DAY 328: Trump won't refuse to pardon Michael Flynn

When asked if he would pardon Michael Flynn, Trump did not say no. Instead, according to CNN, Trump said this:

"I don't want to talk about pardons with Michael Flynn yet. We'll see what happens, let's see,"

Jared Kushner was the director of a foundation that supported illegal Israeli settlements

According to Newsweek, Jard Kushner "failed to disclose" that he was the director of a foundation that supported illegal Israeli settlements. The revelation happens two days after it was revealed that Kushner ordered Michael Flynn to ask Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak to delay a vote in the UN condemning Israel.

From the Newsweek article:

DAY 315: Trump claims he knew Flynn lied to the FBI, which is possible obstruction of justice

Donald Trump tweeted this today:

I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 2 de diciembre de 2017

Which means Trump knew Flynn had comitted a crime but he didn't turn him over to the authorities and he didn't ask Jeff Sessions to investigate him. In fact, Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates for informing him about Flynn and then Trump fired James Comey, who testified before Congress that Trump asked him not to investigate Flynn.

DAY 314: Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI about Russia

Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. According to The New York Times, this is part of the Robert Mueller investigation and it refers to a conversation Flynn had with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. That is the same conversation he lied about to Mike Pence:

President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador last December, becoming the first senior White House official to cut a cooperation deal in the special counsel’s wide-ranging inquiry into election interference.

Mr. Flynn’s discussions with Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, were part of a coordinated effort by Mr. Trump’s aides to create foreign policy before they were in power, documents released as part of Mr. Flynn’s plea agreement show. Their efforts undermined the existing policy of President Barack Obama and flouted a warning from a senior Obama administration official to stop meddling in foreign affairs before the inauguration.

But there's more.

Russian hackers sought to collude with Michael Flynn according to intelligence sources

The Wall Street Journal published today an article about a Republican operative called Peter Smith who tried to get supposedly stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's server by asking hackers if they had them.

But the part of the article that really catches the eye, halfway through the text, is this:

DAY 140: James Comey tells Senate Trump lied; He leaked Trump memos to trigger special counsel

During his testimony before the Senate, former FBI director James Comey revealed he was the one who asked a friend to leak one of his memos regarding his meetings with Donald Trump, and Trump's attempts to get Comey to end the Russia investigation. Comey added he did so in order to trigger a special counsel for the Russia investigation.

On top of that, Comey sid Trump lied and difamed him when Trump attacked comey after he fired him.

According to the New York Times:

DAY 139: Trump told Comey he had nothing to do with Russian hookers... and that Flynn is a "good guy"

The US Senate released the written remarks James Comey prepared for his testimony before Congress tomorrow, June 7. The remarks contain the following passage, in which he suggested to Comey that Trump wanted him to stop the Russia investigation:

On the morning of March 30, the President called me at the FBI. He described the Russia investigation as “a cloud” that was impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country. He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia. He asked what we could do to “lift the cloud.” I responded that we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could, and that there would be great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well. He agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him.

That was on page six in the document with the written remarks. Quite specific, don't you think? Why would Trump feel compelled to tell Comey he had nothing to do with Russian hookers? By the way, that was an obvious reference to the intelligence report that claims Trump hired Russian prostitutes to pee on him.

But there's more. Prior to that paragraph, on page 5, Comey wrote this:

Michael Flynn mislead the Pentagon, but refuses to testify before Congress and takes the 5th

According to The New York Times, not only Michael Flynn mislead the Pentagon about his income from companies in Russia and contacts with officials from that country when he applied for a renwal of his top-secret clearance in 2016, but he is also refusing to testify before Congress on the issue, pleading the 5th amendment.

From the NYT article:

Mr. Flynn, who resigned 24 days into the Trump administration, told investigators in February 2016 that he had received no income from foreign companies and had only “insubstantial contact” with foreign nationals, according to the letter. In fact, Mr. Flynn had sat two months earlier beside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at a Moscow gala for RT, the Kremlin-financed television network, which paid Mr. Flynn more than $45,000 to attend the event and give a separate speech.

Trump denies telling Comey to stop investigating Flynn, and the he lies about the Deputy Attorney General

During a press conference a reporter asked Donald Trump if he asked James Comey to stop the Michael Flynn investigation. Trump said "no, no" but then he lied about the reason why he fired him, claiming he was unpopular (he wasn't) and suggesting it was because of the letter written by the Deputy Attorney General. The problem is Trump told Lester Holt that letter was not the reason why he fired Comey, and that he was goin to fire him anyway. In other words, Trump lied again about why he fired Comey.

Why should be believe Trump, then, when he says "no, no", to the question about him asking Comey to stop the Flynn investigation?

Here's the video, of the press conference, by the way:

Michael Flynn stopped Pentagon plan that would've affected Turkey... after being paid by Turkey

According to McClatchy, 10 days after Donald Trump took office, Michael Flynn stopped a plan by the Pentagon to take over the city of Raqqa, in Syria, which was controlled by ISIS as its de-facto capital.

The problem is, stopping the plan was somthing Turkey wanted, as the plan would've helped Syrian Kurdish forces.

And the problem with that is Michael Flynn had taken half a million dollars in payment from Turkey before he became Trump's national security adviser.

Trump's team knew Michael Flynn was under investigation before he was hired as Trump's Security Adviser

The New York Times revealed Donald Trump's aides knew Michael Flynn was under investigation before he was hired by Donald Trump as National Security Adviser. From the NYT article:

WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump’s transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case.

Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies.

DAY 118: Trump asked James Comey to jail reporters who publish leaks

According to The New York Times, Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to actually jail reporters who published leaked information from the Trump administration. From the NYT article:

During a private meeting in February with the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, President Trump floated a proposal that, even by the standards of a leader who routinely advertises his disdain for the news media, brought editors and reporters up short.

You should consider, Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, jailing journalists who publish classified information.

Trump asked James Comey to stop investigating Michael Flynn

According to The New York Times, back in February Donald Trump asked James Comey to stop investigating Michael Flynn and his ties to Russia. And Comey wrote about it in a memo to other FBI officials.

WASHINGTON — President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

The documentation of Mr. Trump’s request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia.

Trump's attacks against Sally Yates failed: She warned him about Michael Flynn but he didn't listen

Prior to her testimony on the issue of Michael Flynn before the Senate today, Donald Trump attacked former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates:

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The tweet is just plain dumb, as Yates has nothing to do with any leaks --and Republicans in the Senate did ask her about it repeatedly-- nor did she have the power to influence the inteligence agencies to leak documents.

But Trump's attacks on Yates ended up failing, as she delivered quite a bomb to the Senate.

DAY 109: Barack Obama warned Donald Trump about Michael Flynn but Trump hired him anyway

Former White House officials revealed that President Barack Obama actually warned Donald Trump about Michael Flynn in their first meeting two days after the 2016 election.

According to The New York Times:

"Mr. Obama, who had fired Mr. Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Mr. Trump that he would have profound concerns about Mr. Flynn becoming a top national security aide, said the administration officials, who were briefed on the Oval Office conversation. Mr. Trump later ignored the advice, naming Mr. Flynn to be his national security adviser."

And that's not all. Sean Spicer admitted the leak was true, saying in today's press conference that Obama “wasn’t exactly a fan of General Flynn’s.”

Trump knew Michael Flynn had conflicts of interests with Turkey, but hired him anyway

MSNBC reported today that the Trump transition team conducted a background check on Michael Flynn before naming him National Security Adviser and they knew he had conflicts of interests with Turkey, but they hired him anyway.

.@maddow reports: NBC News has learned both the Trump transition and the White House *did* perform a background check on Michael Flynn. pic.twitter.com/0ua4Rjz2tv

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 29, 2017

DAY 71: Trump tries to justify immunity for Flynn, but in 2016 he said immunity meant crime

This is the first thing Donald Trump tweeted today in a response to the fact that Michael Flynn asked for imminity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before Congress:

Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2017

"Witch hunt", huh? That's not what Trump said when he was campaigning on September 27, 2016. Back then, as the following video shows, he said "If you're not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for?"

Michael Flynn offers to testify on Trump and Russia if he is given immunity

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn issued a statement today saying he is willing to testify before Congress on the investigation regarding the ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia if he is given immunity.

New: Flynn lawyer says he "certainly has a story to tell", but "reasonable person" wouldn't testify now without assurance against unfairness pic.twitter.com/gLop6tMUUh

— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) March 30, 2017

Really? Well, guess what? Back in 2016 Michael Flynn said that if somebody has immunity it means that person "probably" commited a crime. Here's the video:

Michael Flynn lied: He was paid by Putin's government

Michael Flynn, Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser, was paid $33,450 dollars by RT, the Russian government-ran news channel, for giving a speech in Moscow.

According to CNN:

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, was paid more than $33,750 by Russia's state-run broadcaster RT TV-Russia for a speech in Moscow in December 2015, a top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has learned.

The US intelligence community has long assessed RT to be a propaganda tool of the Kremlin, writing in its January report on Russian interference in the US election that the organization had participated in disinformation campaigns aimed at the US.

It gets worse: Flynn had denied he had gotten any money from Russia:

Trump campaign's knew Michael Flynn was being paid by Turkish interests

Remember Michael Flynn and how he was fired as National Security Adviser supposedly because he lied about his contact with Russia? Well, that was just the tip of the iceberg. According to The New York Times, the Trump campaign knew Flynn got paid half a million dollars to represent the interests of a firm with ties to the government of Turkey.

How is this bad? Well, aside from the hypocrisy in calling to "lock up" Hillary Clinton, Flynn was in the middle of a HUGE conflict of interests.