Speak of the Devil, and up he pops!

As a reminder: Pence and Priebus believed Flynn was lying. John Eisenberg believed Flynn was lying to him abt investigation. Flynn took steps to cover up what happened IMMEDIATELY. https://t.co/Z2BhAQsGQM

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 13, 2020

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that name!

And btw, Greenwald claimed, back in the day, that he was a 1st Amendment lawyer (whatever that is).  He has, SFAIK, no prosecutorial experience whatsoever.  His claim that innocent people plead guilty all the time aligns with the claim of most prisoners that they "didn't do nuthin'!"

The one criminal case I ever handled, my client left the courtroom for jail with that cry on his lips.  He was guilty of the charge, however.  No question about it.  Perry Mason couldn't have done anything for him.

I return to this dog's breakfast because of this:

Reupping, bc Politico just posted a stupid story that totally misrepresents the context of Flynn's unmasking.

The Public Record Claims that Flynn Had No Permission from Trump to Undermine US Policy in Calling Kislyakhttps://t.co/ez3Lvy0TsP

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 13, 2020

And this:

There's another potential problem with @ChuckGrassley's declassified unmaskers.

At least as the record currently stands, the FBI found the report, not NSA. And per Comey, it was not a finalized intelligence product. These all are.https://t.co/vUCAj9xpiH

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 13, 2020

Now I have to go read emptywheel some more.  I'll leave you with this lighter fare:

What info freaked out so many senior Govt officials on Dec 14-16, 2016? If you really want to be transparent & honest, @RichardGrenell, then declassify underlying memo(s) for public to see what #Flynn was up to & why senior USGOVT officials, all authorized, wanted to see name. https://t.co/Nu65MJTrdM

— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) May 13, 2020

Attacking the intelligence community for unmasking Mike Flynn is like attacking the Social Security Administration for cutting monthly checks, USDA for inspecting poultry factories, DOD for deploying troops overseas, or the State Department for writing diplomatic cables

— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) May 13, 2020

It's not the story that matters, it's the narrative.

Aye, there's the problem.

Because this is what emptywheel concludes:

All of which is to say this list — which Politico is running with as if it’s the Holy Grail — most likely has nothing to do with Flynn’s conversations with Sergey Kislyak, and shows that the Deep State picked up Mike Flynn during the transition in a good deal of reporting, with reports that more than 40 people had a glimpse at. But only one recording launched an investigation.

How Michael Flynn became sausage, in other words.  But that's not an "objective" narrative, now, is it?