MAGA world is very up-in-arms about some newly unsealed court documents involving the case of Michael Flynn, the US Army Lieutenant General and former Trump national security advisor who pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the Russian government and also worked as a secret lobbyist for the Turkish government while he was in the White House.

The documents at the center of this flurry involve handwritten notes from an FBI agent about the handling of the case. "What’s our goal?" the agent scrawled on one document. "Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Another document shows the same agent expressing concern about the need to "Protect our institution by not playing games," noting that "If we’re seen playing games, WH will be furious."

Flynn's lawyers are trying to use this revelation to reverse his guilty plea and get the case thrown out, citing it as proof of a Deep State FBI something something. "Since August 2016 at the latest, partisan F.B.I. and D.O.J. leaders conspired to destroy Mr. Flynn," they wrote to the judge, "These documents show in their own handwriting and emails that they intended either to create an offense they could prosecute or at least get him fired."

President Trump has long defended Flynn's innocence, so it's no surprise that his lawyers would try to take advantage of this opportunity. But nor should it be surprising that the FBI was trying to make deliberate and strategic bureaucratic decisions. Read the rest

A Washington, D.C. judge today ordered the U.S. Justice Department to post public transcripts of a Michael Flynn voicemail that reportedly captures Trump/Congress efforts "that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation. Read the rest

Lock him up.

Donald Trump's disgraced former national security advisor Gen. Michael Flynn went to court today to be sentenced for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the United States.

Flynn's sentencing will be delayed, to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Judge Sullivan repeated a statement that he will not make any promises about no jail time when it comes time to deliver Flynn's sentence.

In the Washington courtroom, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan pressed Flynn and his attorneys aggressively during the hearing about the guilty plea, and his interactions with the FBI.

Prosecutors say Flynn may continue to help the government in ongoing investigations.

The judge began by basically calling bullshit on the last-minute court filings by Flynn's defense teams last week, which implied the former general was entrapped into lying by crooked FBI agents.

This was a bogus implication, and Judge Sullivan was not pleased.

The judge queried Flynn and his team, point by point, essentially asking them if they wanted to relitigate that part of the legal process -- the FBI part.

In response, Flynn told the judge, “I was aware that lying to the FBI was a crime.”

“Are you continuing to accept responsibility for your false statements,” Judge Sullivan asked.

“I am, your honor,” said Flynn.

Trump began the day of his former National Security Advisor's trial by wishing Flynn 'good luck.'

Not a good look for Individual-1.

After a series of interrogations from the judge, and responses from Flynn and attorneys, Judge Sullivan asks one final time, and still sounding skeptical:

"If you want to proceed because you are guilty of this offense..." Read the rest

Flynn pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, and is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.

On the eve of former Trump aide Michael Flynn's sentencing on felony charges, special counsel Robert Mueller has released a January 2017 FBI memo that details an interview with Flynn by agent Peter Strzok and another FBI agent. Read the rest

Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is asking for no prison time.

A memo from the former Trump national security chief's legal defense team was filed tonight, just before his scheduled sentencing. Read the rest

The Michael Flynn Memo is out. It's redacted af. Read the rest

As Donald Trump's national security adviser, one of the first moves Michael Flynn made was aligned precisely with the wishes of Turkey. But Flynn had a secret. He'd been paid half a million dollars to represent the interests of the Turkish government. And team Trump knew. Read the rest

Another hour, another bombshell in the accelerating pace of criminal and espionage inquiries into Donald Trump and his team. Read the rest

Drip, drip, drip. A collection of real-time takes on today's extraordinary and historic testimony by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by Donald Trump after getting a little too close to whatever is going on in the Trump White House with Michael Flynn, the Russians, the Trump Organization, and who knows what else. Aliens. Probably aliens.. Read the rest

The House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R) and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said today that there is no sign that Trump's former national security advisor complied with the law when he failed to disclose payments he received from Russia.

From CNN:

Chaffetz and Cummings announced their findings to reporters on the Hill following a classified gathering of the committee in which they reviewed documents that Cummings described as "extremely troubling."

"I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said, referring to whether Flynn received permission from the Pentagon or the State Department or that he disclosed the more than $45,000 he was paid for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia.

Also today: White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short refused the House Oversight Committee's request for documents relating to Flynn.

From The Week:

In a letter, Short said some of the requested documents were in the custody of the Department of Defense, not the White House. In the case of other documents, Short wrote that the White House was "unable to accommodate" the requests. Short's response arrived as the committee convened Tuesday to review its first set of documents on Flynn, provided by the Pentagon.

Previous documents released by the White House at the beginning of April revealed Flynn had not disclosed income he'd received from three Russia-linked firms. Flynn's lobbying company has also been found to have worked for a firm linked to the Turkish government while Flynn was serving as a top adviser to Trump's presidential campaign.

The Pentagon has a rule requiring retired officers to report income from foreign states. But the Pentagon says it can find no records that former National Security advisor Michael Flynn filed a report after he'd been paid by Russia for an interview on the Russian state television network RT and for dining with President Vladimir Putin at RT's 10-year anniversary gala in 2015.

Via Politico:

In a letter to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House oversight committee delivered Tuesday, acting Army Secretary Robert Speer confirmed that Flynn — a retired lieutenant general — filed no documentation of his trip.

In response, House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the committee, sent a letter that suggests Flynn may have inappropriately accepted payments from the Russian government or its agents in exchange for his attendance. Scrutiny is growing on Flynn’s trip and whether his payment violated the Constitution’s Emolument’s Clause, which prohibits any person holding an “office of profit or trust” in the federal government from accepting foreign payment. The prohibition has long been considered to apply for retired military officials.

As you recall, Flynn was fond of leading "lock her up!" chants on Trump's campaign trail. Read the rest

A scorching analysis of the unprecedented last few days in America from Joshua Marshall of Talking Points Memo, following the Russia-clouded resignation of Trump national security Michael Flynn, who follows the Russia-scandal resignation of Paul Manafort, and other advisors who've stepped aside under various clouds of suspicion. Read the rest

He's out. Trump national security adviser Michael T. Flynn resigned Monday night after revelations he misled VP Mike Pence and other senior White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. Read the rest

CBS News is reporting that Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has resigned. Read the rest