Treason, In Plain View

He used to be their darling. David Frum is now one of the Republicans', and especially Trump's main pains in the ass...

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/most-shocking-thing-about-zelinskys-testimony/613477/

The absurdity of it all may be best exemplified by Michael Flynn.

Flynn will walk away a free man after admitting that he committed a crime, and that with the full benefit of some of the best defence lawyers in the United States. 

His crime was lying to the police - he had the option of saying nothing to the cops - he had a "right to remain silent" - but he chose to talk to the cops, and when he did, he lied through his teeth. Lying to the cops is a crime...everywhere.

He was not set up. He did not stand up in court and say "I'm guilty" in the dead of night, under the threat of physical violence, or flippantly and without the benefit of legal counsel. 

After negotiations with prosecutors, he agreed to and signed a written plea deal in which he agreed to work with the FBI to help uncover the essence of the Trump Campaign's links to Russia. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he had legal advice when he did it.

William Barr, at the insistence of President Trump moved to have Flynn's prosecution stopped - at the sentencing stage! I have literally never heard of this. The legal system has literally never heard of this.

The reason? Because Bill Barr has claimed that Flynn had been entrapped!

What?!

The simple definition of "entrapment" is "tricking someone into committing a crime."

Entrapment occurs when the state sets up a fake crime, and someone takes the bait. For example, when the state offers a two-bit criminal a chance to participate in a drug deal that does not exist, then charges the person with conspiracy to commit the non-existent offence.

How was Flynn tricked into committing a crime when his own lawyers negotiated a plea deal on his behalf that he then agreed to and signed? Where is the "trap" in that? He knew exactly what he was doing when he did it, and had the benefit of legal advice while he did it. 

More than that, the crime was REAL...he committed obstruction of justice, and no one disputes this, not even Barr.

But was he tricked when he first talked to the FBI? Flynn even had lawyers with him when he lied to the cops! The man was literally surrounded by legal counsel at every single stange of his encounters with the criminal justice system. 

If you recall, that he lied to the FBI was so plain and obvious, that he publicly apologized to the Vice President for having mislead even him about his contacts with Russia! 

Flynn lied to EVERYONE! As noted by Frum, this was all in plain sight!

Here is a thought...maybe Flynn could have simply told the truth.

Stone goes to jail to serve his sentence in July. Was he entrapped as well, just like Flynn? Barr has no doubt been instructed by Trump to make sure Stone never serves a single day in jail. 

We are witnessing what may be one of the worst perversions of justice ever in the USA. The "entrapment" that has occurred consists of the millions of people who are willing to believe that this is somehow real, when what is really going on is that a President of the United States is bending the criminal justice system to his political will. Others have done it before, but never so brazenly.

What comes next?