Michael Flynn Appears To Have Told Mueller Everything He Knows
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. Feb. 1, 2017 (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Today’s stories to watch:
1. Today, after much anticipation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has released the court filing related to President Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The sentencing documents requested no prison time, citing Flynn’s “substantial assistance” with three investigations during 19 interviews with investigators. It outlined the lies Flynn told about his phone calls about lifting sanctions on Russia with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kisylak and lies about Flynn’s foreign lobbying. It also has 6 redacted pages that outline the details of his assistance. Needless to say, the lack of prison time cited on the filing signals Flynn provided Mueller with everything he needs. For a deeper dive into how Mueller flipped Flynn in the first place, and how what he may have revealed could incriminate President Trump, read our deep dive from last year.
2. Among the various investigations plaguing Donald Trump is the probe seeking to determine whether or not the President is violating the emoluments clause of the constitution by profiting from the presidency. On Tuesday, it saw a major development. According to the Associated Press, the Attorneys General of the District of Columbia and Maryland are filing subpoenas to 37 entities, including 13 federal agencies that oversee the Trump International Hotel in DC. As we know, this hotel used to be a Post Office and the government granted Trump the ability to use it for his hotel. Among the entities subpoenaed are the Trump Organization, the Department of Treasury, Department of Defense, and more. There have been numerous allegations of foreign governments staying at the hotel in an effort to curry favor with the President. We will soon know to the extent to which Trump has profited from those efforts, given the fact he has not divested from his businesses.
3. The stock market plunged 800 points today, amid doubts about that the truce between China and the US, negotiated at this weekend’s G20 summit, will be long-lived. Share prices had made gains yesterday on news of the deal but bounded down today after a string of tweets by Trump, including one in which he dubbed himself the “Tariff Man”, made investors realize that this was just more Trumpian hot air. A clear pattern has emerged, one in which Trump’s bluster makes markets tick up before a realization that a lack of substance behind his policies will not bear fruit for shareholders makes them go back down again. This is not healthy for an economy experiencing more and more signs of a downturn. Yields on longer-term bonds rose today, a telltale symptom of an economic slump.
Rantt Editor Jossif Ezekilov contributed to this report
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to get the Rantt Rundown newsletter in your inbox daily.
If you’d like to support our projects, please consider helping to fund our operation by joining our community.
What we’re offering:
$1 subscription: Support independent journalism at a time when it’s more important than ever before and never miss a Rantt article.
$3 subscription: Receive an exclusive invite into Rantt’s community chatroom (#newsroom Slack channel) where our writers, editors, and other patrons break down the latest news of the day.
$5 subscription: Receive an exclusive invite into Rantt’s community chatroom and gain access to additional private channels.
If you’d rather make a one-time donation, you can do it on Paypal!
