LEGAL/MICHAEL FLYNN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “It’s easy to understand why President Donald Trump is tweeting so frantically, slapping away at the shadows that encircle him ever more closely. The events of Tuesday [12-18-18] alone add even more tension to the President and the country’s ongoing drama. The day started with a flurry of presidential tweets, including one that sounded like a show of support and/or an effort by Trump to influence his disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was headed to court for what was supposed to be his sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. ‘Good luck today in court,’ Trump wrote to Flynn, adding, ‘will be interesting to see what he has to say. …’ But it was Judge Emmet Sullivan who had the most interesting things to say. Prosecutors had asked for Flynn to be spared prison time because he helped with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. But the judge seemed sickened by what Flynn did. ‘I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense,’ he told Flynn. Sullivan, who had been praised by Trump supporters, such as Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, was implacable. Sullivan walked back his question of whether Flynn had committed treason but noted that ‘a high-ranking official of the government’ making false statements in the White House is a ‘very serious offense.'”
–Frida Ghitis, “The walls are closing in on Trump,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 19, 2018 10:57 pm