Posted on 05/21/2020 2:06:17 PM PDT by gwjack
A federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the judge handling the criminal case of President Donald Trumps former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, to respond to a request by Flynns lawyers to dismiss the case.
The order came two days after Flynns lawyers asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to drop the case and assign any future court proceedings to another judge.
The Department of Justice two weeks earlier made the surprise move to abandon its own prosecution of Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the weeks before Trumps inauguration.
But U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan did not immediately grant the DOJs motion to dismiss its case. Instead, he appointed a former federal judge to argue against the request, and submitted a schedule to allow third parties to submit arguments in the case.
Flynns lawyers had argued to the appeals court that Sullivans moves reveal his plan to continue the case indefinitely, rubbing salt in General Flynns open wound from the Governments misconduct and threatening him with criminal contempt.
Sullivan has 10 days to respond to the appeals courts order. Sidney Powell, an attorney for Flynn, did not immediately respond to CNBCs request for comment on the order.
Flynn had appeared in Sullivans courtroom in December 2018 to be sentenced, but the retired lieutenant general opted to delay the proceeding after Sullivan warned Flynn may face jail time if he was sentenced before completing his cooperation with then-special counsel Robert Muellers investigators.
Months later, Flynn dismissed his legal team and hired Powell, a vocal Mueller critic, who soon began efforts to undo the criminal case. Powell accused prosecutors of withholding exculpatory information from Flynn, a claim that the Justice Department for months repeatedly denied.
The Justice Departments request this month to dismiss the charge against Flynn was signed by Timothy Shea, the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. at the time, and not by any of the prosecutors who had handled Flynns case up to that point.
The dismissal request has been highly controversial. Former prosecutors say it smacked of favoritism toward an ally of Trump, and some have specifically accused Attorney General William Barr of manipulating the justice system to help the president. Trump has frequently criticized the case against Flynn.
AFAIK we have not determined if the original FBI 302 forms still exist.
This is all because Cocaine Mitch stunned D.C. yesterday by hammering Sullivan.
It’s a 3 judge panel, two of which are a Reagan and a Trump appointee. The writ will be granted. The beauty of that is that I don’t think the judge can appeal to the full circuit. He’s not a party. Maybe since it’s mandamus he can, I’d have to look that up. But even if he can appeal to the full court, he will probably lose in the face of a recent decision by that circuit that makes what the judge did unlawful. And even if the full circuit loses its mind, the SC will slap him down so hard his jowls will jiggle for days.
AFAIK we have not determined if the original FBI 302 forms still exist.
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Im not sure how it COULD NOT still exist. If it was composed on a computer and forwarded up the chain via an email attachment, than that email would exist in an archive somewhere in the FBIs systems. It should also be recoverable from the computer of the agent who composed it. And on the computer(s) of the person(s) who received it and revised it.
Goodness, theyre the FBI. Certainly they have digital forensics experts who know how to retrieve those items. Unless, of course, they simply dont want to find it.
Whether the original 302 exists, or not, it makes no difference regarding the dismissal of the Flynn case.
The fact that corrupt prosectors, or FBI agents, are hiding or destroyed it is further evidence the case be dismissed.
should....
I seem to remember claims that Hillary's emails, Strzok's phone texts, and DNC server data "disappeared."
WRT the dismissal of the Flynn case, I agree. The original 302 would be grounds for a political scorching, and I hope, criminal charges and firings.
Its CNBC. Of course not.
[T]he `leave of court authority gives no power to a district court to deny a prosecutor's Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss charges based on a disagreement with the prosecution's exercise of charging authority.
The only reason the Fokker decision says Judge Sullivan can not deny the motion to dismiss is "a disagreement with the prosecution's exercise of charging authority." So, Judge Sullivan has room to argue that is not the reason he has so far delayed (not denied) the motion to dismiss. His arguments might include:
1. Either the current or the former prosecutors lied to me, and I am entitled to find out which ones lied before dismissing the case.
2. The DOJ is playing games by moving for dismissal because the Flynn interview was not "material" to an investigation, when I already held that it was material - based on the arguments DOJ made six months ago.
3. The DOJ is playing games by securing Flynn's agreement to withdraw his motion to dismiss case for egregious government misconduct on the same day the DOJ filed its motion to dismiss. They are not entitled to use dismissal as a way to cover up misconduct.
4. Even if the DOJ's misconduct with respect to Flynn was by the prior prosecutors, the current prosecutors effort to cover that up (rather than tell the court there was misconduct) is a separate form of misconduct that the Court must investigate.
The charges against Flynn are going to be dismissed eventually, but the suggestion that Judge Sullivan is out of moves is premature.
there is a guy on twitter making some pretty wild accusations that involve Cummings and this Judge and it goes into some detail
Something is off about this Judge. Dont know if these allegations have any merit so not posting them since it is..uhh.. twitter.
They are from May 15
United States v. Fokker Servs. B.V., 818 F.3d 733, 742 (D.C. Cir. 2016) is the controlling case in the DC circuit. The DC COA held: [T]he `leave of court authority gives no power to a district court to deny a prosecutor's Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss charges based on a disagreement with the prosecution's exercise of charging authority.
There is nothing else. Sullivan does not have the power to deny the motion to dismiss according to the DC Circuit itself. Let alone appoint his own prosecutor while being the judge at the same time. The 9th Circuit just got overturned 9 - 0 by the US Supreme Court for doing exactly the same thing.
The one playing games is Sullivan. He can twist and wiggle all he wants. This case is over. On or about the June 2nd.
Sullivan's merry little ride in politically motivated far left judicial activism will be brought to an abrupt and sudden end..
Was Flynn’s son in fact possibly involved in anything illegal? I can understand Flynn wishing to protect his son from any false prosecutions but if the son was doing anything shady or had some appearance of shady dealings then Flynn made himself vulnerable by trying to cover for his son.
I told my kids I would hire them lawyers but if they were doing anything illegal, they need to be accountable for what they do.
Flynn is a good man...it would be a shame to have lost him because of anything his son had done that Flynn was trying to cover for.
As it is they will probably try to get at Flynn’s son anyway...just out of spite.
With “his” new lawyer, he will claim he needs more time than June 1, and bash Trump and Flynn in the same statement.
“A person can thumb their nose, but they cant thumb it to a federal judge.”
Didn’t the Fraud do that whenever he pleased?
I’d put money against FraudCo’s Judgie Sullivan doing as ordered.
“You are overthinking this situation. The case is OVER. It will end on June 1 or 2, unless Sullivan signs the order dismissing the case before then.”
I disagree. Judgie’s handlers believe they have too much at stake, and are attempting to force Trump to pardon him, so Flynn can’t sue for compensation from and further expose our domestic enemies — at least until Nov. 4.
We’ll see soon.
OK, sounds good and all, but almost(?) every felony by the Fraud is WELL KNOWN to a LOT of Repblicans. Do you honestly know a Rat now who is not JUST AS DEVOTED to the Fraud as they were during his “scandal-free” administration?
Bilboe Bagpipes doesn’t seem to want to do anything to upset the Fraud’s handlers.
FraudCo is itching to go after Trump, his family and us after he leaves office.
Flynn will be able to sue the individuals and the government whether or not Trump pardons Flynn.
Just look at the language in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ORDER. It’s over by the end of next week; maybe a bit later if the COA wants Sullivan to personally explain his decision in front of the COA during oral arguments.
This case is over and anyone who understands what is going on knows it. The COA is not going to overrule its own precedent, nor go against the unanimous opinion of the SCOTUS from less than one month ago.
The COA can do it themselves of send it to another District Court who will, which will be the likely result.
That is not going to happen. The DOJ will not be going after Flynn’s son. Barr would not allow it because there is no evidence.
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