U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday delivered a scathing rebuke to former national security adviser Michael Flynn during his sentencing hearing.
While reviewing the charges against Flynn, Sullivan questioned prosecutors whether Flynn could have been charged this week in a case involving two former business associates who worked as unregistered lobbyists for the Turkish government.
The prosecutors replied that he could have, and that his legal exposure in the case was significant.
Then Sullivan started absolutely tearing into Flynn for his offenses.
"You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the United States!" Sullivan fumed. "Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"
Sullivan continued by saying, "I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense."
Special counsel Robert Mueller's office has said that it is not recommending jail time for Flynn due to his substantial cooperation in their investigation. However, Judge Sullivan is not bound to abide by their sentencing guidelines.
