#MOTION TO DISMISS FLYNN FULL#

However, rarely is the person being interviewed a national security adviser who spoke with the Russians about national security matters and then lied to the vice president of the United States about those conversations. In fairness, these strategy sessions generally do not include discussions about getting the interviewee “fired.” The employment consequences to a witness or target of an investigation are the kind of collateral matters that rarely factor into law enforcement thinking. In Thursday's 20-page dismissal motion, Shea essentially makes three arguments: He claims that Flynn may not actually have lied he suggests that any potential lie wasn’t really “material” (in other words, relevant) to any ongoing investigations and he contends that the investigation open at the time of the FBI’s interview was almost over anyway. This is not the way the Department of Justice is supposed to work. This circumstance is reminiscent of what happened in the Roger Stone case, when all four prosecutors withdrew from the case after Barr intervened to ask for a more lenient sentencing recommendation. Turns out that one of the Flynn prosecutors, Brandon Van Grack, withdrew from the case Thursday morning before the dismissal motion was filed. The Flynn dismissal motion had only Shea’s name, suggesting that no prosecutor was willing to put their name on the motion.

Some inside baseball: When such motions to dismiss are filed, the signature page generally contains the names of all prosecutors assigned to the case. Now Shea, a Barr acolyte, wants to throw all of that out. He sailed through the rigorous plea colloquy with Judge Emmet Sullivan, affirming that he committed the crime, had no defense and was pleading guilty voluntarily. 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty in court because he did, in fact, lie to the FBI. Wednesday’s 2-1 opinion was authored by Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, and joined by Karen LeCraft Henderson, who had asked skeptical questions of lawyers for Flynn and the justice department during arguments earlier this month.On Dec.

#MOTION TO DISMISS FLYNN FULL#

Sullivan could still ask for the full bench of the appeals court to review the issue, which could result in a different ruling. However, that is likely not the end of the former national security adviser’s legal saga.

Gleeson argued the motion to dismiss should be denied because there was “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power” on the part of the justice department.Ī three-judge panel of the DC circuit court of appeals issued Wednesday’s 2-1 decision to overrule Sullivan and order him to dismiss the criminal charges against Flynn. Gleeson submitted a court filing on his findings earlier this month, accusing the DoJ of engaging in “highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the president.” Sullivan appointed a former federal judge, John Gleeson, to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss the charges. Flynn was the only White House official charged in Mueller’s investigation.Įarlier this year, Sullivan had declined to immediately dismiss the case against Flynn, seeking instead to evaluate on his own the departments unusual dismissal request. However, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with the former Russian ambassador to the US, and he became a cooperating witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s links with Moscow. The president similarly celebrated last month, when the justice department filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Flynn.Ĭritics accused Trump and attorney general William Barr of politicizing the department and undermining the rule of law.įlynn had become a cause celebre among the far right, with many of Trump’s most ardent supporters arguing the former national security adviser had been a victim of the “deep state”. Trump sent a tweet celebrating Wednesday’s “great” ruling. The justice department’s motion to dismiss the charges against Flynn came after Trump repeatedly accused federal investigators of unfairly targeting his former adviser. įlynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017, but the justice department filed a motion last month to dismiss the criminal charges against him, prompting accusations of political bias. In a surprise ruling, the DC circuit court of appeals overruled district judge Emmet Sullivan and has ordered him to accept the justice department’s motion to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn.

Motion to dismiss flynn