Sidney Powell
The defense for former Trump National Security Advisor and retired Lt. General Michael Flynn continued to proclaim their client was the innocent victim of a widespread government conspiracy. In a Wednesday sentencing memo, the legal team argued that Flynn should be sentenced to probation, not prison.
Attorney Sidney Powell opened the memo by paraphrasing Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, a member–but not a “full-fledged” one, he says–of the President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team. Powell claimed federal prosecutors unlawfully reversed their original recommendation of probation and asked the judge to incarcerate Flynn.
“This Court should swiftly reject the government’s brazen attempt to punish Mr. Flynn for refusing to compose rather than sing,” Powell wrote, appearing to misconstrue the expression she attributes to Dershowitz. “The reversal of its sentencing position is not only unjust, it is unlawful. If left unchecked, it will send a dangerous message to cooperators – give testimony consistent with the government’s theory of the case, regardless of veracity, or pay the price with your freedom.”
Despite Flynn previously pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian Ambassador, Powell says her client has consistently told the truth regarding his foreign contacts and testimony regarding the federal criminal case against his former business partner.
“Since November 2017 (and before), Mr. Flynn told the government the truth about every question it asked him, including what he knows concerning the Flynn Intel Group’s (“FIG”) involvement with Inovo BV, Ekim Altepkin, and the Government of Turkey,” the memo stated. “When the government decided to charge his former business partner, Bijan Rafiekian, concerning that relationship, Mr. Flynn continued to provide the government the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
The sentencing memo did address the lies Flynn admitted he told the FBI, but referred to them as “alleged false statements” that did not “significantly impact national security.” From there, the memo accused federal prosecutors of intentionally persecuting Flynn–despite there being documentary evidence of Flynn’s sworn grand jury testimony to the contrary.
“The government also continues its campaign to hold Mr. Flynn responsible for false statements in a FARA filing. It ignores the facts in its possession as well as the decision of another court,” Powell wrote. “Any misstatements in the March 2017 FARA filing at issue were not the fault of Mr. Flynn. He gave his lawyers complete and accurate documents and information. Moreover, he did his part to make sure any FARA filing was accurate. The FARA statements listed in the Statement of Offense (ECF No. 4) are either not false or not attributable to Mr. Flynn.”
These are the same arguments Powell already made in Flynn’s filing to withdraw his guilty plea, a move legal experts derided as an obvious play for a presidential pardon.
Read the full sentencing memo below:
US v Flynn Flynn Sentencing Memo by Law&Crime on Scribd
[image via Fox News screengrab]