Posted on 05/14/2020 2:43:51 PM PDT by Beave Meister
The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn’s criminal prosecution has directed the law firm that Flynn fired to reappear as an interested party in the controversial proceeding. On Thursday, that firm complied by filing a notice of appearance.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia on Thursday ordered the clerk of the court to “add Covington & Burling LLP (‘Covington’) as an interested party in this matter and directed counsel for Covington to file a notice of appearance on behalf of Covington as an interested party.” John E. Hall, the chair of Covington Burling’s global litigation practice, submitted the filing.
The order follows the highly controversial decision by the DOJ last week to file a motion to drop the criminal charges against Flynn, despite the retired lieutenant general having already pleaded guilty to lying to agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The DOJ now believes the Flynn case was an inappropriate setup.
Flynn was initially represented by Covington & Burling and attorneys Robert Kelner and Stephen Anthony when he pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to the FBI. However, he fired his legal team soon thereafter and replaced it with a new of team of attorneys led by conservative lawyer Sidney Powell. The new attorneys immediately accused Flynn’s previous legal team of ineffective assistance of counsel.
“Mr. Flynn’s guilty plea (and later failure to withdraw it) was the result of the ineffective assistance of counsel provided by his former lawyers, who were in the grip of intractable conflicts of interest, and severely prejudiced him,” Flynn’s current legal team wrote in a January motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
“That pernicious conflict infected and prejudiced his defense until he retained new counsel in 2019.”
(Excerpt) Read more at lawandcrime.com ...
Three ring circus. Any word from the DOJ? Sullivan and the Lawfare group seem to be making all the moves.
I’ll take a shot at this one: the judge wants to be able to examine Covington’s lawyers under oath to try to refute General Flynn’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel which were made by Sidney Powell in her motion to repudiate the guilty plea. That’s why he’s made them a party. A clever way to get around General Flynn’s right to client-attorney confidentiality.
He wants to build a record that Covington was not ineffective so that he has a fig leaf to cover his denial of Ms. Powell’s motion.
Horrifying. And it’s too cute by half. I have no doubt at this time the judge is taking his marching orders from the coupists.
Covington Burling Withheld exculpatory evidence from Flynn ? Is that what you are saying?
That’s not an option for white conservative males in DC -
Point taken, change of venue not likely. Not really a serious comment anyway. Just pointing out absurdity with absurdity.
p
ao Flynn’s in trouble with Powell?
They can drag this BS out in the hope that PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP might be adversely affected, as far as the election.
“It doesn’t matter what this idiot judge Sullivan does from here on out. The DOJ has already said the charges have been dropped.”
No. That is not what the DOJ did. The case had gone past a point where the DOJ could do that. The case had been heard and a verdict rendered.
The only thing the DOJ could do at that point, and the thing they did do was REQUEST the case be dismissed. That is not a demand or instruction to the court. The ball is in the hands of the court, not the DOJ. Sullivan can legally deny the DOJ REQUEST to dismiss the case.
I do think what is unheard of is the judge bringing back into the case the lawyers the defendant fired.
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