines of emigrants outside, holding what appeared to be x-rays.  Why?  Because of tuberculosis.  We were screening folks for infectious diseases.

The article quotes The Wall Street Journal:

In a statement, the ACLU said the policy was unnecessary to control Covid-19 in the U.S. and that the U.S. can safely allow migrants to seek protection.

“President Biden should have ended this cruel and lawless policy long ago, and the court was correct to reject it today,” said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

Does this mean that both the ACLU and Judge Sullivan believe that Vaccination mandates are wrong?

Equally interesting is if the Executive Branch let this one go, without worrying about the consequences, because it aligned with the Administration's immigration policy.

This being Constitution Day, we should ponder, Article 2, Section 3, Clause 6, wherein the president must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."  Do you think President Biden has ducked his responsibilty by soft peddling the value of this law, passed by Congress?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Corruption from 2016

For John, BLUF:  This whole collection of items from the 2016 Election should have gone away several years ago, but it hasn't.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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FBI official on Mueller team said Flynn prosecution had 'get Trump' attitude, collusion probe was 'not there'

Here is the sub-headline:

FBI official William Barnett was assigned to lead the bureau's original investigation into Michael Flynn

From Fox News, by Reporter Brooke Singman, 25 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

An FBI official who served on Robert Mueller’s team said he believed the special counsel’s prosecution of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn was part of an attitude to “get Trump,” and that he did not wish to pursue a Trump-Russia collusion investigation as it was “not there" and considered it to be a "dead end."

FBI agent William J. Barnett made the comments during an interview on Sept. 17 at the Justice Department, before Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeffrey Jensen, who was tapped by Attorney General Bill Barr to review the case against Flynn. Jensen has joined U.S. Attorney John Durham’s team in his review of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Those comments have surfaced in new government documents.

Fox News reviewed Barnett’s FBI 302, which was filed by the U.S. government early Friday as part of the Flynn case.

Barnett, during his interview, detailed his work at the FBI, and his assignment to the bureau’s original cases against Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Barnett said the Flynn investigation was assigned the code name “Crossfire Razor,” which was part of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation — the bureau’s code name for the original Trump-Russia probe.

In another thread someone wrote:

Oh, quit going on about acceptance of the 2016 result. Every has yielded to the result; the Dems just don’t like it. What do you care? He’s been doing everything a president is constitutionally able to do and more.

Here is my response:

I think it is the time lapse problem here.  If everyone had agreed after the Inauguration it would have been OK with me.  But, things continued after the Inauguration.  DOJ Career people seemed to just carry on.  Jim Comey was unable to walk away.  I wonder about the role of Sally Yates, or DNC Apparatchiks.  There were FBI guys who took out extra liability insurance.

Lawyer and Author Sidney Powell just got a “302” that indicates that even after the election they kept after the “Trump Team” in a less than professional way.  FBI Agent William Barnett talked of “Lack of integrity on the part of the Bob Mueller Team.”  Where is Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr) when you need him?

So, yes, I would like it to all go away.  I especially don’t want to see it reach into the Oval Office. That would blight the process for a long time.  But, the story keeps dripping out, drop by drop.  And, because the Judiciary wouldn’t let LTG Michael Flynn walk away they just keep it going.

In early this year we had an Impeachment on flimsy grounds, so Ms Pelosi hadn’t yet given up in the first part of this year.  Then Judge Emett Sullivan, a hero to me for his handling of the Ted Stevens case, stopped DOJ from dropping chargers against LTG Flynn.  I was very disappointed.

Now we are in the political silly season again and we are back to Trump being illegitimate.  Sure, he is President and gets to sign legislation and appoint Ambassadors, but the Dems have become cranky again.  Everything is off the table.  (Or is it Nothing is off the table?)  Please tell me Rep Gerry Nadler is not running again.

But, in closing, one wonders, in the back of the mind, if Judge Emmet Sullivan has keep the Michael Flynn thing going because he wants to smoke out these sub-rosa activities that tainted the “peaceful transfer of power”. Maybe he is a hero this time also.

Hat tip to News Reader Elizabeth MacDowell.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who is a Paying the Piper?

For John, BLUF:  This is your classic "follow the money" approach.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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What the Media will not ask

From The New Reform Club,by Mr Seth Barrett Tillman, 24 May 2020.

In which the Author asks about who is pay for the participation of Judge John Gleeson and Lawyer Beth Wilkinson in the Michael Flynn case.

A good question, with appropriate supplemental questions.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Smart Move

For John, BLUF:  With DOJ moving to drop charges against Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Democrats from President Obama to Representative Adam Schiff to Brookings Analyst Benjamin Witten have said DOJ is corrupt  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Judge Halts Justice Dept. Move to Drop Flynn Charges

From The Wash Post, by Reporters Spencer S Hsu and Carol D Leonnig, 12 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

A U.S. judge on Tuesday put on hold the Justice Department’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn, saying he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue against the bid to exonerate President Trump’s former national security adviser of lying to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Washington D.C. said he expects individuals and organizations will seek to intervene in the politically charged case.

Sullivan’s order came after the government took the highly irregular step last Thursday of reversing its stance on Flynn’s charges and embracing Flynn’s move to dismiss his own guilty pleas.

This seems a smart move.  If you have something to say, say it directly to the Judge.  Don't just give us a tweet or a sound-bite.

As for myself, I say DOJ has finally done the proper thing.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Let Us Hope

For John, BLUF:  First with Judge Emmet Sullivan and then with Defense Lawyer Sidney Powell there was this hope that justice would be done.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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AP Exclusive:  Justice Dept dropping Flynn’s criminal case

From The Seattle Times, by Reporters Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker, 7 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

The Justice Department on Thursday said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for the president and his supporters in attacking the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation.

The move is a stunning reversal for one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.  It comes even though prosecutors for the past three years have maintained that Flynn lied to the FBI in a January 2017 interview about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

It appears it was time for the Justice Department to cut losses.  I am guessing we were at the point where careers were going to be broken.

Regards  —  Cliff

Michael Flynn in the Dock

For John, BLUF:  Looking for an historical analogy, I go back to the Dreyfus Affair.  The lying and coverup by the bureaucracy to protect the bureaucracy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Dismiss this matter as they should."

Sidney Powell on Lou Dobbs Fox Business Show now.

The revelations about the FBI, and DOJ, in their quest to disqualify National Security Advisor nominee Michael Flynn are astounding.  In the words of Broadcaster Lou Dobbs, "stunning".

Today continues a telephone interview between Broadcaster Lou Dobbs and Attorney Sidney Powell from yesterday.

My personal opinion is that this is about concern that as National Security Advisor Michael Flynn would have reorganized the Intelligence Community.  That would have destroyed empires within the Bureaucracy.

And perhaps have revealed malfeasance.

Lawyer Sidney Powell is the new Émile Zola, but with a better sword.

Regards  —  Cliff

Getting Justice in Trump's DC

For John, BLUF:  Justice, viewed through a partisan lens, is not justice.  Further, the proliferation of laws means that Federal Prosecutors can go after an accused six ways from Sunday, more often than not, forcing a plea deal  Look what they are doing to Actress Lori Laughlin for asking for her right to a trial by a jury of her peers.  Yes, she did wrong and deserves punishment, but this kind of bullying is wrong.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sidney Powell:  FBI Agents Manipulated Flynn 302 File

From The David J Harris Show, by Reporter Rich Welsh, 25 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

Sidney Powell, General Michael Flynn’s new attorney, filed a 37-page motion on Thursday that alleges that FBI agents manipulated the official 302 records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview with now fired and disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok. That manipulation of the records was what led to the general being charged with lying to FBI investigators.

The motion is requesting that the government produce all evidence as it relates to Flynn asking the court to “dismiss the entire prosecution for outrageous government misconduct” and hold the prosecutors in contempt.

Lawyer Sidney Powell was the person who Rescued Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) from his corruption conviction by showing that the Department of Justice prosecutors had acted unethically, withholding exculpatory evidence, violating the Brady Rule.

The "302" is the fOrm the FBI uses to formalize an interviewer's notes.  It is the formal record of the FBI Agent's interview of someone who they talked to.  No, they don't use the modern tape recorder or the even more modern video recorder.

I would like Attorney General Barr, or the US Congress, to drag the FBI into the late Twentieth Century by mandating the use of electronic recording devices in formal settings.

It is interesting to me that the Federal Judge who picked up the Flynn case when the previous judge stepped aside, is Judge Emmet G Sullivan, who took over the Senator Stevens case and brought justice to Senator Stevens and a rebuke to DoJ.

And,it would be nice if the Congress passed legislation removing Qualified Immunity protections from Federal Prosecutors and Law Enforcement personnel who abuse their positions to abuse the innocent.  And then DoJ starting enforcing it, recognizing that even some of its own sin from time to time.I wouldn’t,even mind if they later took back their now chastened employees.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
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Releasing Federal Government Information

For John, BLUF:  This is about getting out the facts favorable to my side, but not the facts favorable to your side.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Flynn's case could prompt release of some redacted parts of Mueller report

From CNN, by Reporter Katelyn Polantz, 27 May 2019.

Here is the lede plus two:

Sought-after parts of the Mueller investigation may be made public this week, thanks to a federal judge who's taken an unusual approach in former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn's case.

Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court in DC set a Friday deadline for the Justice Department to make public unredacted portions of the Mueller report that pertain to Flynn, plus transcripts of Flynn's calls with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and of a voicemail during which someone connected to Trump referenced Flynn's cooperation.

Taken together, the judge's orders look like a shortcut to transparency in a moment of executive branch stonewalling.

My question is, why are people, on the one hand, screaming for release of redacted parts of the Mueller Report, and on the other hand, screaming about President Trump giving Attorney General William Barr authority to declassify relevant documents relating to RussiaGate, such as FISA Court subpoena requests?

Hat tip to the Memeorandum.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Flynn Case Confuses Me

For John, BLUF:  If the press tries to sweep this Flynn imbroglio under the rug it will just make them look bad.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Neverending, Mysterious Saga of Michael Flynn

From American Greatness, by Professor Victor Davis Hanson, 23 December 2018.

Here is the lede plus four:

Certainly, no one should defend a top-ranking federal employee’s lying to federal investigators or to his superiors in the Trump Administration, if that is what former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn did, as evidenced by his own confession.

Note if Flynn lied to President Trump or Vice President Mike Pence about details of his private conversations, then that is unethical and understandably should be grounds for dismissal. The distinction, however, is whether Flynn deserved to be fired or to be in jail.

What put Flynn in legal jeopardy were the general’s statements to FBI investigators that purportedly were false, and allegedly given deliberately to mislead two federal investigators.

I express doubt here only because of media reports and leaks that Special Counsel Robert Mueller later either pressured Flynn for a confession, by strategies of financial exhaustion or leveraged him by threats to indict his son, or both.

Without that pressure, one wonders how Flynn might have explained his earlier alleged inconsistencies in recounting a private off the record conversation with a foreign diplomatic official to two FBI officials. That is, had he had adequate legal resources or not faced prosecutorial threats to indict his son, would he have later claimed that months earlier that he had been dishonest to Peter Strzok and his fellow FBI investigator?

I think Judge Emmet Sullivan smells a rat.

The Special Counsel investigation by Mr Robert Mueller has uncovered veniality in several places, but seems not to have uncovered a smoking gun with regard to Russian collusion.  Is it out there?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sloppy Paperwork?

For John, BLUF:  I am glad that Federal Judge Sullivan is on the case.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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TEXTS FOUND (& LOST) IN A BOTTLE

From PowerLine, by Mr Scott Johnson, 14 December 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General conducted an investigation of the gap in text messages during the period December 15, 2016, through May 17, 2017, from the cell phones assigned to famous FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.  The Office of Inspector General Cyber Investigations Office was asked to attempt recovery of these missing text messages for the period in issue.  The Inspector General has just issued a report summarizing his investigation and stating his conclusion.

Even though it is short, the report is so dry as to be sleep inducing.  I take it that the OIG finds no wrongdoing.  To adapt a formulation from Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is failure to preserve communication.  Perhaps relevant policies need to be adjusted. Nearly 20,000 text messages have been recovered, but none from the tenure of Strzok and Page with the Special Counsel.

Here is the take of Pajama Media, 13 December 2018, by Ms Debra Heine, "OIG: Mueller's Office Scrubbed Strzok-Page Text Messages Before IG Could Review Them".

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was unable to recover text messages from the iPhones of FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page from their time on the special counsel team because the records officer scrubbed them, a new report from the DOJ watchdog reveals.

Regarding Strzok's iPhone, investigators were told that it "had been reset to factory settings and was reconfigured for the new user to whom the device was issued."

The special counsel’s records officer said that she had "determined it did not contain records that needed to be retained.”  She wrote in her records log, "No substantive texts, notes or reminders,” the report states.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mike Flynn is Back

For John, BLUF:  It is the old "the Government can lie to you, but you can't lie to the Government" story.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How A Plea Reversal From Michael Flynn Could Uncover More Federal Corruption

Here is the sub-headline:

Did Robert Mueller’s office withhold other evidence in Michael Flynn’s prosecution, either from the FISA court or from Flynn’s attorneys?  There is reason to believe so.

From The Federalist, by Ms Margot Cleveland, 19 February 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

On Friday, Judge Emmet Sullivan issued an order in United States v. Flynn that, while widely unnoticed, reveals something fascinating:  A motion by Michael Flynn to withdraw his guilty plea based on government misconduct is likely in the works.

Just a week ago, and thus before Sullivan quietly directed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team to provide Flynn’s attorneys “any exculpatory evidence,” Washington Examiner columnist Byron York detailed the oddities of Flynn’s case.  The next day, former assistant U.S. attorney and National Review contributing editor Andrew McCarthy connected more of the questionable dots.  York added even more details a couple of days later.  Together these articles provide the backdrop necessary to understand the significance of Sullivan’s order on Friday.

Yes, Judge Emmet Sullivan is one of my heroes.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
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