Why the treatment of General Michael Flynn should not surprise you
Put aside the argument of whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) should or should not drop charges against General Michael Flynn and let's look at how we got here and why his treatment is the norm not the exception.
For those who point out General Flynn pleaded guilty (twice according to some reports) that was not his original position. He was originally fighting these charges and relented to a plea bargain when a) he was bankrupted by the legal fees and, especially, b) when the FBI started investigating his son. General Flynn agreed to a plea deal and to assist the prosecutors in return for them dropping the investigation of his son. Sounds like pretty dirty pool doesn't it? Well, it is and it's not unusual.
When I was practicing law in the 1990's, seminars I attended that covered federal investigations laid out some key facts. The Feds are like any other people or organization. People want to advance and you advance with wins. An investigation costs money and they don't like wasting money on an investigation to say someone is innocent, so once they start they will keep going until the find something and can chalk up a win.
Let's turn on the wayback machine and go back in time to look at some other prominent examples of this behavior by the FBI and DOJ.
Richard Jewell. It's the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Richard is 33 year old security guard working at one of the Olympic sites and he discovers a suspicious backpack that might be a bomb. He alerts the authorities and helps evacuate the area, saving lives. Three days after the event - just 3 days! - the Feds suspecting Richard of planting the bomb to draw attention to himself. Lacking any evidence to prove it the FBI leaks to the media that Richard Jewell is the prime suspect. Why? To put pressure on Richard to confess to the crime.
To shorten a story you can look up or see dramatized in Clint Eastwood's movie - Richard Jewell did not plant the bomb but his life was ruined by the humiliating and hideous stories written about him. The Federal Government and some media outlets paid him gobs of money for what they did to him but money can't make up for what they did.
President Bill Clinton. About the same time that Richard Jewell was being treated badly by the FBI that President Clinton was undergoing similar treatment by the special investigation headed up by Kenneth Starr. Personally, I think Bill Clinton is a really horrible human being for his sexual abuse and harassment of women but after a key witness in the Whitewater investigation died*1 the Starr investigation was running out of steam until the Monica Lewinsky scandal surfaced.*2 The Starr team really dragged the President through the wringer on that one and they went ahead released to Congress a highly descriptive and salacious report of the President's sexual activities with Ms. Lewinsky.
People were highly critical of how that investigation was handled and justifiably so. Clinton is not the first President to sleep with someone other than his wife and nothing about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky was criminal. It was sleazy but not criminal.
Arthur Anderson. Used to be a major multinational Accounting firm, not a person. Arthur Anderson was one of the really big, most highly recognized accounting firms in the world. After the events of September 11, 2001, the economy took a massive nose dive. The terrorist attack was partly responsible but so were some hideous business practices. Arthur Anderson was the accounting firm that checked the books for some of the major companies that participated in those practices. The Federal Government went after them in a big way.
The Feds had Arthur Anderson in a tight spot. They wanted the firm to plead guilty to criminal charges but the firm could not plea to criminal charges and stay in business. On the other hand, if they did not agree to a deal, the Feds would charge Arthur Anderson with crimes and prosecute them and that would destroy the firm. Arthur Anderson was negotiating for something less - big bucks, no crime - or some other way out. The Feds did not give, they filed charges and Arthur Anderson has ceased to exist.
Arthur Anderson appealed and the charges were later overturned but there was no way to undo the destruction of that firm. That said, Arthur Anderson may have been innocent of those charges but they were hardly innocent of participating in practices that led to the economic damage that occurred.
Now you might wonder why the Feds get away with that kind of treatment after seeing these examples. Here's one more example that shows you how they use these tactics to get truly bad people.
Thomas Capano. Another 1996 case. Long story short - Mr. Capano was a wealthy and politically connected attorney. He dated a woman in the Delaware Governor's office, Anne Marie Fahey. They broke up and he killed her, stuffed her body in a large cooler, took the cooler out to sea in his brother's boat, added some anchors to the cooler, and dumped it in the ocean.
The local authorities investigated with little luck and asked the Feds to get involved. They identified Capano as the likely suspect but were having trouble proving it. To get Capano, the Feds went after Capano's brother. They started going through the brother's taxes and were threatening to press charges. Ultimately, Capano's brother caved and testified against Thomas Capano about how his brother borrowed the cooler and the boat, saying he killed someone and needed to get rid of the body.
And that's why the Feds do what they do. It's dirty pool, crappy tactics, but it works to get a murderer like Thomas Capano convicted and sent to jail for life. The problem is they don't seem to have a moral compass that enables them to know when to use that on scumbags like Capano as opposed to heroes like Richard Jewell.
Interesting tidbits
*1 An investigation into financial dealings primarily involving Hilary Clinton during their time in Arkansas. People I knew in Washington at the time said if the witness had not died, Hilary was very likely going to be indicted.
*2 That case did not have to be turned over to Ken Starr's team. However, a Philadelphia Inquirer article written in January of the year it happened said the Clinton team wanted it to go to Ken Starr because the Clinton team felt they could set Ken Starr up as the bad guy with the media. And that's exactly what the Clinton team did and the Inquirer played along with the rest of the news media completely forgetting the story written in their own paper at the beginning of the year.
For those who point out General Flynn pleaded guilty (twice according to some reports) that was not his original position. He was originally fighting these charges and relented to a plea bargain when a) he was bankrupted by the legal fees and, especially, b) when the FBI started investigating his son. General Flynn agreed to a plea deal and to assist the prosecutors in return for them dropping the investigation of his son. Sounds like pretty dirty pool doesn't it? Well, it is and it's not unusual.
When I was practicing law in the 1990's, seminars I attended that covered federal investigations laid out some key facts. The Feds are like any other people or organization. People want to advance and you advance with wins. An investigation costs money and they don't like wasting money on an investigation to say someone is innocent, so once they start they will keep going until the find something and can chalk up a win.
Let's turn on the wayback machine and go back in time to look at some other prominent examples of this behavior by the FBI and DOJ.
Richard Jewell. It's the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Richard is 33 year old security guard working at one of the Olympic sites and he discovers a suspicious backpack that might be a bomb. He alerts the authorities and helps evacuate the area, saving lives. Three days after the event - just 3 days! - the Feds suspecting Richard of planting the bomb to draw attention to himself. Lacking any evidence to prove it the FBI leaks to the media that Richard Jewell is the prime suspect. Why? To put pressure on Richard to confess to the crime.
To shorten a story you can look up or see dramatized in Clint Eastwood's movie - Richard Jewell did not plant the bomb but his life was ruined by the humiliating and hideous stories written about him. The Federal Government and some media outlets paid him gobs of money for what they did to him but money can't make up for what they did.
President Bill Clinton. About the same time that Richard Jewell was being treated badly by the FBI that President Clinton was undergoing similar treatment by the special investigation headed up by Kenneth Starr. Personally, I think Bill Clinton is a really horrible human being for his sexual abuse and harassment of women but after a key witness in the Whitewater investigation died*1 the Starr investigation was running out of steam until the Monica Lewinsky scandal surfaced.*2 The Starr team really dragged the President through the wringer on that one and they went ahead released to Congress a highly descriptive and salacious report of the President's sexual activities with Ms. Lewinsky.
People were highly critical of how that investigation was handled and justifiably so. Clinton is not the first President to sleep with someone other than his wife and nothing about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky was criminal. It was sleazy but not criminal.
Arthur Anderson. Used to be a major multinational Accounting firm, not a person. Arthur Anderson was one of the really big, most highly recognized accounting firms in the world. After the events of September 11, 2001, the economy took a massive nose dive. The terrorist attack was partly responsible but so were some hideous business practices. Arthur Anderson was the accounting firm that checked the books for some of the major companies that participated in those practices. The Federal Government went after them in a big way.
The Feds had Arthur Anderson in a tight spot. They wanted the firm to plead guilty to criminal charges but the firm could not plea to criminal charges and stay in business. On the other hand, if they did not agree to a deal, the Feds would charge Arthur Anderson with crimes and prosecute them and that would destroy the firm. Arthur Anderson was negotiating for something less - big bucks, no crime - or some other way out. The Feds did not give, they filed charges and Arthur Anderson has ceased to exist.
Arthur Anderson appealed and the charges were later overturned but there was no way to undo the destruction of that firm. That said, Arthur Anderson may have been innocent of those charges but they were hardly innocent of participating in practices that led to the economic damage that occurred.
Now you might wonder why the Feds get away with that kind of treatment after seeing these examples. Here's one more example that shows you how they use these tactics to get truly bad people.
Thomas Capano. Another 1996 case. Long story short - Mr. Capano was a wealthy and politically connected attorney. He dated a woman in the Delaware Governor's office, Anne Marie Fahey. They broke up and he killed her, stuffed her body in a large cooler, took the cooler out to sea in his brother's boat, added some anchors to the cooler, and dumped it in the ocean.
The local authorities investigated with little luck and asked the Feds to get involved. They identified Capano as the likely suspect but were having trouble proving it. To get Capano, the Feds went after Capano's brother. They started going through the brother's taxes and were threatening to press charges. Ultimately, Capano's brother caved and testified against Thomas Capano about how his brother borrowed the cooler and the boat, saying he killed someone and needed to get rid of the body.
And that's why the Feds do what they do. It's dirty pool, crappy tactics, but it works to get a murderer like Thomas Capano convicted and sent to jail for life. The problem is they don't seem to have a moral compass that enables them to know when to use that on scumbags like Capano as opposed to heroes like Richard Jewell.
Interesting tidbits
*1 An investigation into financial dealings primarily involving Hilary Clinton during their time in Arkansas. People I knew in Washington at the time said if the witness had not died, Hilary was very likely going to be indicted.
*2 That case did not have to be turned over to Ken Starr's team. However, a Philadelphia Inquirer article written in January of the year it happened said the Clinton team wanted it to go to Ken Starr because the Clinton team felt they could set Ken Starr up as the bad guy with the media. And that's exactly what the Clinton team did and the Inquirer played along with the rest of the news media completely forgetting the story written in their own paper at the beginning of the year.
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