February 21, 2018

New Right-Wing Nutball Theory: Michael Flynn About to Go Free!

Ting Shen/ZUMA

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Here’s the latest conspiracy theory among the nutball right: a judge recently ordered special prosecutor Robert Mueller to produce “any exculpatory evidence” in the Michael Flynn case. J’accuse! Obviously Mueller held something back and the judge is pissed. Perhaps Flynn plans to rescind his guilty plea?

Short answer: nope. Judge Emmet Sullivan, it turns out, issues a standing order to produce exculpatory evidence for every case brought before him. When he took over the Flynn case, he accidentally issued an old version of the order:

Sullivan did his best, but it wasn’t enough. The Trumperati are convinced that something is going on that will blow the whole Russiagate affair out of the water and expose it for the liberal scheming it really is. And when that doesn’t happen? As with Benghazi and the “stand down” order, they’ll just move on to something else. If they clap their hands loud enough, they’re just sure that eventually they’ll find a smoking gun.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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