Loyalty

Let’s face it; General Flynn is the victim of Trump Derangement Syndrome. And Donald Trump is a decent man who didn’t want to see Flynn destroyed in a hysterical attempt to destroy Trump. So he went to FBI Director Comey to argue for the same kind of prosecutorial discretion that allowed Comey to give a pass to Hillary Clinton for her private server and her lies. The same kind of prosecutorial discretion that allowed Loretta Lynch to refuse to pursue charges against Lois Lerner for using her position to discriminate against Conservatives groups at the IRS.

One of the most disheartening things I saw during the George W. Bush administration was for Bush to allow Scooter Libby to hang out to dry. Libby was the fall guy for Bush Derangement Syndrome and Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald knew at the very beginning of the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame that Libby was not the leaker – his primary task. But he was determined to justify his pursuit and needed a victim. He chose Libby, who had nothing to do with the original “leak” and ended up getting him indicted and convicted for lying to the FBI when his actual crime was a bad memory.

Which gets us back to Trump’s conversation with Comey. According to a third-had account of a memo written by Comey, Trump told Comey “I hope you can let this go.” What is the “this?” What crime is Flynn accused of? It’s not clear to me. Travelling to Russia and attending a dinner is not a crime. Neither is getting paid for giving a speech. Neither is it a crime to speak with the Russian ambassador. Flynn was fired as Trump’s national security advisor because he either deliberately or inadvertently lied to Vice President Pence about speaking to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions. But even lying to the Vice President is not a crime. So what is Flynn’s crime? Will he be getting the Scooter Libby treatment and convicted of lying to the FBI about an unrelated event?

I suspect the latter is that case. We all know that if a prosecutor wants to convict you of something he will find something and you will be convicted, or if not convicted be impoverished defending yourself. I suspect that Trump knew this and wanted to protect Flynn from being destroyed simply because he was a Trump loyalist.

That’s what people who are loyal do.