Washington, DC – A federal appeals court has declined to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser. The decision makes way for a judge to review the Justice Department’s request to dismiss its case against him.
The ruling keeps the case active and blocks efforts by both Flynn’s attorney’s and the Justice Department to drop the prosecution without any further inquiry from Judge Emmett Sullivan, who has thus far refused to succumb to their pressure. He instead appointed a retired federal judge to argue against the Justice Department’s position.
Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the prosecution in May amid Brady evidence showing that the FBI did not believe he was guilty. Flynn had pled guilty of lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts during the days prior to President Trump taking office.
Flynn’s attorney’s then fought to obtain an order from the federal appeals court that would have required the judge to immediately dismiss the case.
This issue at hand has nothing to do with the actual case, but appears to be more an ego issue for Sullivan, who questioned whether he could be forced to grant the Justice Department’s dismissal of the Flynn case without holding a hearing to thoroughly examine the basis for dismissal.
