
© Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty ImagesGeneral Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, departs the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse following a pre-sentencing hearing on July 10, 2018.
President Donald Trump's security adviser Michael Flynn was the first casualty of 'Russiagate' impeachment push, but the case against him seems weaker than ever, after
a federal judge voided the conviction of his business partner.Flynn, a retired general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was forced to resign in February 2017, after less than two weeks of serving as national security adviser. He was snared in an FBI perjury trap as part of surveillance of the Trump campaign - which was predicated on claims it was "colluding" with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
Though the original 'Russiagate' scandal more or less imploded when special counsel Robert Mueller admitted there was nothing there in his final report, Democrats have moved to impeach Trump anyway, now claiming he had sought help from Ukraine to influence the 2020 election.
Flynn's case is still pending, but the prosecutors just suffered a major setback. On Tuesday, Judge Anthony Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia threw out the jury conviction of his business partner Bijan Rafiekian,
saying that the government "failed to offer substantial evidence" he acted as a foreign agent of Turkey. "The evidence was insufficient as a matter of law for the jury to convict Rafiekian," Trenga wrote in his ruling, granting Rafiekian's motion for acquittal. If the prosecutors successfully appeal the decision, he would have to be tried all over again.
Comment: The only sane Democrat in the room, Tulsi Gabbard calls it: Trump has released the contents of the call. The Dems are toast.