Judge Rejects Government Effort To Classify Michael Flynn As ‘Co-Conspirator’

A federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday struck down prosecutors’ efforts to characterize Michael Flynn as a co-conspirator with his former lobbying partner, who faces trial on charges that he secretly lobbied for the Turkish government.

Judge Anthony Trenga said in a court filing that federal prosecutors failed to provide enough evidence to show that Flynn acted as a co-conspirator with Bijan Rafiekian, a former executive at Flynn’s consulting company, Flynn Intel Group.

“The United States at this point has not presented or proffered evidence sufficient to establish by a preponderance of the evidence a conspiracy for the purposes of admitting against the Defendant the hearsay statements of alleged co-conspirators pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(E),” Trenga wrote, citing the federal rule regarding the introduction of evidence at criminal trials. (RELATED: Prosecutors Reveal ‘Surprising Last-Minute Development’ In Case Against Michael Flynn’s Ex-Business Partner)

Trenga indicated that prosecutors could still rely on Flynn as an unindicted co-conspirator, if the government is able to present additional evidence at Rafiekian’s trial, which is set to begin on July 15 in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Michael Flynn's former lobbying partner, Bijan Rafiekian, faces trial on charges that he secretly lobbied for the Turkish government. Turkish Government Papers Call For Campaign Funds For U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar MEMRI ^ | July 1, 2019 | FR Posted by JOHN ADAMS In an article about U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the manager of the Turkish state-run news channel TRT World's Research Centre, Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui, encouraged readers to donate to Omar's campaign fund. The article, written for the English-language website of the Turkish pro-government daily Yeni Şafak and published April 1, 2019, was titled "Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All."[1] At least seven other Turkish media outlets ran the same article, in both English and in Turkish. It should be noted that U.S. federal law prohibits foreign nationals from donating to political candidates. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) meets with Turkish President Erdogan;an during the 2017 UN General Assembly. Turkish News Outlets Call For Funding For Omar In his article, Dr. Cherkaoui wrote that "donating money to Omar's campaign fund would be an adequate way of denying powerful organizations the power to censor alternative voices."[2] The article, which originally appeared in Yeni Şafak, was also published, with the same call for funds, on both the English- and Turkish-language websites of Turkish state-run news wire Anadolu Agency,[3] the website of the Turkish state-run TRT World's Research Centre,[4] and the Turkish news websites TimeTurk,[5] Haksöz Haber,[6] TürkHaber,[7] and Fikriyat.[8] It is difficult to calculate the reach that this call has had among Turkish readers, but Yeniafak's Turkish-language website is one of Turkey's most popular news websites,[9] and, as of September 2018, its Turkish print edition had a weekly circulation of 111,622.[10] Given Omar's popularity in Turkey, and that the article was published in Turkish as well as in English, it is likely that some Turks have sought to donate to Rep. Omar's campaign fund. Turkish Foreign Minister Phones Omar To Congratulate Her On Election Wins; Omar Meets With Erdoğan In New York, And With Turkish Consul General, Participates In Istanbul Conference According to diplomatic sources, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu phoned Rep. Omar in November 2016 to congratulate her on her election victory,[11] and again congratulated her on her win in November 2018.[12] Turkish press reports on Turkish FM's phone call congratulating Omar. In September 2017, Rep. Omar met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he was in New York for the UN General Assembly.[13] President Erdoğan's party, the AKP, tweeted about the meeting from its official Twitter account.[14] On July 1, 2017, Omar tweeted that she had met, the previous day, with Turkish Consul General in Chicago Umut Acar for lunch and a tour.[15] The tweet linked to a Facebook page that has since been removed. A year later, on September 24, 2018, Turkish Consul General Umut Acar tweeted a photo of himself, Omar, and another woman. Acar wrote: "We hosted Omar at the residence." He went on to describe Omar's life.[16] On February 4, 2017, Omar spoke on a panel at the "Who Is A Defender? International Human Rights Defenders Conference," held in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. the conference was organized by the Şişli municipality.[17] Omar at "Who Is A Defender? International Human Rights Defenders Conference" in Şişli, February 2017. Turkish Media Praise For Rep. Omar Omar has become a favorite of both the Turkish- and English-language media in Turkey. TRT World's YouTube channel, the English-language channel of the Turkish state-owned broadcasting network TRT, has at least a dozen videos featuring her,[18] including an interview with Omar herself.[19] Hundreds of news articles in Turkish about her have been published, some under headlines such as "Ilhan Omar Laid Out The U.S.'s Lies In The Middle East One By One!"[20] and, in a play on a Turkish expression, "The One Who Tells The Truth Will Be Chased Out Of Nine Parliaments."[21] Dr. Cherkoui's Article: "Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All" Following are excerpts of Dr. Cherkaoui's article, "Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All," as it first appeared on the English-language website of Yeni Şafak on April 1, 2019: "Recently, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its annual conference amidst political upheavals both in the United States and the Middle East. It is no secret that AIPAC has an enormously influential role in American politics and the organization's events, and especially the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, are generally well attended by top political personalities in Washington D.C. and beyond. "During this year's gathering, heavy criticism was directed to Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. For example, American Vice President Mike Pence said 'recently, a freshman Democrat in Congress trafficked in repeated anti-Semitic tropes,' adding that 'anyone who slanders those who support this historic alliance between the United States and Israel should never have a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.'[22] "It is interesting to note that Rep. Omar had not expressed anti-Semitic statements per se. She made comments[23] on Twitter about the nature of AIPAC's influence in Washington. However, her remarks were distorted and taken out of context. "The smear campaign directed against Omar is merely an attempt to stifle this new wave of youthful political activism, which paved the way for greater representation of minority groups and women. This increasing influence of minorities in the political sphere is surely not to the liking of the Republican Party's support base. The latter sees with suspicion the loss of urban and suburban centers to minority candidates. The new dynamics are set to alter the balance of power in the long-term since the current demographics that brought electoral victory to the Republican Party relies primarily on an aging populace of conservative whites. "This transformation is already affecting electoral behavior. For instance, in the aftermath of Nov. 7, 2018, the Democrats succeeded in wresting a 223-seat majority in the House of Representatives. In this context, Ilhan Omar (who is a Somali refugee) and Rashida Tlaib became the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress. "Interestingly, both Omar and Tlaib were singled out in the current AIPAC controversy. For example, Adam Milstein, one of AIPAC's biggest donors, accused them of being representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood,[24] saying that their values 'clash with American values.'[25] "Such outburst of accusations is indicative of the growing impatience among power centers in the U.S. The latter are used to having a firm grip on the political process and shaping the contours of political debate incontestably. In contrast, the emergence of strong counter-narratives by grassroots organizations disrupt the existing status quo and expose its fallacies... "Therefore, the media flak (to borrow the term of Herman and Chomsky) directed against Omar and others, does not come as a surprise. It is merely part of the institutional power's response. Negative 'public' responses are directed towards opposing narratives and positions to close down any serious discussion about the role and consequences of U.S. foreign policy in the world. Against this backdrop, harassing opinion leaders, academics, journalists, and activists can take many forms, such as social media hate campaigns, ads,[26] trolling, letters, phone calls, speeches, and lawsuits. "Among the rhetorical devices used to intimidate Omar and like-minded politicians is to make the connection between Israel's criticism and anti-Semitism. Such a misleading and pre-packaged conclusion helps frame the debate in a way that conceals both the political agendas at play and the lack of sound supporting reasons. The current controversy has nothing to do with anti-Semitism but is all about protecting Israel from criticism and conflating Zionism with Judaism. "All in all, it is not possible to silence those who question the rationale behind the U.S. policy towards Israel, especially in an era of information overload. By the same token, it is imperative for civil society organizations in the U.S. to have a better media presence, not only to push their narratives but also to prevent the spreading of falsehood within the public sphere. This will reinforce democratic politics and responsible journalism. "Lastly, since the campaign was fixated on making an example of Ilhan Omar, donating money to Omar's campaign fund would be an adequate way of denying powerful organizations the power to censor alternative voices."

Bunch of r b going after Flynn. The government previously, in court filings, declared Flynn NOT a co-conspirator. Filings on behalf of Flynn, when gov’t now tried to declare him a co-conspirator, pointed this out. The government cannot have it both ways. The truth is starting to be known: Here’s where it gets interesting and a picture starts to emerge. It is possible, very possible, the DOJ-NSD using their legally authorized database and surveillance access, knew the background principals behind the Flynn Group contract were members of the Turkish Government. [DOJ-NSD head David Laufman knew] However, Flynn, Rafiekian and their lawyers did not know; and therefore signed a FARA submission that was later shown to be false. Yes, Laufman -representing the DOJ- knowingly pressured Flynn to sign a FARA submission while withholding evidence the DOJ would later use to prove the FARA submission contained materially false information. That’s how it looks. The same David Laufman who sat in on the Clinton email interview. The same David Laufman who was FBI official Monica McLean’s lawyer when things got sketchy about her work with “beach friend” Christine Blasey-Ford…

"In October 2009, Trenga set aside the jury conviction of two top sales people at Teach me to Trade, a part of Whitney Information Network,[3] which uses infomercials and hotel seminars across the country to sell courses and software on making money in the stock market. In a 51-page ruling, Trenga said prosecutors failed to show Utah residents Linda Woolf and David Gengler had been part of any fraud scheme.[4] On March 24, 2017, Trenga was the first federal judge to rule in favor of the Trump administration's executive order that limits travel from six Muslim-majority countries.[5] On May 16th, 2019, Trenga incarcerated the famed whistle-blower Chelsea Manning after she once again refused to testify before a Federal grand jury by holding her in contempt and sending her back to prison a second time, also adding the threat of daily fines of up to $500 a day after 30 days and rising to $1000 a day after 60 days. This return to captivity occurred mere days after Manning was freed from sixty-two days of incarceration for allegedly committing the same offense before another Federal grand jury.[6]" - wiki

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