1) It is the wee hours of the morning right now, just after 4:30 AM EST. My great friend @1GigiSims tells me that @SidneyPowell1 is fighting for the evidence to exonerate @GenFlynn, listed in the tweet below. Let's look carefully.
2) Here is the link to the image of the list; let's see if it shows up readably...
3) Aha! If you'd like to take in the list carefully, just click on the image to the right and you'll be able to read it easily. What @1GigiSims explains to me is that item #1, the original 302 is the most important on the list. We have to focus there with great concentration.
4) I'll quote from the first paragraph, above the list now:
"These documents would exonerate him. It is a disgrace that DOJ, the DC prosecutor, the FBI have not complied with the Flynn request for Brady material. And yet, the prosecutor recommended a jail sentence for him."
5) In our household, all these terms are everyday conversation. I imagine that they are for you too. But still, let's go slowly anyway, with a narrow focus. So... @SidneyPowell1 is @GenFlynn's attorney. It is her job to get him fully exonerated. She is NOT seeking his pardon. m
6) Those of you who may have followed my own layman's perspective know that I DO seek a pardon. I judge these withheld documents as destructive of the court's honor and standing. I won't make that case further, here, but it's important that we be clear with each point. Yes?
7) Let's look at Brady material now. Prosecutors have access to huge amounts of information, and have near absolute control over which they share and which they don't share. Brady material is the information they have that hurts their own case, helping the defendant.
8) Why would a prosecutor do that, hurt his own case and help the defendant he is prosecuting? It is a principle of our legal system that a prosecutor's task is NOT a conviction. Rather, it is justice. Thus, helping the defendant to defend is a higher priority than winning.
9) Yet as we can see, prosecutors and the institutions that feed and house them struggle with the burden of justice. They're far from angels. They're motivated to win. It is a simple step, therefore, to understand how frequently they use their power to hide such information.
10) Who are those institutions? We see here that for Gen Flynn it is the DOJ - specifically Van Grak from the Mueller team - the DC prosecutor where the case is being tried, and the FBI. There can be no question or doubt that each of those 3 wish to win against Flynn.
11) Again, as a layman looking in, I judge that they have betrayed their sacred burden in service of justice. I judge that they have twisted the system and their power over it, bending it to their will, for their benefit, in pursuit of victory, of their conviction and sentence.
12) Yet again and again we have the fact of Gen Flynn's plea deal, where he both proclaimed his own guilt and defended that plea under heated grilling by the current judge. Here is a fact of life at law, for those of us not lawyers. We depend on them to tell us the law.
13) And again and again we're told, 'but Flynn is a sophisticated actor who benefited from the finest legal counsel possible.' And I judge that to be false, but understandable. It was his 'fine' legal counsel who persuaded him he had broken the law.
14) I judge Flynn's previous counsel to be at minimum grossly incompetent to very possibly worse, corrupt in the service they rendered, misrepresenting themselves as being on Gen Flynn's side when they were not. At any rate, they are pertinent to the list we're considering.
15) Every one of the 10 items on the list was their responsibility to discover BEFORE advising Flynn to plead guilty. All of that evidence proves his innocence. They procured none of it. They failed Flynn. They failed America.
16) Now let's return our attention to item 1, the original 302. Again, I wish I could assume you know what that is, but can't. A 302 is a document generated by an FBI agent, characterizing the results of an interview with a witness or a defendant. Note the word "characterize."
17) This is an extremely dangerous practice, which has been noted as such before the law, yet still remains the practice of the FBI, and the DOJ and our courts continue to honor this practice. Part of the reason - as I understand it - they do so is due to the honor of the FBI.
18) Part of the basis underlying all this is the belief that 302s, once composed, remain as they were and form a permanent record of the investigation's findings. Yet, on our list, now note the key term "original."
19) In reading the rest of the items on the list, you quickly see that the fate of that original 302 is deeply troubling, utterly compromised and deadly serious in impact. Which brings us to the term "declassification." No, it is not mentioned on the list, but is critical.
20) If I understand it rightly, each of these 10 items may be - I believe they are - held as classified documents in their respective locations. If I have that right, it means that @SidneyPowell1 is not allowed to see them, and therefore Gen Flynn does not have access to them.
21) Let's pause there. I think we can establish that @SidneyPowell1 knows her client was innocent of the very charges he plead guilty to, and that had he enjoyed competent, fair representation previously, no such plea could have been intelligently entertained.
22) What we now arrive at, therefore, is that the court itself is committing judicial malpractice by not providing her with the materials she has requested. To proceed to sentencing on the basis of so flawed a plea is absolutely unjust. But what about those other players, again?
23) The DOJ has the power to declassify these documents and provide them to @SidneyPowell1 if it wishes to do so. The DC prosecutor has a role, I imagine, perhaps with the power to demand this declassification, or at minimum to recommend it to the judge.
24) I don't know what either the policy or law is relative to the FBI here, but as officers of the court, I have to imagine their burden to provide these documents is the greatest of all. By withholding this evidence, it appears to me that they show themselves corrupted.
25) I must repeat that I, myself, have absolutely ZERO experience, knowledge, or standing before the law in any of this. Rather, I am simply a consumer of the news and an analyst of what I observe. As such, I am hellaciously frightened by what I see.
26) So friends, here we are in the bright light of social media, and we must ask ourselves what, if anything, can we do? I will recommend just two hashtags for your consideration:
#DeclassifyFlynn302 and
#ProvideTheBradyMaterials
27) I don't know that either is exactly the right or best hashtag. I do imagine, however, that each may be adequate. I absolutely welcome any others and should we discover the strongest such, I will employ it as strongly as I am able, and hope you will too.
28) A final consideration must be contemplated. @POTUS does head the Executive Branch, within which are both the DOJ and its investigatory arm, the FBI. Does he have the power to order this declassification? On paper, I believe there's no question he does. But...
29) Paper power is one thing, usable, functional power is another. Not only are their chain of command issues to consider, there are huge political ramifications the Chief Executive MUST balance. This is not merely the simple fact that his opponents, the Democrats, will cry foul.
30) There are far reaching implications under our Constitution that each such executive act entails, often with both a long and completely unpredictable reach. You know, the famed unintended consequences. Further, POTUS has information we do not to factor as well.
31) It is therefore with grave respect, and not a little fear and trembling that I do more than merely request and urge that @POTUS #DeclassifyFlynn302, but also request that...
YOU DO THE SAME
32) There are to be sure many other actions you might consider. From letters to the WH, to petitions, to calls to your Representatives and Senators, to op-ed pieces published, the list goes on and on and wonderfully so. I passionately encourage each and all.
33) I must sadly conclude that I have little hope for success in this mission. Honesty demands I express that fear while still supporting the mission. That is, if we don't try, we won't know. This is absolutely that type of mission where trying, even with little hope, matters.
34) But let me state that a bit more positively. If I had the President's ear, I know what I'd say, you just read it above. I do not. But perhaps you do. Should that be so, then consider making the following case.
35) Regardless of outcome - while we want the right one - the President must not be seen to be either passive, or worse, politically motivated as demonstrated by disloyalty. We, his voters are monitoring this exercise in injustice closely, passionately. We care, greatly.
36) This rigged, corrupted system must be righted. @POTUS can do so. We, his supporters, are sure to reward him for his courage, and long to see wrongs righted, the system unbent, unrigged. The right thing to do is: #DeclassifyFlynn302 and #ProvideBradyMaterials
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