DOJ drops all charges against Michael Flynn!

[Mountain Man]

Thanks for replying so I can bring up a point I forgot. How ridiculous is it that, in order to trick him, they gave him *exactly* $10K! That's really what you'd do? Give him just enough so that if he decided to tip his taxi driver $20 the whole scheme is blown?

Nah, as the one resource I linked to pointed out, bringing in any sum of money from that "bribe" would have given the FBI all they needed to interrogate Pap and wring a "confession" out of him.

Also, you seem to be under the impression that the sting attempt was competent. The fact that they arrested Pap prior to "discovering" the evidence and then scrambled to come up with some other charge to justify the arrest suggests that it wasn't a particularly competent operation. The whole thing seemed to depend on Pap being just a dumb kid who would jump at $10,000 without thinking.

[DivineOb]

Nah, as the one resource I linked to pointed out, bringing in any sum of money from that "bribe" would have given the FBI all they needed to interrogate Pap and wring a "confession" out of him.

Show your work! What is the legal basis for this claim? Why would customs have the right to interrogate P based on finding a legal amount of money on his person. You're saying if he said "We didn't spend all of the money we brought" that wouldn't have been the end of things? You can't just make things up.

And it makes no sense to arrest P before customs searched his person and possessions. They would either find the money or not at that time and know whether they could proceed to arrest him. This is just so pathetic, MM. The FBI isn't full of stupid people. And you know that.

Also, you seem to be under the impression that the sting attempt was competent. The fact that they arrested Pap prior to "discovering" the evidence and then scrambled to come up with some other charge to justify the arrest suggests that it wasn't a particularly competent operation. The whole thing seemed to depend on Pap being just a dumb kid who would jump at $10,000 without thinking.

And I know you know that FBI isn't that dumb. It certainly would require some amount of approval steps to get $10K released to attempt the sting. So multiple layers of bureaucracy and field agents all are just idiots?

To say nothing of also needing to get the money *marked* (why!?). If even you and I can see the holes in this trap then clearly the senior FBI agents involved in this could do so as well.

Just because you can find a random, noncredible RWNJ "news" source which claims something isn't evidence. Until it can be backed up by solid data it's just opinion. And I know you know this so shame on you.

Stop avoiding this question: Why did the money have to be *marked* for this scheme?

[Mountain Man]

Stop avoiding this question: Why did the money have to be *marked* for this scheme?

I never said anything about the money being marked.

[DivineOb]

I never said anything about the money being marked.

* notices that MM ignored the vast majority of questions directed his way

Your *first link*, which was an interview with P, went on and on about the money being marked which is why he left it with his lawyer and wants it analyzed. He knows this situation better than you or I and *he* thinks the money is marked. If this story makes sense and isn't just made up then the money being marked needs to be explained as part of this whole scenario.

[JimL]

Yep, and what a coincidence that Papadopolous was given a sum just large to violate the law if he had brought it into the country.

MM, tell me, if the FBI expected the money to be found as part of the normal customs inspection, then what would have been the FBI's excuse for being there at the airport to intercept him. If the FBI was involved in a sting operation against Papadopolous, then they wouldn't have been waiting for him at the airport. Waiting for him at the airport would be a dead giveaway to the courts that it was a sting operation. They were waiting for him at the airport because they had a ligitimate reason for being there dumbo, he lied to the FBI and obstructed justice in Jan. 2017. They didn't need an excuse, so why would they go through all the trouble of planning and executing one?

Papadopolous dreamed up this storyline, this conspiracy theory, after the fact, which only makes him look even more guilty. Doesn't make you look to good either for swallowing it hook line and sinker.

[Mountain Man]

* notices that MM ignored the vast majority of questions directed his way

I "ignored" them only because I have no interest in repeating myself. I've already answered your questions, either directly or by pointing you to resources where the answers can be found.

Your *first link*, which was an interview with P, went on and on about the money being marked which is why he left it with his lawyer and wants it analyzed. He knows this situation better than you or I and *he* thinks the money is marked. If this story makes sense and isn't just made up then the money being marked needs to be explained as part of this whole scenario.

He didn't elaborate on that point, so I don't know.

[DivineOb]

I "ignored" them only because I have no interest in repeating myself. I've already answered your questions, either directly or by pointing you to resources where the answers can be found.

Please point me to where you explained on what basis P would have been questioned by the FBI had he arrived back in the US carrying less thank $10K on him. Point me to where you explained how the FBI would have access to his bank accounts without a court order.

He didn't elaborate on that point, so I don't know.

Don't you think that's an important part of the puzzle?

[Mountain Man]

MM, tell me, if the FBI expected the money to be found as part of the normal customs inspection, then what would have been the FBI's excuse for being there at the airport to intercept him. If the FBI was involved in a sting operation against Papadopolous, then they wouldn't have been waiting for him at the airport. Waiting for him at the airport would be a dead giveaway to the courts that it was a sting operation. They were waiting for him at the airport because they had a ligitimate reason for being there dumbo, he lied to the FBI and obstructed justice in Jan. 2017. They didn't need an excuse, so why would they go through all the trouble of planning and executing one?

Papadopolous dreamed up this storyline, this conspiracy theory, after the fact, which only makes him look even more guilty. Doesn't make you look to good either for swallowing it hook line and sinker.

They went to all that trouble just so he could be convicted for a nothing-burger "lying to investigators" charge that landed him a whole 14-days in jail.

Riiiiight.

And then we have this tidbit from Politico (emphasis mine):

Papadopoulos' arrest seems to have been the product of some haste. Indeed, when he was arrested at Dulles Airport on July 27 after coming off a flight from Munich, prosecutors had no warrant for him and no indictment or criminal complaint. The complaint would be filed the following morning and approved by Howell in Washington.

And when prosecutors filed the complaint the next day they got a spoken order from Howell to seal it, but followed up with a written request that they could take to the magistrate in Alexandria, where they showed up almost an hour later than she expected.

All of it suggests something of a scramble, rather than a carefully prepared plan to take Papadopolous into custody.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...p-probe-244653

Except it was a carefully prepared plan, only they didn't expect Papadopolous to outsmart them by leaving the money in Greece. That's why they had to scramble and figure out something else to charge him with which didn't happen until "the following morning".

More in-depth information about the entrapment scheme. If you're not interested, no big deal. The link is for those who are.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com...apment-scheme/

[Mountain Man]

Enough of the George Papadopolous talk. Let's get this thread back on topic...

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...ousands-calls/

[DivineOb]

Enough of the George Papadopolous talk. Let's get this thread back on topic...

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...ousands-calls/

In plain language explain how this changes things.

[JimL]

They went to all that trouble just so he could be convicted for a nothing-burger "lying to investigators" charge that landed him a whole 14-days in jail.

Riiiiight.

Funny man. Papadopolous only got a short sentence because he cooperated. And how much time do you think Papadopolous would have gotten for bringing into the country a few dollars over the limited amount allowed without rerporting it?

And then we have this tidbit from Politico (emphasis mine):

Papadopoulos' arrest seems to have been the product of some haste. Indeed, when he was arrested at Dulles Airport on July 27 after coming off a flight from Munich, prosecutors had no warrant for him and no indictment or criminal complaint. The complaint would be filed the following morning and approved by Howell in Washington.

And when prosecutors filed the complaint the next day they got a spoken order from Howell to seal it, but followed up with a written request that they could take to the magistrate in Alexandria, where they showed up almost an hour later than she expected.

All of it suggests something of a scramble, rather than a carefully prepared plan to take Papadopolous into custody.

First off this is your regular go to misinformation site, so I take with a grain of salt everything they have to say, and in the end find them usually to be full of crap. Were laws broken? I don't know, but I'll tell you something, if sometime in the future I found out that the FBI had skirted the law a little bit in their bid to protect the country from what turns out to be exactly what most of us knew from the get go. But the FBI was protecting the country from a foriegn adversay, a foriegn adverary that we were now at war with, cyber war, an adversary that was trying to interfere with our democratic elections in order to get their man Trump elected. Yeah, I would look back and say, thank god they did, thank god they skirt the law in that situation. Unfortunately, with Russian help, this wannabee Putin, was elected anyway. In November we will find out if we are going to keep our democracy, our Republic, or lose it

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...p-probe-244653

Except it was a carefully prepared plan, only they didn't expect Papadopolous to outsmart them by leaving the money in Greece. That's why they had to scramble and figure out something else to charge him with which didn't happen until "the following morning"

.

Ha, Outsmarted them. If he had outsmarted them, he would have been smart enough to just refuse the money in the first place.

[Mountain Man]

Papadopolous only got a short sentence because he cooperated.

Uh-huh... sure. He really gave up the goods on Trump, didn't he?

[Mountain Man]

In plain language explain how this changes things.

Honestly, I'm not in the mood for your "Play the idiot and hope your opponent trips himself trying to explain things to you" game. You claim you're smart. I've given you links to multiple credible sources throughout this thread. I'm sure you can figure it out if you really want to.

[DivineOb]

Honestly, I'm not in the mood for your "Play the idiot and hope your opponent trips himself trying to explain things to you" game. You claim you're smart. I've given you links to multiple credible sources throughout this thread. I'm sure you can figure it out if you really want to.

I read your link. Are you suggesting the volume of work caused him to forget discussing sanctions with the *Russian ambassador*? Is that the point of the article? Is claiming a three star general didn't recognize the importance of such a phone call really the defense you want to go with?

I know how *I* respond when trying to convince someone of a point. It isn't how you are responding.

[Mountain Man]

I know how *I* respond when trying to convince someone of a point.

I'm not trying to convince you of anything.