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Giuliani pressed Trump to eject Muslim cleric from U.S., a top priority of Turkish president, former
Source: WaPo
Rudolph W. Giuliani privately urged President Trump in 2017 to extradite a Turkish cleric living in exile in the United States, a top priority of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to multiple former administration officials familiar with the discussions.
Giuliani, a Trump ally who later became the president’s personal attorney, repeatedly argued to Trump that the U.S. government should eject Fethullah Gulen from the country, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition on anonymity to describe private conversations.
Turkey has demanded that the United States turn over Gulen, a permanent U.S. resident who lives in Pennsylvania, to stand trial on charges of plotting a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan. Gulen has denied involvement in the plot.
Giuliani is now under scrutiny for his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals. His earlier attempts to persuade the president to turn over the Turkish cleric represent another instance in which he appears to have been pushing a shadow foreign policy from his perch outside government.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/giuliani-pressed-trump-to-eject-muslim-cleric-from-us-a-top-priority-of-turkish-president-former-officials-say/2019/10/15/bf43d1ec-ef68-11e9-b648-76bcf86eb67e_story.html
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212554919
NOW with this revelation, will THAT mean he gets caught up in Flynn's cases since Flynn has decided to fight his charges?
There were some wild gyrations with respect to Flynn's Russia stuff and a portion of Mueller's probe that looked at his relationship with some others involved with Turkey and extraditing the cleric - one of which had his case suddenly thrown out due to Flynn's shift in expected testimony (plus his sentencing hearing was scheduled for December) -
The guy (Bijan Kian) convicted of working with Flynn regarding lobbying to get the Cleric extradited had his conviction thrown out in September -
So was Ghouliani operating in cahoots with Flynn or did he have his own operation going that was funded by Erdogan?
ETA - GD thread on some of this - https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212554919
NOW with this revelation, will THAT mean he gets caught up in Flynn's cases since Flynn has decided to fight his charges?
There were some wild gyrations with respect to Flynn's Russia stuff and a portion of Mueller's probe that looked at his relationship with some others involved with Turkey and extraditing the cleric - one of which had his case suddenly thrown out due to Flynn's shift in expected testimony (plus his sentencing hearing was scheduled for December) -
Michael Flynn Changes His Story, Putting Him on Collision Course With Judge
By Adam Goldman
July 9, 2019
/snip
As a result of Mr. Flynn’s unexpected disclosure, federal prosecutors say they will no longer ask him to testify in the trial of a former business partner, Bijan Kian, who is accused of violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws. Prosecutors played down Mr. Flynn’s testimony, saying it was not vital to the case. Other “evidence alone,” they wrote, “is ample to convict the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.” But Mr. Flynn’s testimony had been one of the reasons Judge Emmet G. Sullivan allowed Mr. Flynn to push back his sentencing, but his lawyers said he “cannot give that testimony because it is not true.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Sullivan ordered federal prosecutors in his case and Mr. Flynn’s lawyers to explain how events in Mr. Kian’s case will affect proceedings in his court. Mr. Flynn’s new position surprised prosecutors who had long planned to use him as a key witness against Mr. Kian in his trial that was set to begin next week in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Kian was indicted last year along with another man, Ekim Alptekin, as part of a federal investigation into Turkey’s secret 2016 lobbying campaign to pressure the United States to expel a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Prosecutors accused the two men of seeking to conceal that Turkey was directing the work, and that high-level Turkish officials approved the budget for the project and were given regular updates by Mr. Alptekin about the campaign’s progress. Mr. Flynn’s firm — Flynn Intel Group — received a total of $530,000 for its work. Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to F.B.I. agents about conversations with the Russian ambassador at the time about sanctions. Mr. Flynn also admitted to prosecutors for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that he had repeatedly violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the law requiring firms to register their work on behalf of foreign clients. He acknowledged making “materially false statements and omissions” in those filings.
In the wake of Mr. Flynn’s reversal, federal prosecutors are now asserting that he is an unindicted co-conspirator rather than a cooperating witness and want to introduce his statements as evidence. Lawyers for Mr. Kian and Mr. Flynn both object vigorously to that move by prosecutors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/flynn-testimony-turkey-lobbying.html
By Adam Goldman
July 9, 2019
/snip
As a result of Mr. Flynn’s unexpected disclosure, federal prosecutors say they will no longer ask him to testify in the trial of a former business partner, Bijan Kian, who is accused of violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws. Prosecutors played down Mr. Flynn’s testimony, saying it was not vital to the case. Other “evidence alone,” they wrote, “is ample to convict the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.” But Mr. Flynn’s testimony had been one of the reasons Judge Emmet G. Sullivan allowed Mr. Flynn to push back his sentencing, but his lawyers said he “cannot give that testimony because it is not true.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Sullivan ordered federal prosecutors in his case and Mr. Flynn’s lawyers to explain how events in Mr. Kian’s case will affect proceedings in his court. Mr. Flynn’s new position surprised prosecutors who had long planned to use him as a key witness against Mr. Kian in his trial that was set to begin next week in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Kian was indicted last year along with another man, Ekim Alptekin, as part of a federal investigation into Turkey’s secret 2016 lobbying campaign to pressure the United States to expel a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Prosecutors accused the two men of seeking to conceal that Turkey was directing the work, and that high-level Turkish officials approved the budget for the project and were given regular updates by Mr. Alptekin about the campaign’s progress. Mr. Flynn’s firm — Flynn Intel Group — received a total of $530,000 for its work. Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to F.B.I. agents about conversations with the Russian ambassador at the time about sanctions. Mr. Flynn also admitted to prosecutors for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that he had repeatedly violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the law requiring firms to register their work on behalf of foreign clients. He acknowledged making “materially false statements and omissions” in those filings.
In the wake of Mr. Flynn’s reversal, federal prosecutors are now asserting that he is an unindicted co-conspirator rather than a cooperating witness and want to introduce his statements as evidence. Lawyers for Mr. Kian and Mr. Flynn both object vigorously to that move by prosecutors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/flynn-testimony-turkey-lobbying.html
The guy (Bijan Kian) convicted of working with Flynn regarding lobbying to get the Cleric extradited had his conviction thrown out in September -
Judge throws out guilty verdict against Michael Flynn's lobbying partner Bijan Kian
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 5:03 PM ET, Tue September 24, 2019
Washington (CNN)A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a jury's guilty verdict against Michael Flynn's lobbying partner Bijan Kian, citing insufficient evidence. Kian was convicted this summer of illegally acting as a foreign agent and conspiring to hide his work from the Justice Department -- fallout from pro-Turkey lobbying he did with Flynn in 2016.
"Bijan and his family are relieved and looking forward to getting on with their lives," said Kian's defense attorney Mark MacDougall. "We are all grateful to the court. Our system is still sturdy and, in this case, justice has been done." Judge Anthony Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia said Kian could face a new trial if prosecutors are successful in an appeal of his decision, if they choose to make one. Trenga said that if his ruling is thrown out or reversed on appeal, Kian should get a new trial because the jury wasn't given adequate instructions especially about Flynn's role.
The Justice Department's National Security Division did not immediately comment on the ruling. The office played a role in bringing the foreign lobbying case against Kian, and the unrelated case against former White House counsel Greg Craig, which ended in a jury verdict of not guilty. Both Craig and Kian were part of a recent push by the Justice Department to strengthen its enforcement against foreign lobbying crimes.
The ruling may be a boost for Flynn, as he awaits sentencing later this year on his guilty plea. In his plea, he admitted to making a false statement and omissions in his foreign lobbying disclosure, known as a Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filing, to the Justice Department in 2017. His plea documents said he falsely stated in the filing that his lobbying firm with Kian did not know whether the Turkish government was involved with their firm's Turkish policy project, and that his op-ed on November 8, 2016, was written on his own and not supervised by Turkish government officials. Flynn also admitted to lying to investigators about his contact with the Russian ambassador during the Trump transition, which was separate from the Kian case and his role within their lobbying group, the Flynn Intel Group.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/24/politics/bijan-kian-verdict-thrown-out/index.html
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 5:03 PM ET, Tue September 24, 2019
Washington (CNN)A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a jury's guilty verdict against Michael Flynn's lobbying partner Bijan Kian, citing insufficient evidence. Kian was convicted this summer of illegally acting as a foreign agent and conspiring to hide his work from the Justice Department -- fallout from pro-Turkey lobbying he did with Flynn in 2016.
"Bijan and his family are relieved and looking forward to getting on with their lives," said Kian's defense attorney Mark MacDougall. "We are all grateful to the court. Our system is still sturdy and, in this case, justice has been done." Judge Anthony Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia said Kian could face a new trial if prosecutors are successful in an appeal of his decision, if they choose to make one. Trenga said that if his ruling is thrown out or reversed on appeal, Kian should get a new trial because the jury wasn't given adequate instructions especially about Flynn's role.
The Justice Department's National Security Division did not immediately comment on the ruling. The office played a role in bringing the foreign lobbying case against Kian, and the unrelated case against former White House counsel Greg Craig, which ended in a jury verdict of not guilty. Both Craig and Kian were part of a recent push by the Justice Department to strengthen its enforcement against foreign lobbying crimes.
The ruling may be a boost for Flynn, as he awaits sentencing later this year on his guilty plea. In his plea, he admitted to making a false statement and omissions in his foreign lobbying disclosure, known as a Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filing, to the Justice Department in 2017. His plea documents said he falsely stated in the filing that his lobbying firm with Kian did not know whether the Turkish government was involved with their firm's Turkish policy project, and that his op-ed on November 8, 2016, was written on his own and not supervised by Turkish government officials. Flynn also admitted to lying to investigators about his contact with the Russian ambassador during the Trump transition, which was separate from the Kian case and his role within their lobbying group, the Flynn Intel Group.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/24/politics/bijan-kian-verdict-thrown-out/index.html
So was Ghouliani operating in cahoots with Flynn or did he have his own operation going that was funded by Erdogan?
ETA - GD thread on some of this - https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212554919
