Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, the federal judge hearing the Michael Flynn case, pulled a crazy chess move after the DOJ filed a motion last week to undo the prosecution and plea deal by dropping the charges.
Last week, Barr's highly politicized DOJ pulled one of the craziest stunts ever. They moved to dismiss all charges against Michael Flynn - even though he pleaded guilty in 2017 - twice. So why the change of heart? Well, Barr's DOJ submitted a filing, claiming that “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information . . . the government has concluded that [Flynn’s interview by the FBI in January 2017] was untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn,” and that it was “conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.”
WHAT? To say that this insane filing was a bomb going off in DC would be an understatement. The sheer politicization and degrading of the good work that the DOJ has done for decades was devastating. So what was the Judge to do? Clearly, he heard the battle cry from legal minds all over the country,
Tuesday, Judge Sullivan put the move to dismiss the charges on hold when he decided to allow outside groups and legal experts to weigh in, in what is called a “friend-of-the court” or “amicus brief[s]" submission process. The Washington Post noted that this "order allows others to file objections to the Justice Department’s move and could open the door for adversarial proceedings in which one or more attorneys argue against the Justice Department. It would also permit, if the judge chooses, requiring both sides to produce evidence and revisit the case for and against Flynn."
Further, the judge could call witnesses, such as Flynn, investigators and even the prosecutors - both current ones and the original ones - to try to get to the bottom of what is really going on.
This brings us to today, when Judge Sullivan did something that is going to make Barr squirm in his seat a little bit more:
BREAKING: Judge SULLIVAN has appointed retired judge to argue against the government's motion to dismiss the charge against Flynn. pic.twitter.com/OUGyAbNcIB
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 13, 2020
What does this mean? Simply put, the Judge has appointed a retired judge to argue against the government's motion to dismiss the charge against Flynn and to look into whether Flynn should be held in contempt for FELONY PERJURY.
Renato Mariotti laid out what this means in a great thread. I will post some of the more important tweets, but I encourage you to read back through them for more context:
2/ Both of these actions by Judge Sullivan are highly unusual, but Judge Sullivan is responding to another highly unusual situation.
It is very rare for DOJ to dismiss a case after the defendant pleaded guilty, and even rarer to do so for what appears to be corrupt reasons.— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 13, 2020
7/ Judge Sullivan was clearly troubled by Flynn's conduct, and the DOJ's odd positions in a case involving a friend of the president's raises obvious questions about whether it was acting corruptly.
But *no one* in his courtroom was arguing the other side of these issues.— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 13, 2020
11/ Sullivan's decision here means that he's seriously considering denying DOJ's motion and he wants to consider whether that decision is wise and what the implications of that decision are.
Judge Gleeson won't be an advocate representing a client. He will be helping the judge.— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 13, 2020
13/ Today's order by Judge Sullivan is very bad news for the DOJ.
Their motion was highly unusual, and they will have to be prepared to answer many difficult questions about the odd positions that they've taken.— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 13, 2020
14/ But perhaps the most surprising development is that Judge Sullivan is considering holding Flynn in criminal contempt for perjury.
I wonder whether Judge Sullivan is raising this possibility, in part, to see whether DOJ or Flynn might change course.— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 13, 2020
Flynn is in a bit of a bind at the moment. He's either going to jail for lying to the FBI or he's going to jail for lying to the judge. This is what happens when the rule of law is perverted for political expediency.
