Judge Sullivan manages to make Flynn into even more of a martyr

So just when you believe that General Flynn could not possibly garner any more sympathy from the conservative circles... you get a high profile district Judge who apparently wasn't paying close enough attention (or was suckered by some nefarious newspaper headlines) and ended up attacking the three star General over something that... well... wasn't actually true.

"Arguably, that undermines everything that this flag over here stands for," Sullivan said, gesturing toward the American flag in the courtroom, according to reporters who were present. "Arguably, you sold your country out."

Judge Sullivan goes on to suggest that General Flynn (a decorated soldier) may have committed an act of "treason" for being an unregistered "foreign agent" while simultaneously being the President's National Security Advisor.

The Judge even asked the Prosecution if they had considered filing such charges. 

All in a hearing that was specifically supposed to be about an entirely different matter.

The problem with this entire line of attack was that it was actually untrue. Sullivan is arguably correct as to whether or not Flynn may have been (at one time) an unregistered foreign agent, but there is no truth to the allegation that Flynn was working for anyone other than the United States when he was the incoming National Security Advisor.

Moreover, the concept of the criminal nature of an unregistered foreign agent seems to be a bit of a "made up crime" that has come into vogue with the Special Counsel, who seems to have come up empty with Russia, and are shooting blanks as it pertains to collusion. While the term "unregistered foreign agent" seems a bit dramatic, it actually means little more than an American business person (generally a lobbyist) who is working on behalf of some foreign interest. Flynn's interest was with Turkey. His business as an intelligence consultant was entire legal, ethical, and has never been questioned.

The reality is almost nobody "registers" as a foreign agent when they do lobbying work. Prior to Paul Manafort and his minions, there had been only a couple of examples of this crime being prosecuted and nobody has ever been put in jail for any extended time (I believe six months was the only prison sentence associated with this). Other groups (such as the Podesta group) were allowed to register after the fact, when it became evident that they hadn't done so when they were supposed to.

So the concept that being an "unregistered foreign agent" is some act of treason seems more than mildly "over the top". The fact that this Judge used this excuse during this particular hearing (which was supposed to be a simple sentencing hearing where both sides were asking for no jail time) to attack the General, call out his patriotism, and demand that he could be charged with "treason" is more than enough reason for Flynn backers to become even more boisterous in his defense.

Sullivan eventually apologized and admitted that he was wrong. But by that point, the damage has been done. Flynn is officially a bigger martyr than ever.