Thank you, John Heilemann, for explaining exactly what Michael Flynn did (allegedly) in under two minutes.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: John, our inaugurations are supposed to be solemn occasions. Despite it just looking gross, someone was on their phone 11 or 12 minutes into a new presidency, talk about this allegation about the former general turned future White House National Security Advisor?
JOHN HEILEMANN: Well, it's really an incredible story, the notion that Flynn was texting with a business associate saying he was going -- this is it. This is the moment where we're going to rip up the Russian sanctions, and it's going to create a geyser of profits for me and my buddies who are going to become very, very wealthy.
It in some ways reinforces a couple of broad things we know about Michael Flynn. What we now know about Michael Flynn is that he is so crooked that he needs to screw his pants on in the morning.
There's enough evidence now of this guy in addition to what he'd pled guilty to of just the number of scams, money-making ventures, corrupt endeavors that he is now tied to, that you look at this guy and think he is generally one of the seediest people to ever been placed in an administration position in our lifetimes.
We also know that this is now made very clear. It's like the last piece of a puzzle in some ways. Probably not the last, but one of the cementing pieces: that sanctions were at the center of whatever this story is between this administration and Russia. Sanctions were the core of it. Sanctions were what the Russians were after. Lifting the sanctions. The quid it seems was Russia interfering to help Donald Trump. Whicn they did. The only question we have now is, was there a pro between the quid and the pro.
[end transcript]
And then the question is, did Michael Flynn broker a deal with the Russians that involved lifting the sanctions and "making us all rich" that sidestepped Donald Trump? Did he leave Trump out of a money-making deal that involved getting lots of money from Russian investors?
Anyone who thinks that happened is a chump.
