WEBVTT - New Attorney’s Task May Be Getting Pardon for Flynn

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple podcast, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. Former National Security

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<v Speaker 1>Advisor Michael Flynn may have one goal in replacing his

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<v Speaker 1>longtime criminal defense attorneys with the politically provocative Sydney Powell,

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<v Speaker 1>to win a pardon from his old boss, President Trump. Flynn,

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<v Speaker 1>a retired U. S. Army general who admitted he lined

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<v Speaker 1>to government investigators and is awaiting sentencing, fired the legal

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<v Speaker 1>team that represented him since the case began in joining

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<v Speaker 1>me as former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Kramer, managing director at

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<v Speaker 1>Berkeley Research. So, Jeff tell us a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>Sydney Powell's a federal prosecutor, has been in a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of jurisdictions, has done a fair amount of a federal

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<v Speaker 1>criminal appellet work, so certainly knows the system, and it

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<v Speaker 1>is quite familiar with courtroom tactics and is an experience

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<v Speaker 1>litigated by all definitions. There's been no statement on the

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<v Speaker 1>record of why Flynn is changing attorneys. So there's been

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of speculation about why he's changing attorneys, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, his prior attorneys certainly knew that the

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<v Speaker 1>lay of the land and these types of cases and

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<v Speaker 1>certainly high profile cases as a d C law firm

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<v Speaker 1>that has certainly been around the block. Flynn's already pled guilty,

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<v Speaker 1>and the judge just to make sure you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>reaffirmed that colloquy with that information that Flynn gay that

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<v Speaker 1>indeed he was guilty. So it's gonna be hard or

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<v Speaker 1>impossible for Flynn to withdraw his guilty plea. So at

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<v Speaker 1>this point you have to ask yourself, why change horses

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<v Speaker 1>in midstream? Why bring on a new attorney? And that

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<v Speaker 1>just leads to either a sentencing argument and or you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a message being sent to the White House for a

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<v Speaker 1>possible part, And those are really the only two options.

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<v Speaker 1>At the news of Flynn's hiring Powell, President Trump tweeted this,

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<v Speaker 1>General Michael Flynn, the thirty three year war hero who

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<v Speaker 1>has served with distinction, has not retained a good lawyer.

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<v Speaker 1>He has retained a great lawyer. Sydney Powell, best wishes

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<v Speaker 1>and good luck to them both. You know, that's got

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<v Speaker 1>to be one of the take to say it's one

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<v Speaker 1>of the stranger tweets. I think that course has already

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<v Speaker 1>left the gate. But it's certainly an odd one for

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<v Speaker 1>the president or any executive branch employee which has charged

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<v Speaker 1>again with prosecuting crimes, to complement a defense lawyer and

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<v Speaker 1>wish them well in their case against you know, I'll

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<v Speaker 1>be at a special council, but an arm of his

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<v Speaker 1>own Department of Justice. I mean, you have to shake

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<v Speaker 1>your head at this. It's strange. I don't know of

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<v Speaker 1>any time in the past where a president has wished

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<v Speaker 1>the best of luck to a criminal defense attorney. Well, also,

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<v Speaker 1>has Trump forgotten that Flynn was the first of his

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<v Speaker 1>former advisor to cooperate in Mueller's investigation, right, He doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>really doesn't seem to hold that against him as he

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<v Speaker 1>does hold it against others. I think Flynn, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the testimony coming up is against some of Flynn's business partners,

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<v Speaker 1>which really, at least as far as we know, doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>touch the White House, nor Trump uh, nor any of

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's close associates or relatives. So while he was the

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<v Speaker 1>first to plead guilty, and if you remember dialing back Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump then said some you know, fairly negative things

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<v Speaker 1>about Flynn. And now he's kind of come full circle

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<v Speaker 1>because I think of this lawyer that Flynn has hired,

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<v Speaker 1>which again she is an experienced prosecutor, she also has

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<v Speaker 1>some pretty odd conspiratorial theories. In point of fact, she

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<v Speaker 1>said on Monday that she'd most likely need a security

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<v Speaker 1>clearance to review classified materials that were separate from the

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<v Speaker 1>documents that prosecutors had already handed over, leading to more speculation.

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<v Speaker 1>Can a new lawyer changed the legal strategy at this point?

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<v Speaker 1>At this point is the operative phrase? Probably not unless, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>the argument is going to be that this new information

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<v Speaker 1>you need to have a colorable argument why you should

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<v Speaker 1>get the information is going to be relevant to the

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<v Speaker 1>plea of guilty. But but again, as we discussed, this

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<v Speaker 1>judge has already you know, belt and suspended uh General

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<v Speaker 1>Flynn's guilty polee. He went back and did it again.

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<v Speaker 1>So the government is required to turn over and any

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<v Speaker 1>exculpatory evidence. They're required to turn over any evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>is relevant to the charge. Right now, we might have

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<v Speaker 1>a fishing expedition where this lawyer is using General Flynn's

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<v Speaker 1>case as a as a vehicle, really as a as

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<v Speaker 1>a shield and a sword to try to get at

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<v Speaker 1>other information and perhaps embarrass the Mueller prosecutors. Not anything

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<v Speaker 1>to do with General Flynn's case, but just muddy the

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<v Speaker 1>waters a little bit, which obviously President Trump would would

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<v Speaker 1>would enjoy the watching that. It's former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Kramer,

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<v Speaker 1>Managing director of Berkeley Research. Thanks for listening to the

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Law Podcast. You can subscribe and listen to the

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<v Speaker 1>show on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and on Bloomberg dot com

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<v Speaker 1>slash podcast. I'm June Brosso. This is Bloomberg