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Federal Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has entered an order in Michael Flynn’s case saying “not so fast” to Attorney General Barr and his right hand, Timothy Shea on their request to drop the government’s case against Flynn.
Quick reminder: Flynn led lock-her-up chants during the 2016 campaign, was the National Security Advisor for a hot minute (er, 3 weeks), got fired for lying to VP Pence about his convos with the Russian ambassador on sanctions, and then was charged with lying to the FBI.
Flynn entered a guilty plea early in the Mueller investigation days, but then the political climate changed and so did his mind. He told the Court that there had been investigative and prosecutorial misconduct and that he never actually lied. The Court didn’t buy it.
But then the Attorney General appointed some new lawyers to look at the case and, surprise! decided that Flynn maybe didn’t lie and even if he did, the lie wasn’t material to the government’s investigation because the government actually shouldn’t have interviewed him, OK?!?
The DOJ asked the Court to dismiss the whole thing. This sent heads spinning in the legal world. But the AG says he thinks this is the most just outcome — the government shouldn’t go prosecuting cases it couldn’t prove even where there’s a guilty plea.
Judge Sullivan, who throughout this case has been unimpressed with Flynn and his defense team, first invited people who aren’t involved in this case to weigh in by filing amicus (friend of the court) briefs.
Then yesterday, he really made things interesting with a short order that invites a retired judge to present arguments in opposition to the government’s motion AND tell the Court whether Flynn should be held in criminal contempt for perjury.
And that retired judge he appointed? He has already written an op-ed that gives us all a clue or two about what he’s thinking. Here’s a sample: “The record reeks of improper political influence.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/11/flynn-case-isnt-over-until-judge-says-its-over/
You can view the exceptionally brief and pointed order here. https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.205.0_10.pdf
We’ll keep you posted, but for now, as to this thread and certainly not the case…
P.S. I very much wanted to follow a listener suggestion and do My Cousin Vinny gifs for this thread. I was just not satisfied with the selection available. I have STANDARDS.
