Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing ended in dramatic fashion, with Trump’s former national security advisor requesting a delay after being warned he could face a prison sentence. Judge Emmet Sullivan spent around 15 minutes lambasting Flynn in court, telling him that “arguably, you sold your country out” and expressing “disgust” and “disdain”, at Flynn’s offences.
Sarah Sanders continued to claim the FBI had “ambushed” Michael Flynn – contrary to Flynn’s own statements. She said Flynn’s lying to the FBI had nothing to do with the president. Asked about Trump’s different approach to Flynn compared to his former aide Michael Cohen, who has also worked with the special counsel, and whom Trump has branded a “rat”, Sanders said rat “a pretty appropriate term”.
Donald Trump agreed to shut down his charity, amid a lawsuit alleging “a shocking pattern of illegality” at the organization. New York attorney general Barbara Underwood alleges “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign”.
The White House suggested Trump may back down on his commitment to shut the government down unless he gets $5bn to spend on a border wall. Trump had said he would be “proud” to orchestrate a shutdown unless Congress include the money in spending bills that must be passed by Friday night. Congress is unlikely to pass such bills, but Sarah Sanders said the government believed it could get the money from elsewhere.
We’ll be back tomorrow with the final US politics live blog of the year. And don’t forget, you can sign up to our new US morning briefing for a summary of the day’s top stories and must-reads every weekday.
Bernie Sanders has topped a poll of potential Democratic candidates for president. Sanders got a whopping 36% in the straw poll, which admittedly was conducted by a progressive organization – Democracy for America.
Joe Biden got 15% of the vote, while hot-ticket Beto O’Rourke took 12%. The DFA polled 94,000 of its members between November 29 and December 14. Elizabeth Warren won 8% of the vote – way down from her performance in the DFA’s poll ahead of the 2016 election, when 42% of members wanted her as their candidate.
Following the 2016 election, Sanders galvanized support by running “one heck of a fantastic presidential campaign,” said DFA’s current executive director, Charles Chamberlain, who will become chairman of the group in January. He said the straw poll exposes that Warren and Harris “have some work to do” to build support among progressives. But he said the poll at this early stage for DFA members is also a “cross between name recognition, people they’re excited about and people they actually think are running.”
The Trump administration has banned bump stocks – the devices that can be fitted to a semi-automatic weapon, like an AR15, to effectively turn it into a machine gun.
Bump stocks were used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people. Owners have 90 days to turn in or destroy the devices and blocking owners from being able to register them
The gun rights group Gun Owners of America said on Tuesday it will file a lawsuit against the government, seeking an injunction to overturn the new law.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez had the highest rate of small donor funding of any member of the House of Representatives in 2016, according to OpenSecrets.org.
OpenSecrets says 62% of Ocasio-Cortez’s fundraising total – she brought in $2m – came from donations of less than $200.
John Lewis, the Democrat from Georgia, was in second place, with 55% of his money coming from small donors. But small donor donations weren’t just limited to Democrats.
Devin Nunes, California Republican and #MAGA enthusiast, had the third highest percentage of small dollar donations: 49%.
A group of former Obama and Beto O’Rourke staffers have launched Draft Beto – an effort to convince the Texan to run for president.
The team want to raise $1m for O’Rourke’s potential campaign “to both convince him to run [I’m not sure he’ll take that much convincing] and give him a headstart in the primary”.
Run Beto, Run! Photograph: Eric Gay/AP
From the slightly hyperbolic press release:
“The comparisons to JFK and even Obama exist for a reason. Beto’s the real deal. His ability to inspire and connect with voters is unparalleled, even among such strong field of presidential contenders,” said Nate Lerner, Co-Founder of Draft Beto and head of its grassroots team. “The energy we’re seeing this early is absolutely unprecedented as well.”
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And it’s over. The press briefing – the first in about three weeks – lasted about 15 minutes.
The administration “wish[es] General Flynn well”, Sanders said, after Flynn was lambasted by a judge this afternoon and told he could face a prison sentence. Flynn’s sentencing hearing for lying to the FBI has been postponed.
Trump has “asked every agency” to look for money to put towards his border wall, Sanders said. Trump has threatened a government shutdown unless Congress assigns $5bn to build the wall, but earlier Sanders had seemed to back away from that position.
Sanders said it was “appropriate” for Trump to refer to people using the term “rat”. She didn’t answer a question about the apparent double-standard between Trump’s treatment of Cohen versus Flynn.
Sanders is asked about her claim earlier today that the government could come up with $5bn for Trump’s border wall separately from the budget bill – potentially avoiding a government shutdown.
“The president has asked every agency to look and see if they have money they can use for that purpose.”
“We want to see what the senate can pass,” Sanders says. Once that is determined the administration will weigh its options.
Is Trump concerned that Flynn lied to the FBI and was working as a foreign agent, particularly given Trump’s contempt for his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s mistruths.
“Not when it comes to anything that has to do with the president,”Sanders says.
Border wall question again: is the White House willing to accept just $1.6bn from Congress for the wall?
Sanders says again that she wants to see what can pass.
Michael Flynn, former White House national security adviser, has requested a delay in his sentencing for the crime of lying to federal investigators, after a judge warned he could face time in prison.
Judge Emmet Sullivan slammed Flynn as he weighed a sentence in a DC court. “Arguably, you sold your country out,” Sullivan said. “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense.”
Sullivan suggested Flynn should ask to delay the sentencing hearing, pending Flynn’s potential further cooperation with the special counsel investigation. After a hastily convened recess, Flynn requested the delay.
A status hearing is scheduled for 13 March, when Flynn could get a better idea of his fate. But Sullivan’s assessment of the severity of Flynn’s offences will likely be ringing in his ears.
Judge Emmet Sullivan has asked for a status hearing in 90 days, after delaying Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing.
In an extraordinary hearing at the US district court for the District of Columbia, Sullivan expressed “disgust” at Flynn’s behavior, and suggested he was considering sending Flynn to prison.
Sullivan suggested Flynn reconsider his request to be sentenced today and instead continue his cooperation with the special counsel – potentially earning a lesser punishment.
After taking a recess, Flynn’s lawyers asked for the sentencing to be postponed.
But Sullivan gave a warning to Flynn when he said he did not agree with the sentence given to General David Petraeus. Petraeus, a former head of the CIA, pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information in 2015. He was not sentenced to prison time.
Flynn leaves court in Washington. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The court is back in session in Washington DC. Judge Emmet Sullivan has just clarified that he did not mean to suggest Flynn may be guilty of “treason”.
Sullivan has also clarified that Flynn was not acting as a foreign agent while serving in the government, as the judge had earlier alleged. Flynn was in contact with foreign officials before Trump became president. From CBS News Steven Portnoy:
"I felt terrible about that," Sullivan says, after the prosecutor notes Flynn's conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-Nov 2016.
"I'm not suggesting he committed treason," Sullivan adds, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.
Flynn requests recess after judge's extraordinary rebuke
The sentencing hearing of Michael Flynn has entered a dramatic recess, after Flynn was subjected to a scathing rebuke and warned that he could face a prison sentence.
Judge Emmet Sullivan, in charge of sentencing Flynn, spent around 15 minutes lambasting Trump’s former national security adviser, telling Flynn that “arguably, you sold your country out” and expressing “disgust” and “disdain”, at his offences.
“Arguably this undermines everything this flag over here stands for.”
Sullivan urged Flynn to consider whether he wants to be sentenced in court today, or wait and cooperate further with Mueller’s investigation. Flynn has taken a recess, apparently to consider his next move. The court is due to return at 12.30pm.
If Flynn decided to be sentenced today, Sullivan said he could not rule out prison time.
“Arguably, you sold your country out,” Sullivan said, according to Tim Ryan, a reporter for Courthouse News who was in court.
“The court’s going to consider all that. I cannot assure you that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration.”
