creating a coup against president erdogan. the judge said you sold your country out. judge sullivan later acknowledged flynn stopped lobbying once he was named national security adviser. judge sullivan asked twice if flynn s conduct rises to the level of treasonous activity, but walked that back, too. saying he wasn t suggesting flynn committed treason. mueller s lawyer said the special counsel did not consider charging flynn with treason. this election is about the heart and soul of the united states of america. reporter: sullivan also questioned why flynn would plead guilty when his lawyers have accused the fbi of tricking flynn into lying about his contacts with the former russian ambassador, sergey kislyak, during a january 2017 interview with agents at the white house. judge sullivan saying, i cannot recall any incident where the court has ever accepted the plea of someone who maintained he was not guilty. the judge even giving flynn several opportunities to rethink
yes, the same trump family that s now leading the nation. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper. a stunning turn of events today. former national security adviser to president trump, michael flynn, was due to find out today if he is going to prison for lying to the fbi. and, in fact, based on the comments coming from the presiding judge, it looked to many observers as though flynn indeed was going to get locked up. but flynn s attorneys requested a delay, and that can was kicked 90 days down the road. it was a dramatic hearing today with judge emmett sullivan telling flynn, quote, i am not hiding my disgust for your criminal offense, and even pressing on whether they considered charging flynn with treason. after a recess, sullivan tried to walk back some of those harsh comments, including saying he was merely asking about treason, not making an accusation.
in our money lead today, another investigation is coming to a head for president trump and his family. the president and the trump foundation today cut a deal with the new york state attorney general to shut down the charitable foundation after allegations that the president and his family were essentially using it as a personal piggy bank during the 2016 campaign, taking charity donations to pay off debts and more. let s bring in kara scannell. new york attorney general barbara underwood, a democrat, came down hard on the trump foundation today. that s right, jake. a victory lap today, announcing the dissolution of the trump foundation. and in that statement, she said this amounted to the trump foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve mr. trump s business and political interests. she went on to say, this is an important victory for the rule
sentencing memos. it was a hearing that really went off the rails for flynn s team, and now they have to wait to find out exactly what flynn s fate will be. lock her up! reporter: tonight michael flynn s sentencing is on hold after a dramatic two-hour rebuke from the judge who hinted flynn could end up getting prison time for lying to the fbi. federal judge emmet sullivan scolding president trump s former national security adviser, telling flynn, i am not hiding my disgust, my disdain for your criminal offense. the judge even raised the question of treason, asking the special counsel s team twice if flynn s conduct rises to the level of treason ous activity. he also admonished flynn for his work with the turkish government saying, arguably you sold your country out. the judge later walked back both rebukes saying he wasn t suggesting flynn committed treason and acknowledged that flynn s lobbying for turkey did not go on while he worked at the white house. the judge focused his real
date. a remarkable turn, wolf, in just a few days. i suspect the judge was doing him a favor, saying you better delay, otherwise you might be going to jail right now. what is behind, do you think, jim, this judge s stunning rebuke after the prosecutor, the special counsel s team, actually asked the judge for little or no jail time for flynn? well, listen, the prosecutors clearly making clear to the judge and to the public that flynn has been cooperating on a number of cases. the judge, however, not impressed possibly with the public charges, not just from outside but from flynn s own legal team, that he ended up in this case not because he made a mistake, a miscalculation, broke the law, but that the fbi did something wrong. we got a taste of that yesterday when we saw those records of those fbi interviews. remember, there was some talk as the judge allowed them to be released that, well, maybe the judge is going to show that, well, there is some evidence