Posted on 05/23/2020 2:46:59 PM PDT by CaptainK
Veteran trial lawyer Beth Wilkinson is helping guide U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan as a federal appeals court questions his plan to probe the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the case against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn despite his admission he lied to the FBI.
Sullivan refused to immediately dismiss the charge against Flynn, a retired Army general who served for just weeks in Trump’s White House, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is now weighing whether the longtime Washington federal trial judge overstepped his authority.
The appeals court set a June 1 deadline for Sullivan to respond to a petition from Flynn’s lawyers that seeks the immediate dismissal of the case. Sullivan, meanwhile, has appointed an outside lawyer, John Gleeson, a former federal judge in Brooklyn, to make arguments against the Justice Department’s bid to ditch the prosecution. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., but he later hired new lawyers to help him withdraw his acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
Wilkinson, a co-founder of the litigation boutique Wilkinson Walsh, confirmed Saturday she had been retained by Sullivan, who has served on Washington’s federal trial court since 1994. The Washington Post first reported Wilkinson’s role advocating for the judge.
Wilkinson has long been in the spotlight in Washington legal circles and beyond as a successful defense-side trial lawyer advocating for major U.S. companies. She left the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in 2016 to start the boutique, which has offices in Washington, New York and Los Angeles.
She has frequently taken on high-profile assignments. In 2018, she was hired by Brett Kavanaugh, then a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, to help shepherd him through confirmation proceedings at which he had been accused of a decades-old sexual misconduct allegation. Kavanaugh, who denied the claim, was confirmed to the high court.
More recently, Wilkinson was retained by Summer Zervos in a suit in New York state court that accuses Trump of lying in his denials that he did not grope and kiss her without consent in 2007. The case is pending.
In the D.C. Circuit now, Wilkinson is counsel to Cheryl Mills, a former aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a dispute over a deposition in a public-records case. One of Sullivan’s colleagues on the bench, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, said the plaintiff—the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch—could depose Clinton and Mills.
.Sullivan’s move to appoint Gleeson, now a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, to oppose the Justice Department’s move to dismiss was seen by some observers as an assertion of independence of the courts as a co-equal branch of government. Still others said Sullivan had assumed too powerful a role, and that he should have dismissed the case at the Justice Department’s request.
Legal scholars are divided over how much power Sullivan holds to scrutinize the Justice Department’s charging decisions. Federal rules do not allow prosecutors to unilaterally dismiss any criminal case. They need “leave of court” before a charge can be withdrawn.
At one time, Flynn was prepared to be punished, but he agreed to further cooperate with the special counsel’s Russia investigation in an effort to secure a non-jail sentence. During Flynn’s first scheduled sentencing, Sullivan raised the prospect that Flynn might go to prison for lying to federal agents.
Timothy Shea, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a former close adviser to Barr, asked Sullivan to dismiss the case against Flynn on the ground that prosecutors no longer believe there was a strong basis to justify the FBI’s 2017 interview that is central to the false-statements claim. Former Justice Department officials have disputed the government’s claim there was no ground to interview Flynn.
Flynn is or was a Democrat.
And what case would that be? He's picked a Judge to present an amicus briefing. Now he's hired his own lawyer. The Judge will act as his prosecution to argue why the case should not be dismissed. Is the lawyer providing back-up to the Judge, or representing Sullivan against the District Court? None of it makes sense. Sullivan just keeps digging the hole he's in, deeper and deeper. I hope he never gets out of it, and is buried deep inside.
Because as David Gregory’s wife share has an automatic in as a guest on at least 1 network. Probably all of them. Plus she can spread rumors on the DC cocktail circuit. (Ok “Big Head” you work that side of the room while I schmooze this side.)
When your crooked and you have been found out?
The authorities were also leveraging Bijan Rafiekian’s verdict against Flynn until that was also thrown out.
He needs to be able to do that to recover his $M loss and perhaps bring some of those that used illegal means to smear Flynn.
When does a judge need a lawyer?
I guess to write the reply for the brief that is due 6/1. You would think he had enough law clerks to do that for him.
Stand up like a man and explain your own decision, Your Honor.
No one would write a work of fiction with this story line, no one would believe this legal maneuvering. Guess the Deep State just wants to keep on fighting. My question is will De Judge lose his position when not only the Appeal Court, but the Supreme Courts slaps De Judge down! Talk about taking one for the team........
Oranges to Steaks. NEVER hire a Lawyer that is in the OTHER PARTY! NEVER!
1- Now Sullivan is having his response written for him causing as much delay as possible.
2- I’ll say it again, Sullivan is not in control, he has a gun to his head
1- Yes it is being done for that reason. They know that when the case is dropped, Flynn will come after the deep state with a vengeance. Well deserved vengeance.
2- Yep, the Deep State is involved up to their necks.
My guess is that the answer is in the Lawfare article. The article, what I could stomach, is signaling that the “persecution” of Judge Sullivan by Flynn is the next hoax. If Lawfare is in charge, it’s the next attempt to takedown a President.
It doesn’t have to be legal, make sense, or resemble reality. Look at Blasey-Ford. All they had to do was create a circus and 50% of the public goes one way and the other half goes the other.
To my mind, ego or politics is not a good enough explanation for Judge Sullivan to destroy his career and legacy. Only one reason makes sense: the Hammer owned fully by Obama, Holder and VJ.
That is my guess. Judge Sullivan may need a defense lawyer when the civil trials begin. So he got his early to help in responding to the Fed court demand. He is trying to isolate his exposure.
Once FBI abuses of Flynn become more prominent in the daily news media, then Judge Sullivan’s position will become weaker and weaker. He will look more stupid as this goes on. His facts suck, and Barr will show him in Technicolor.
Kind of like the Fox News hosts Arthel and Eric do on Saturdays.
Correct. His behavior opens himself to judicial abuse counter suits. Get opinions before the 10 days expire to keep from being a bankrupt ex-judge. Lifeboat time.
Could be the Judge was in on the scam. Barr could be investigating him.*********
For sure he is, and hopefully Barr/Durham are.
If we still had a legal system. This would be illegal. The Judge, as trier of fact would have no interest in the case. But in the Age of Affirmative Action and Political Correctness which we now live , anything goes. Rules change by the second. ***************
And the constitution is ignored.
No prosecution? No problem! The Judge will hire a prosecutor! Seems legit? But who does this prosecutor represent? We are no longer in an adversarial legal system with the judge as a neutral arbiter, as it is the judge himself who now appears to be prosecuting Flynn.
Unable to answer the DC Circuit’s questions himself, it sounds like he now wants an attorney to argue his case. There is no way this all happens before 1 June. More delays. Hopefully, the 3 Judge Panel tells Sullivan they will only accept a written argument against his dismissal and stick to the deadline.
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