The federal judge weighing the Justice Department’s motion to drop its charges against Michael Flynn asked an appeals court on Monday to deny the former national security adviser’s effort to get the case dismissed.
Lawyers for Judge Emmet G. Sullivan responded to Flynn’s appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Sullivan will not serve as “a mere rubber stamp” for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) unusual move
“The unique facts of this case warrant evaluation by the trial judge before any review by this Court,” Sullivan’s lawyers wrote. “It is unusual for a criminal defendant to claim innocence and move to withdraw his guilty plea after repeatedly swearing under oath that he committed the crime.”
“It is unprecedented for an Acting U.S. Attorney to contradict the solemn representations that career prosecutors made time and again, and undermine the district court’s legal and factual findings, in moving on his own to dismiss the charge years after two different federal judges accepted the defendant’s plea,” the brief continues.
The DOJ, however, stood behind Flynn on Monday, echoing his call for the circuit court to order Sullivan to drop the charges and arguing that the judge can not “assume the role of prosecutor and initiate criminal charges of its own.”
…….
- Discussion
-
NEW: Judge in Flynn case asks appeals court to allow argument against dropping charges https://t.co/DtBjATVUK2 pic.twitter.com/x9xy4XhJui
— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2020
BREAKING: Judge Sullivan responds to Flynn's petition to the D.C. Circuit–to force the judge to grant DOJ's motion to dismiss–arguing the case should follow the normal judicial process and that "adversarial presentation of the issues leads to better decisions."@CourthouseNews pic.twitter.com/SCmFVZZjvS
— Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) June 1, 2020
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.