(05-20-2020 12:18 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote: [ -> ]I still don't see the compelling argument as to why Flynn's actions with regards to Russia and the sanctions wouldn't be of interest to the outgoing admin; unless you're trying to argue that the outgoing admin should have not cared about anything.
I don't see it to be the job of the outgoing administration to decide how often the incoming administration should have discussions with whom. The new administration was obviously going to take a very different track regarding all sorts of activities... and there was no indication that classified information was being discussed, or even at this point that there was any concern about 'sanctions'.
Be of interest to? Of course they would be interested and even concerned that their policies towards almost anything would be changing... but 'elections have consequences'. It seems clear that our actions towards Russia, China, N. Korea, The EU, NATO, Brexit, Climate Change, the ACA, border enforcement and all sorts of other things would be very different. As the events (sanctions) had just taken place and there weren't any prior public discussions about it (like the debates or election ads) where Trump could have made his intentions clear (as he did with all of the other items) it makes sense that the Russians would be asking about them... and that it probably wasn't a simple 'we're going to reverse them and all is good, Vlad'. There was probably at least a little... hey, if you did this, that's not cool... and Russia saying, then you stop doing the same in our elections... even if it was just posturing.
It's not 'they shouldn't care', but that they shouldn't be making a literal Federal case out of something any of us would do.
Let me put it in a different perspective...
Your boss, John is retiring. He has endorsed openly Mike as his replacement and actually argued against Mary... but the board selects Mary... John (and especially Mike) thinks that you had something to do with the selection of Mary... and before he leaves, he cuts your hours and does all sorts of other things that make your life difficult... Are you going to be reaching out to John to discuss those decisions with him? Or are you going to be discussing those things with Mary? OF COURSE you're going to be talking to Mary.... and you might be talking to her a WHOLE LOT... because you want to make sure that things go back to normal.
That would be very normal in any other circumstance, and would even be normal in this event, were it not for this rarely used and antiquated 'act'... which it seems clear... the administration wasn't concerned at all about a 'private citizen' talking to Russia, but only about accidental release of classified information.
If you're saying you can't include Obama in the complaint... well, okay... I didn't say that but maybe others did... BUT...
Doesn't the buck stop at the top, just like COVID? It DOES seem that the 'distrust' of the incoming administration went all the way to the top.... because they accepted the idea that they were having frequent discussions as 'unusual', when they make perfect sense to me. You just hammered them, and they want to know how long the hammer is going to last... and it seems clear that you have no interest in lifting it, nor would you likely be in a position to do so even if you wanted to.