by
Alex
Wroblewski/Getty
Images)
Two
years
ago,
a
court
in
Florida
threw
out
Michael
Flynn’s
malicious
prosecution
lawsuit
seeking
$50
million
from
the
US
government.
Yesterday,
the
government
agreed
to
settle
it
anyway,
handing
$1.25
million
in
taxpayer
dollars
to
the
former
national
security
advisor.
Clearly
this
is
an
outrageous
abuse
by
the
Trump
DOJ.
It’s
also
a
template
for
the
looting
to
come,
as
everyone
from
Proud
Boy
Enrique
Tarrio
to
Trump
himself
lines
up
to
feed
at
the
government
trough.
During
the
2016
transition,
outgoing
President
Obama
warned
Trump
that
General
Michael
Flynn
was
untrustworthy.
Trump
wrote
this
off
as
sour
grapes
and
changed
history.
If
Flynn
hadn’t
been
on
Trump’s
team,
he
wouldn’t
have
gotten
picked
up
on
a
FBI
wiretap
promising
sanctions
relief
to
Russian
Ambassador
Sergei
Kislyak.
If
he
hadn’t
been
compromised
by
that
communication,
the
FBI
wouldn’t
have
gone
to
ask
him
about
it.
If
he
hadn’t
lied
to
the
FBI,
he
wouldn’t
have
wound
up
in
the
middle
of
the
Crossfire
Hurricane
investigation.
If
Trump
hadn’t
asked
FBI
Director
Comey
to
kill
that
investigation
and
then
fired
him
for
refusing,
there’d
be
no
Special
Counsel
Robert
Mueller.
And
without
Mueller,
Flynn
wouldn’t
have
gotten
indicted
for
lying
to
the
FBI.
But
he
did,
and
here
we
all
are.
Flynn
pleaded
guilty
to
making
false
statements
to
the
FBI
in
December
2017.
Then,
at
a
December
2018
plea
colloquy,
he
did
it
again,
affirming
under
oath
a
second
time
that
he
was
guilty
and
that
his
plea
was
voluntary.
But
Judge
Emmet
Sullivan
refused
to
accept
that
plea,
ordering
him
to
go
back
and
earn
it
by
cooperating
a
whole
lot
more
in
the
prosecution
of
his
former
business
partner
Bijan
Rafiekian
on
charges
of
secretly
lobbying
for
the
Turkish
government.
(There’s
another
what
if
to
add
to
the
pile.)
Instead
Flynn
ditched
his
Covington
lawyers
in
favor
of
a
MAGA
hothead
named
Sidney
Powell.
She
persuaded
him
to
withdraw
his
plea
and
began
lobbying
Attorney
General
Bill
Barr
to
drop
the
case.
In
May
of
2020,
the
DOJ
moved
to
dismiss
pursuant
to
FRCrP
48(g).
A
furious
Judge
Sullivan
balked
and
appointed
an
amicus
to
argue
against
dismissal,
and
the
whole
thing
ultimately
became
moot
when
Trump
pardoned
Flynn
in
November
2020.
In
2023,
Flynn
filed
a
Federal
Tort
Claims
Act
complaint
in
the
Middle
District
of
Florida,
seeking
$50
million
for
malicious
prosecution
and
abuse
of
process.
The
case
was
defective
in
every
conceivable
way:
It
was
time-barred.
It
ignored
sovereign
immunity.
It
was
filed
by
Kraken
lawyer
Jesse
Binnall.
But
Flynn
lucked
out,
because
he
landed
on
the
docket
of
Judge
Mary
Scriven.
Scriven
is
a
Biden
appointee,
and
she
was
never
going
to
let
this
case
go
to
trial.
By
then,
she’d
already
dismissed
a
defamation
lawsuit
filed
by
Flynn’s
sister-in-law
against
CNN.
But
Judge
Scriven
is
no
one’s
idea
of
a
racehorse.
She
moves
slowly,
and
she
bends
over
backward
to
let
litigants
have
their
say.
In
December
of
2024,
she
dismissed
the
case
for
being
hopelessly
defective
—
although
she
failed
to
reach
the
issue
of
statute
of
limitations
—
but
allowed
Flynn
to
amend
his
complaint
again.
Which
is
how
Flynn
wound
up
dragging
out
the
process
to
file
a
third
complaint
…
and
for
Trump
to
get
back
into
the
White
House.
In
September,
the
parties
filed
a
joint
motion
to
extend
time
for
the
government
to
respond,
citing
ongoing
settlement
negotiations.
And
on
March
25,
they
announced
they’d
agreed
to
a
payout.
ABC
was
first
to
report
that
Flynn
will
take
home
$1.25
million
for
his
troubles.
Naturally,
the
DOJ
cast
this
as
a
great
victory
for
Trump
himself.
“Those
who
instigated
the
Russia
Collusion
Hoax
and
Crossfire
Hurricane
abused
their
power
to
mislead
the
American
people
and
tarnish
the
reputations
of
President
Trump
and
his
supporters,”
crowed
a
DOJ
spox
who
would
prefer
to
remain
anonymous,
for
obvious
reasons.
“Today’s
settlement,
secured
by
this
Justice
Department,
is
an
important
step
in
redressing
that
historic
injustice.”
This
looting
of
the
public
fisc
will
likely
continue.
Trump’s
DOJ
has
already
paid
$5
million
to
the
family
of
Ashli
Babbitt,
the
January
6
rioter
shot
while
trying
to
break
into
the
House
Speaker’s
Lobby.
Several
of
the
Proud
Boys
including
their
leader
Enrique
Tarrio,
have
filed
a
Bivens
suit.
Not
content
with
their
pardon,
they
now
want
a
payout.
And
of
course
Trump
himself
has
filed
a
FTCA
claim,
demanding
$230
million
from
the
Justice
Department
over
the
Mar-a-Lago
search
and
the
special
counsel
investigations.
Trump
acknowledged
the
absurdity
himself,
telling
reporters,
“I’m
sort
of
suing
myself.
I
don’t
know,
how
do
you
settle
the
lawsuit.”
The
Flynn
settlement
is
the
proof
of
concept.
The
answer
to
“how
do
you
settle
the
lawsuit”
is
apparently
“however
the
president
wants.”
Liz
Dye produces
the
Law
and
Chaos Substack and podcast. You
can
subscribe
by
clicking
the
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