Flynn gets new lawyer
WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has hired a new lawyer, a former federal prosecutor who has earned the praise of President Donald Trump and repeatedly denigrated the Russia investigation.
Trump took notice of Flynn’s new legal representation, calling Sidney Powell a “GREAT LAWYER” and wishing luck to them both on Twitter.
Powell responded, “Thank you Mr. President!!” and “I’m honored.”
Powell has been an outspoken critic of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
On Twitter, she advertises a T-shirt with cartoonish images of Mueller and his team bearing the slogan “Creeps on a Mission.” She is also the author of a book titled “Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice.”
contribution from a foreign national,” the good-government group said.
But former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith, now chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, told the Las Vegas Review-journal, “I don’t think speaking to somebody can be a thing of value.”
Smith painted an alternate scenario: What if an American had damaging information about an attempted rape allegedly committed by a candidate for office? If such information had value in influencing an election, telling an opponent about the incident likely would violate campaign finance contribution caps.
“I didn’t know words, oral or written, were automatically contributions, either from a foreigner or an American. The law, so far, does not regulate conversations,” said Washington election lawyer Jan
Baran, who added he did not believe conversations can be a contribution unless they involve “commercially ascertainable valuable.”
Paul S. Ryan of Common Cause argued that Trump Jr. solicited “something of value” from the Russians. If the Trump Tower meeting is difficult to prosecute, Ryan told the Review Journal, he believes Trump Jr. could be subject to a fine by the FEC.
Even if the legal front is hazy, Trump lost ground on the political front. House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-KY., posted a video of the ABC News interview under the heading, “Behold, the latest Article of Impeachment.”
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.