As I understand it, it is possible the judge in the Michael Flynn case could choose to not drop it.
The Department of Justice on Thursday told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington it wants to drop the case against Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, following a pressure campaign by the Republican president and his political allies.
While judges typically sign off on such motions, Sullivan could refuse and instead demand answers from the DOJ about who requested the sudden about-face, said Seth Waxman, a former federal prosecutor now at the law firm Dickinson Wright.
“If Judge Sullivan wanted to he could conduct an inquiry and start asking a lot of questions,” said Waxman. …
… While the judge still has to rule on the submission, elated supporters of Flynn said there was no way Sullivan could force the department to prosecute if it did not want to. But the judge could stop Flynn from withdrawing his guilty plea and impose sentence. In that case, Trump could pardon Flynn.
It would be better to force Trump to pardon Flynn than to sign off on dropping the case, IMO. Absurdly, the Trump campaign sees Flynn as their Nelson Mandela, a hero persecuted by the evil deep state. I’m not seeing anyone who is not already a Trump cultie being impressed with that, though.
The notoriously independent-minded federal judge who once said he was disgusted by the conduct of Michael Flynn could block the administration’s bid to drop criminal charges against the former adviser to President Donald Trump, legal experts said.
The Department of Justice on Thursday told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington it wants to drop the case against Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, following a pressure campaign by the Republican president and his political allies.
While judges typically sign off on such motions, Sullivan could refuse and instead demand answers from the DOJ about who requested the sudden about-face, said Seth Waxman, a former federal prosecutor now at the law firm Dickinson Wright.
Marcy Wheeler dissects the DOJ’s arguments for dropping the Flynn case here. I am not going to attempt to sum this up except to say that she makes a good case that the judge is more likely to be annoyed than impressed with the DOJ.
“If Judge Sullivan wanted to he could conduct an inquiry and start asking a lot of questions,” said Waxman.
Stay tuned.
See also:
David Frum, The Secrets Flynn Was Desperate to Conceal
Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, Benjamin Wittes, An Ugly Day for the Justice Department
Paul Waldman, Barr’s corrupt decision points to Trump’s moral rot of our institutions.
So it is that Attorney General William Barr, having already worked to secure a lighter sentence for Trump pal Roger Stone, has now given former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn the equivalent of a get-out-of-jail-free card, abandoning the case against him just as Flynn was about to be sentenced.
Soon after, Trump spoke on the phone to Vladimir Putin, and the two had good reason to celebrate together. While Putin’s 2016 effort to get Trump elected was in large part an attempt to discredit western democracy, he could barely have imagined how effective it would be. Not only is our election system now in a credibility crisis, Trump has made our legal system a joke, too. What could make Putin happier?
See also Trump cryptically tells reporters ‘a lot of things’ might happen soon following call with Putin.
President Trump is celebrating throwback Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he spoke on the phone with Putin and the two discussed the investigation into Russian election interference. That investigation determined that Russia had meddled to aid Trump in 2016, did not find prosecutable proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and did not determine whether administration officials sought to obstruct the probe.
Reiterating his displeasure with the investigation, Trump said the “Russia hoax” was “very hard” on the U.S. and Russia’s foreign relations. “And we discussed that,” said Trump of his call with Putin, also noting he offered to send Russia ventilators to aid COVID-19 patients.
Would those be some of the ventilators confiscated from hospitals and states, I wonder?
The amazing thing is how Trump has successfully twisted the argument to be about ONE item only. In legal matters it actually is that the prosecution presents an array of facts and evidence to prove – and the defense presents their evidence and witnesses to disprove or cast doubt. The dismissal is entirely about whether the FBI had a strategy when they questioned Flynn. They did – they always do have a strategy on any major witness of any major case. I've BEEN questioned – they asked me questions they knew the answers to to test my credibility. It's SOP.
Flynn was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Trump is making the entire case about that lesser charge. From 2017, the facts:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/politics/michael-flynn-turkey.html?fbclid=IwAR1fWizWqujY7dr0uSaRm23ruqQMBZgBa2bksQ6VO8MyuzrE0zpkvldCqfI
I'm hoping the judge grants the new trial on ALL charges. (if statute of limitations isn't an issue) Trump will stop there – he hasn't pardoned ANY of his cronies and doesn't want to. When we have a new AG in 2019, we file ALL the charges for ALL the crimes. Flynn won't be looking at six months – he will be looking at six years.
My hope is that the judge doesn't let this slip away without drawing attention to what transpired. Either force Trump to pardon Flynn or force the Justice Dept to expose all of Flynn's wrong doings that lead to the final plea agreement. he ultimately pleaded guilty to.
To my mind lying to the FBI no matter what the context is would be considered material.
I expected Flynn to walk away unscathed, but it would be nice to know that either Barr or Trump bare some of the political costs to make that happen. And the judge has that power. Remember…when the judge viewed the totality of Flynn's actions he used the word treason to describe what he was seeing. That kind of speaks to more than just a little innocuous lie.
Gas, grass, or ass..nobody rides for free.
I'm not taking (Dis)Barr's action yesterday as not all that serious, as some people I've read today. What he did borderline terrifies me.
It may have seemed like it was only 'one small step' for tRUMP and Flynn, but to me, it was also 'one giant leap' for (pick one, two, or all three) Fascism/Authoritarianism/tRUMPism!
The rule of law has been sidestepped. Maybe even hijacked.
And, if you claim to be a nation of laws, as America does, then to have an AG bypass justice for one man on the president's say-so, then you really don't have the foundation that the nation was originally built upon anymore.
Instead of a firm, well designed, rock-solid foundation for your nation, you have a liquid, flexible, unstable foundation for your "nation divided" against itself.
Hopefully (to force tRUMP's hand, if nothing else), despite Barr's fat thumbs on the scale, Flynn's Judge will still sentence him to some time in jail.
And then let tRUMP pardon one of his key co-conspirators in the seditious and treasonous confederacy with Putin and Russia to throw the 2016 election to him, instead of Hillary.
I really do fear what's going to happen between now and Election Day – and then, beyond.
There's a lot of well established laws that can be bent or broken when the most powerful politician in a nation has the country's "Justice" system wrapped around his tiny orange little finger.
Even though it seems like Trump is succeeding in corrupting all of our institutions and you get the feeling that we're going to hell in a hand basket. You can comfort yourselves in the saying of Dr. Martin Luther King. The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. You can expand on that saying in the knowledge that the moral universe also bends toward decency, honesty, love, truth, caring for others, and a thousand other qualities that uplift and add to the benefit of a healthy society.
So know that in spite what we see with the seemingly unchecked advancement of Trump's corruption and his degradation of social norms and values that it's only for a season. And the qualities a society should strive for will ultimately prevail. Trump will eventually end up in the dustbin of history with a life lived devoid of value and substance.. He'll just be a big bag of shit who never could find the courage to step outside of his own self serving interests.
Gulag: I'm so glad you described Trump as the most powerful politician in the country. I get so tired of hearing he is the most powerful person on earth. I'm quite sure he loves to hear it though. Even so, I suspect that Mitch McConnell might be the most powerful politician at the present. I don't pretend to be that savvy about politics but that is my opinion.
I think I have said this before but I will say it again. Following the Christian belief of Jesus returning to earth only after the anti-Christ arises, I vote for Trump being the anti-Christ as he is the most un-Christian person I can think of. He does seem to fit the mold of what has been described in the story. I am not a Christian but I do believe that humans can put so much energy into a belief that it can influence events. If I'm right, we should be looking for the return of Christ soon. Heaven knows he would be welcome.
Hitler said: "What luck for rulers that men do not think".
I looked up Emmet Sullivan and see that he is 72. If he decides to go against the Republican machine, he better have his retirement in order. He could take a stand and go down in history as somebody who tried to stop Trump.