Thread: Flynn selling house to pay legal bills in Trump probe

Flynn selling house to pay legal bills in Trump probe

By James Gordon Meek
Mar 6, 2018, 5:29 AM ET

Michael Flynn, the retired Army general and ex-Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI agents about his Russian contacts, has put his Virginia home up for sale to pay mounting legal fees, friends and family members told ABC News.

Flynn's 13-year-old, three-bedroom townhouse in Old Town Alexandria outside Washington, which he bought three years ago, was listed for sale in December with an asking price of $895,000 — money he will use to pay his high legal defense debts, his brother Joe Flynn said Monday.

The retired three-star general and former Defense Intelligence Agency director withdrew to his hometown of Middletown, R.I., last year after he was dismissed by President Donald Trump 24 days into his role as national security adviser, later becoming embroiled in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Flynn pleaded guilty on Dec. 1 to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian officials. He misled agents during a White House meeting early in 2017.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, this has been a trying experience” for Flynn and his wife, Lori, his youngest brother told ABC News. "It has been a crucible and it's not over."

Mueller is digging into whether Trump's presidential campaign colluded with Russian government efforts to disrupt or influence the 2016 election.

The investigators led by the former FBI director — once a colleague of Flynn's — scrutinized the general's contacts with Russians, such as the Kremlin’s ambassador in Washington, to whom he spoke about fighting ISIS and possibly other matters at the president-elect’s direction during the post-election transition.

Joe Flynn and other family members set up a defense fund for Flynn to collect donations from supporters. He wouldn't disclose how much has been raised, but he said the family has been surprised and deeply moved by the thousands of individual donations they've received, none of which came from foreign nationals or from Flynn's former boss, Trump.

On Monday, Flynn's criminal defense lawyer Robert Kelner, who negotiated the plea deal with Mueller’s team, declined to comment.

Legal fees in high-profile criminal investigations can easily skyrocket, according to experts.

"Six figures is not at all unusual in a big case like this," said Solomon Wisenberg, who served as deputy independent counsel in the obstruction of justice probe of former President Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his alleged ties to Whitewater.

By pleading guilty, “I guarantee Flynn saved himself a lot of money,” he added.

But the legal debt is not why Flynn decided to plead guilty to the felony count of lying to the FBI, said his friend, historian and commentator Michael Ledeen.

"I think," Ledeen said, "he wanted to stop the pain."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/flynn-selli...ory?id=5354517

Mueller is a menace. He's ruining the lives of good people, severely disrupting a new Presidency chosen by the people and 30 states, jeopardizing our national security and exposing our federal justice system as the useless mockery it's apparently been all these years.

"SAD!" "DISGRACEFUL!"

GRRRR.

A special place in hell for Mueller! Can't come soon enough.

I just don't understand how this can be happening to these people. Where is the crime? What is the cause? What is the purpose? There is no statutory crime, there is no valid cause, and no legitimate purpose. It's just unbelievable, harmful, vicious, and destructive gossip-mongering. What kind of crazy person exploits the power of the federal government chasing bar gossip? It's stunning.

Mueller is going to end up himself in a federal prison for fraudulent prosecution. So far, the only real fraud we've got anywhere on the horizon of this goofy Russia Hoax are these malicious fraudulent prosecutions by Mueller and Rosenstein.

Flynn admits that Trump transition officials directed his contacts with Russians

None of his contacts with Russia were improper or illegal.

Washington, D.C.'s truism was born out of the Watergate scandal:

"It's not the crime. It's the cover-up that gets you."
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Ex-general pleads guilty to lying to FBI in Russia investigation


Michael Flynn pleads guilty to false-statements charge in Russia probe

Doesn't apply here. There was no crime to cover up.

Papadopulos pleads guilty.
Gates pleads guilty.
Flynn pleads guilty.
And you still want to pretend no laws were broken?
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Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Adviser George Papadopoulos's Guilty Plea Could Be More Important Than Manafort's Indictment

Rick Gates Pleads Guilty And Begins Cooperating With Mueller's Russia Investigation


Ex-general pleads guilty to lying to FBI in Russia investigation

Michael Flynn pleads guilty to false-statements charge in Russia probe

Flynn admits that Trump transition officials directed his contacts with Russians

I don't think any laws were actually broken. Just my opinion. To be guilty of a cover-up, there has to be a crime first.