National security expert and Lawfare editor in chief Benjamin Wittes explained in an extensive Twitter thread why President Donald Trump’s supporters shouldn’t count their chickens before they’re hatched when it comes to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.

“Hold the champagne—and maybe put away whatever you’re smoking,” he told Trumpland on Wednesday evening. “Gen. Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI not because he was framed but because he got a sweet-ass deal to avoid massive criminal liability for being an unregistered agent of a foreign power while working for a presidential transition. He also avoided his son’s prosecution.”

New documents show that the FBI had a conversation about the need to get Flynn to admit in questioning that he violated the Logan Act, which prevents unregistered foreign agents from doing business with international governments on behalf of the United States. There was a discussion that they also look for occasions where Flynn lied under oath. As former federal prosecutors pointed out, it’s something FBI agents do to all suspects. Flynn is no exception.

“While in the White House, he unequivocally lied to both the Vice President of the United States and to the chief of staff to the President of the United States about his interactions with the Russian ambassador,” explained Wittes. “And he was fired for it. Nothing that has come out suggests the facts that he admitted to in the context of his plea are untrue or that his plea was coerced in any way.”

He acknowledged that Trump may still pardon Flynn, but Flynn will never be “cleared” and Judge Emmet Sullivan won’t be surprised by the latest “revelations.”

Read his full Twitter thread.

Former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, possibly best-known for refusing to join a fraud investigation into Trump University that ultimately led to the President of the United States forking over $25 million, is right now defending President Trump on national TV during the Senate impeachment trial.

As many on social media noted, Bondi refused to join that investigation that led to a $25 million payment from the president, but was only too happy to accept a $25,000 donation from Donald Trump for her re-election campaign, just as she was deciding on whether or not to investigate him.

Bondi rocketed to the number two trending item on Twitter within minutes of speaking.

On social media some are calling it “bizarro world”:

Pam Bondi, who ended an investigation into Trump University as AG of Florida within weeks of Trump donating to her campaign, is going to defend the President on the topic of corruption. We are in bizarro world.

— David Pakman (@dpakman) January 27, 2020

Some posted evidence:

Copy of the $25,000 check from Trump to Bondi after she mentioned she might be looking into fraud complaints at Trump University https://t.co/e5uBSfw9z4

— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) January 27, 2020

Some say Bondi has experience “overlooking allegations made against Trump”:

Pam Bondi’s job is to attempt to persuade the public to overlook the allegations in Trump’s impeachment.

And when it comes to overlooking allegations made against Trump, she’s got experience.https://t.co/xjqhK2rR1C

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) January 27, 2020

Some mocked the “frat houses” that never existed at the now-defunct Trump University:

The frat houses at Trump University must be wild now that Pam Bondi is up.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) January 27, 2020

More:

Pam Bondi, who dropped an investigation into Trump University after Trump’s foundation gave her campaign $25,000, is here to lecture us about corruption pic.twitter.com/XH5nlwGrqK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 27, 2020

Trump made an illegal campaign contribution to Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, and she’s the lawyer the Trump defense team chose to talk about corruption? https://t.co/fRBKu0EL2J

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 27, 2020

Ah, we’ve arrived at the “I’m not impeached, you’re impeached” part of the proceedings in which Pam Bondi will lecture us on corruption and why Biden should be impeached. https://t.co/L3HwBThROV

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 27, 2020

This Pam Bondi presentation about Hunter Biden is the Trump team achieving in a Senate trial what Trump couldn’t get Ukraine to do: publicly smear the Bidens.

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 27, 2020

Pam Bondi is engaged in government-sponsored slander of a private citizen.

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 27, 2020

‘By What Statutory Authority Did the President Purport to Appoint Cuccinelli as Acting Director of USCIS?’

Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli without notice showed up for work today as the Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USCIS) agency, after President Donald Trump appointed him to the post.

Some legal experts are warning that Trump does not have the authority to make the appointment.

Cuccinelli is best known for his extreme positions on issues ranging from abortion to climate change to homosexuality and marriage. He has called homosexuality “against nature and are harmful to society,” and even worked to make oral sex illegal, only to be shot down at the Supreme Court. During his tenure as Virginia’s Attorney General he investigated climate scientists, arguing they were engaged in fraud, and has worked to rescind birthright citizenship – which is in the U.S. Constitution – and even tried to force employees to speak only English in the workplace.

Saying he is “honored to be given the opportunity,” Cuccinelli via a press release announced that USCIS “has the extraordinary responsibility to administer and protect the integrity of our nation’s lawful immigration system. Our nation has the most generous legal immigration system in the world and we must zealously safeguard its promise for those who lawfully come here,” echoing President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.

But some legal experts question if President Trump has the authority to appoint Cuccinelli Acting Director of USCIS.

Cuccinelli, in an email to USCIS employees, said he wants to “work to find longterm solutions to close asylum loopholes that encourage many to make the dangers journey into the united states so that those who truly need humanitarian protections and meet the criteria under the law receive them,” as Buzzfeed’s Hamed Aleaziz reported.

Aleaziz adds DHS officials aren’t sure this is even legal.

Another DHS official had this to say:

“I’m concerned about the effect on the agency, both in morale and in direction this will take us, and I’m further concerned about the legality of the appointment.” https://t.co/OSzXyMtEY7

— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) June 10, 2019

Stephen Vladeck, Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law is also calling in to question the legality of the appointment. He took to Twitter to make his case, saying Cuccinelli “doesn’t meet any of the criteria under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.”

I could be missing something, but by what statutory authority did the President purport to appoint Cuccinelli as Acting Director of USCIS? He doesn’t meet any of the criteria under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998:https://t.co/U3QpULJ4G3

(Paging @AJosephOConnell…) https://t.co/1OXNcFqGgR

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) June 10, 2019

Attorney George Conway retweeted Vladeck’s post:

Here’s a self-described lawyer calling the appointment illegal:

Who has standing to sue to stop Cuccinelli’s illegal appointment?

— Ed Darrell (@EdDarrell) June 10, 2019

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