1 Mueller Suggests Going Easy On Flynn
Is this a sign of things to come? Who knows, but Washington collectively gasped overnight when Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a recommendation that former Trump administration National Security Adviser Michael Flynn serve no prison time. While Mueller's sentencing memo noted that Flynn made multiple false statements to members of the Department of Justice (those statements dealt with his connections with a Russian ambassador and his contacts with Turkish officials), he also offered that Flynn has been very cooperative with the government and should receive a light sentence for his singular count of lying to the FBI. In fact, Mueller said Flynn cooperated in 19 interviews with the Special Counsel's Office and provided documents and communications. It’s worth mentioning that there is a heavily redacted section of the memo that starts with the phrase: "The defendant has provided substantial assistance in a criminal investigation." As for the rest, Flynn is expected to be sentenced on December 18th.
2 Senators Convinced About Saudi Prince Involvement In Khashoggi Death
The President may not be so sure, but a group of Senators briefed by CIA Chief Gina Haspel say they’re more convinced than ever that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led the plot to murder “Washington Post” journalist Jamal Khashoggi. After a classified briefing with Haspel, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham said it was “virtually impossible” for Khashoggi's killing to be carried out without the Crown Prince's knowledge. Tennessee Republican Bob Corker said the Saudi leader “would be convicted in 30 minutes in a fair criminal trial.” For the record. Corker chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In recent weeks, President Trump has continued to cast doubts on speculation about the Crown Prince's involvement and often notes the strong business relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. While he has said that the intelligence community hadn’t reached any conclusions, he’s also said he could live with it if the Crown Prince lied.
3 Republicans Hacked During The Midterms
“Politico” is reporting the National Republican Congressional Committee suffered a major hack in the 2018 election. Officials say the email accounts of four senior aides at the NRCC were surveilled for several months after a breach was detected in April. An internal investigation was launched and the FBI was contacted. Republican House leadership – including Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise – were not informed of the incident until they were contacted by “Politico” yesterday. Who did it? Who knows – though investigators say they suspect a foreign agent due to the nature of the attack. “We don’t want to get into details about what was taken because it’s an ongoing investigation,” said a senior party official. “Let’s say they had access to four active accounts. I think you can draw from that.”