Posted on 05/13/2020 12:18:11 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
The fate of former national security adviser Michael Flynn lies in the hands of a federal judge with an established reputation of being a fiercely independent thinker.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who was appointed to the bench in 1994 by former President Clinton, will determine whether to grant the request by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop charges against Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to federal agents about conversations he had with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
On Tuesday evening, Sullivan pulled a surprise, announcing in a court filing that he would allow interested parties to weigh in on the case with amicus briefs, an unusual move for a criminal prosecution, and enter a scheduling order at the appropriate time. The move was opposed by Flynn's lawyers, who argued that it would be inappropriate to allow third parties to weigh in on the case.
Sullivan has several options for responding to the DOJ motion beyond Tuesdays action.
Sullivan could eventually move to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning Flynns case would be permanently dismissed and he could never be charged again for the same incident. Or, the judge could grant dismissal without prejudice, which would allow the case to be considered again particularly if the White House flips in November.
Another option is for Sullivan to collect as much information as he sees fit before making a decision, which could include calling the U.S. attorney for D.C., Timothy Shea, and even Attorney General William Barr to testify.
He could also deny the motion, block the withdrawal of Flynns guilty plea and choose to proceed with sentencing the retired Army lieutenant general.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
“In this case, the United States has withdrawn from prosecution and sought to dismiss.”
Very timely and relevant information, thank you for posting.
Exactly. Grrrrrr.
Republicans won't even react to evidence.
Republicans can take control of this right now by all talking about it to the media in unison just like Democrats do.
The iron is hot but Republicans are waiting for it to cool down so as not to make waves or cause trouble.
ike someone on Fox said, if he holds an actual hearing, the prosecution and defense will be sitting at the same table...both arguing for him to drop it.
Yes, but for very different reasons.
Flynn’s reasons are obvious.
The prosecution maybe not so obvious. The longer this drags on, the more criminal activity is discovered and aired in public with the potential for criminal prosecution of some very well known names.
It is to the prosecutions advantage to end this trial and cover up as much as they can that which has already been discovered.
They should wiretap this judge to find out who is taking orders from.
The Hill is so happy.
The Supreme Court just overturned a ruling by the 9th Circuit that did the same thing. This judge has no leg to stand on for his request and DOJ should hammer him on it.
It’s getting there. Our side plays tiddly winks while theirs’ cheats every way possible and dares us to stop them.
Really? How many of the prosecutors were disbarred?
“The move was opposed by Flynn’s lawyers, who argued that it would be inappropriate to allow third parties to weigh in on the case. “
SCOTUS just slapped down the 9th Circuit in a 9-0 ruling a few days ago for doing exactly that! Sidney should quote that case to this scumbag judge ...
After the Senate seat was secure for Sullivan's party...
Sullivan presided over the 2008 trial of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted of seven felony ethics violations in October 2008.
During the trial, the judge refused requests by the defense for a mistrial to be declared, after information was revealed that the prosecution had withheld exculpatory Brady material.
Eight days after the guilty verdict, Stevens narrowly lost his reelection bid.
As more evidence of prosecutorial misconduct became known in early 2009, Judge Sullivan held four prosecutors in civil contempt of court.
On April 1, 2009, following a Justice Department probe that found additional evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, the Department of Justice recommended that Stevens' conviction be dismissed.
On April 7, 2009, Sullivan set aside the conviction and appointed a lawyer to investigate the prosecution team for criminal contempt.
Subsequently, one of the four prosecutors held in contempt committed suicide.
Ultimately, Sullivan dismissed the civil contempt charges, and no additional charges were brought against the prosecutors.
================
I guess the prosecutor that committed suicide didn't get the secret "downlow" text from Sullivan signalling the "All Clear"...
It was all a kabuki show, after Sullivan did the heavy lifting of securing Stevens' seat for the Democrats [to pass Obamacare].
To: AnotherUnixGeek
Given that the prosecutor has dropped the case, the only reason a judge would want to keep this alive is to allow some time for further political grandstanding and media-headline manufacturinG
The judge has already, in open court, branded General Flynn a traitor. That fact alone demonstrates an extreme prejudice against the General.
He should be recused from touching anything further in this case. Also, Im thinking that the time for President Trump to end this is now. The left will scream bloody murder but he will be looked at as a hero my many, many people.
Yeah, I laid it all out in post #32.
None of the parties filing amicus briefs have Barr's knowledge. Their briefs can ONLY be political in nature, begging Sullivan for their pound of flesh.
Does the Judge really need Barr to reveal ALL of the illegal tactics and legal errors of the prosecutors? The Judge knows some or even most of the issues, as the defense presented them and Judge Sullivan rejected their requests.
If Sullivan dismisses the case for reasons he already rejected when presented by the defense, he looks like an impartial jurist. When a Judge is less concerned with a defendant's rights than the prosecutor, and so hostile as to call the defendant a traitor, that judge should be removed from the bench.
IMO: the judge is doing a time buying maneuver. Obviously General Flynn knows a lot about the crimes of the Obozo Admin and if his case is dismissed, he will be in a position to expose just how the criminals in DC actually operate and name names, thus, severally damaging the DC establishment, the DNC and the deep state pukes. He’s screwed unless the people in mass come to his defense.
The Gorka radio show has Victoria Toensing & Joe DiGenova speaking about this. The judge has no statue or right to do what he’s doing right now. He faces an immediate appeal by DOJ in which they’ll ask court of appeals to issue an immediate order for Sullivan to drop the case.
Sullivan wants to embarrass Flynn, Trump, and Barr then issue a sentence forcing Trump to pardon Flynn.
BTW: If the judge sentences and orders Flynn into custody of the US Marshals, the DOJ (who the Marshals report to) will simply refuse and send Flynn home for house arrest.
Show is live right now but will archived.
Pretty sure we all know what they have on John Roberts.....not sure about Sullivan.
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