This article in the Federalist explains what is going on with the Michael Flynn legal battle. To quote friends,

Boy does this make my head hurt!

Tracking how the attorneys confused the issues is maddening…and prosecutors, IMO, were counting on the MSM and public laziness as well. Few would actually focus on the details, rather they would do the opposite. That is to say, ‘just give me the headlines’ they would demand and therefore the MSM manipulates the results for the DEM’s witch hunt.

That these shyster scum could create such micro-minute technicalities purely for entrapment with no consequences against any of them, is a national disgrace.

Back to the Federalist. You really need to read the entire article for background taking us up to the present and, yes, it will probably make your head hurt! The article concludes:

What Happens Next Is Anyone’s Guess

These questions, however, are unlikely to arise in Rafiekian’s trial, which began earlier this week. Rather, when Flynn returns to Judge Sullivan’s court for sentencing, Sullivan will need to delve into these issues.

How Judge Sullivan reacts is unpredictable: Will he blame federal prosecutors for the poor drafting of the Statement of Offense and chastise them for failing to inform him of Covington’s role in drafting the FARA filings? Or will he see Flynn as attempting to change his story?

While it is impossible to forecast Sullivan’s response, it is fair to say that he is watching the developments: Shortly after the Virginia federal court unsealed the various filings related to Flynn, Sullivan directed the parties to inform him how the government’s decision not to call Flynn as a witness would affect sentencing in Flynn’s criminal case. Van Grack suggested the government needed to wait until Rafiekian’s trial concluded and then review any testimony Flynn might give, if called by the defendant in that case.

In the meantime, federal prosecutors seem determined to cast Flynn as a co-conspirator in Rafiekian’s trial. They hit a snag, though, when Judge Tenga held that the government had not yet presented sufficient information “to establish that Mr. Rafiekian was participating in the alleged conspiracies.” Before considering whether Flynn was a co-conspirator, the court held, a conspiracy involving Rafiekian must be shown at trial.

Judge Tenga further explained during a Friday hearing that if the government made a preliminary showing that Rafiekian was participating in the alleged conspiracy, at that point, then, he would determine first “whether the government is either estopped or, by way of a judicial admission, prevented from changing its position that Mr. Flynn went from not being a part of the conspiracy to a part of the conspiracy for the purposes of admitting his otherwise hearsay statement pursuant to Rule 801(d)(2)(E).”

Now Here’s What That All Means

To explain these legal niceties: Hearsay is a statement made out of court, admitted to prove the truth of the assertion. Hearsay is generally inadmissible, although some out-of-court statements are defined as “non-hearsay,” and some hearsay statements are exempt from the rule. Rule 801 is the federal rule discussing hearsay. Generally speaking, statements made by co-conspirators in furtherance of a conspiracy are admissible.

So, Judge Tenga is saying that if the government shows Rafiekian is part of a conspiracy, then he will need to consider whether the prosecutors can renege on their admission that Flynn was not a co-conspirator. If so, then the court will need to determine whether the government presented sufficient evidence that Flynn was a co-conspirator to allow hearsay evidence from Flynn to come in.

From Friday’s hearing, it appears the prosecution is gearing up for that possibility—or merely trying to intimidate Flynn: At the close of the hearing, Rafiekian’s attorney noted that just before the hearing started, the government handed him a one-sentence statement.

“If I may read it for purposes of the record,” Rafiekian’s lawyer continued: “The United States government is in possession of multiple independent pieces of information relating to the Turkish government’s efforts to influence United States policy on Turkey and Fethullah Gulen, including information relating to communications, interactions, and a relationship between Ekim Alptekin and Michael Flynn and Ekim Alptekin’s engagement of Michael Flynn because of Michael Flynn’s relationship with an ongoing presidential campaign without any reference to the defendant or FIG.”

The hearing ended on that note, leaving the press and pundits to speculate on the content of that “information”—and why it wasn’t previously provided to the special counsel, the prosecution team handling Flynn and Alptekin’s criminal trials, or defense attorneys. If last week was any gauge, we’ll soon have much more to speculate on as well.