Looks like it's going into extra innings

[Munchmasterman]

It's not over yet.

U.S. judge puts Justice Department’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn on hold

A U.S. judge put on hold the Justice Department’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn, saying he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue against the bid to exonerate President Trump’s former national security adviser of lying to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said in an order Tuesday that he expects individuals and organizations will seek to intervene in the politically charged case. Having others weigh in could preface more aggressive steps that the federal judge in Washington could take, including — as many outside observers have called for — holding a hearing to consider what to do.

Sullivan’s order came after the government took the highly irregular step Thursday of reversing its stance on upholding Flynn’s guilty plea.

The action by Sullivan, a veteran 72-year-old jurist with a national reputation for advocating defendants’ rights to full government disclosure of evidence, appears to rule out immediate action on the Justice Department’s decision to reverse course and throw out Flynn’s December 2017 guilty plea.

Sullivan said he will “at the appropriate time” set a schedule for outside parties to argue against the Justice Department’s claims as the government seeks to drop the charges.

Such “friend-of-the court” or “amicus brief[s] should normally be allowed when a party is not represented . . . has an interest in some other case that may be affected . . . [or] has unique information or perspective that can help the court,” Sullivan said.

The judge said he would be a rigorous gatekeeper, adding, “A criminal proceeding is not a free for all.”



A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an immediate written response to the court, Flynn’s defense said the order was prompted by a notice Monday from an unspecified group referring to itself as “Watergate Prosecutors” that sought to file arguments in the case.

“No rule allows this filing,” Flynn attorney Sidney Powell objected.

Powell said in the more than two years of Flynn’s prosecution, “This Court has consistently — on twenty-four (24) previous occasions — summarily refused to permit any third party to inject themselves or their views into this case.”

Powell also challenged the constitutionality of Sullivan’s order, saying the courts have no authority to permit a third party to “usurp the role of the government’s counsel” in prosecuting an individual in a criminal case.

“This travesty of justice has already consumed three or more years of an innocent man’s life — and that of his entire family,” Powell wrote. “No further delay should be tolerated or any further expense caused to him and his defense.”

Sullivan’s order noted that he was proceeding under a rule of civil procedure that gives judges sole discretion to accept outside arguments. Although there is no parallel criminal rule, the federal appeals court for Washington has ruled external entities in criminal cases can always ask to file an amicus brief, Sullivan said.


Legal experts said the 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, to require both sides to produce evidence and revisit the case for and against Flynn.

In an evidentiary hearing, Sullivan could call witnesses — such as Flynn, his investigators or even prosecutors — to obtain more facts about how the case was handled and why Flynn and agents took the steps they did.

Sullivan has not hesitated to personally question Flynn in court before, as he did during a 2018 hearing, when he rejected a defense motion supported by the government for probation.

Sullivan had said he was not satisfied by the former three-star Army general’s cooperation with special counsel’s probe.


“Arguably, you sold your country out,” Sullivan told Flynn.

Flynn was convicted of lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador about easing U.S. sanctions during Trump’s presidential transition in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn had initially repeated that he was guilty of lying, that no one had coerced him to admit his guilt and that he had no intention of taking back that plea. Flynn also said he took responsibility for wrongdoing that also culminated in his firing by Trump for misleading Vice President Pence, White House aides and the public.


After Mueller’s investigation into 2016 campaign interference closed last year, Flynn changed defense teams, began attacking prosecutors, and gained Trump’s support, claiming he was entrapped in a partisan FBI and Justice Department conspiracy.

In January, Attorney General William P. Barr tapped Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, to review how the case had been handled. Jensen said publicly last week that he recommended it be dropped. Jensen asserted that newly analyzed FBI reports and communications showed the bureau had no valid basis to question Flynn, so any lies he told were not relevant to a criminal probe.

The Justice Department’s attempts to dismiss the case last week prompted fresh accusations from law enforcement officials and Democrats that the criminal justice system was caving to political pressure from the Trump administration.

Flynn prosecutor Brandon Van Grack, a Mueller team member, quit the case in apparent protest before the Justice Department’s move to drop the charges, while Trump applauded the actions.

[dilbert firestorm]

i kind of figured that judge sullivan would to that.. considering that he ruled in favor of the prosecutors in several instances.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by Munchmasterman

It's not over yet.

U.S. judge puts Justice Department’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn on hold

A U.S. judge put on hold the Justice Department’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn, saying he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue against the bid to exonerate President Trump’s former national security adviser of lying to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said in an order Tuesday that he expects individuals and organizations will seek to intervene in the politically charged case. Having others weigh in could preface more aggressive steps that the federal judge in Washington could take, including — as many outside observers have called for — holding a hearing to consider what to do.

Sullivan’s order came after the government took the highly irregular step Thursday of reversing its stance on upholding Flynn’s guilty plea.

The action by Sullivan, a veteran 72-year-old jurist with a national reputation for advocating defendants’ rights to full government disclosure of evidence, appears to rule out immediate action on the Justice Department’s decision to reverse course and throw out Flynn’s December 2017 guilty plea.

Sullivan said he will “at the appropriate time” set a schedule for outside parties to argue against the Justice Department’s claims as the government seeks to drop the charges.

Such “friend-of-the court” or “amicus brief[s] should normally be allowed when a party is not represented . . . has an interest in some other case that may be affected . . . [or] has unique information or perspective that can help the court,” Sullivan said.

The judge said he would be a rigorous gatekeeper, adding, “A criminal proceeding is not a free for all.”



A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an immediate written response to the court, Flynn’s defense said the order was prompted by a notice Monday from an unspecified group referring to itself as “Watergate Prosecutors” that sought to file arguments in the case.

“No rule allows this filing,” Flynn attorney Sidney Powell objected.

Powell said in the more than two years of Flynn’s prosecution, “This Court has consistently — on twenty-four (24) previous occasions — summarily refused to permit any third party to inject themselves or their views into this case.”

Powell also challenged the constitutionality of Sullivan’s order, saying the courts have no authority to permit a third party to “usurp the role of the government’s counsel” in prosecuting an individual in a criminal case.

“This travesty of justice has already consumed three or more years of an innocent man’s life — and that of his entire family,” Powell wrote. “No further delay should be tolerated or any further expense caused to him and his defense.”

Sullivan’s order noted that he was proceeding under a rule of civil procedure that gives judges sole discretion to accept outside arguments. Although there is no parallel criminal rule, the federal appeals court for Washington has ruled external entities in criminal cases can always ask to file an amicus brief, Sullivan said.


Legal experts said the 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, to require both sides to produce evidence and revisit the case for and against Flynn.

In an evidentiary hearing, Sullivan could call witnesses — such as Flynn, his investigators or even prosecutors — to obtain more facts about how the case was handled and why Flynn and agents took the steps they did.

Sullivan has not hesitated to personally question Flynn in court before, as he did during a 2018 hearing, when he rejected a defense motion supported by the government for probation.

Sullivan had said he was not satisfied by the former three-star Army general’s cooperation with special counsel’s probe.


“Arguably, you sold your country out,” Sullivan told Flynn.

Flynn was convicted of lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador about easing U.S. sanctions during Trump’s presidential transition in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn had initially repeated that he was guilty of lying, that no one had coerced him to admit his guilt and that he had no intention of taking back that plea. Flynn also said he took responsibility for wrongdoing that also culminated in his firing by Trump for misleading Vice President Pence, White House aides and the public.


After Mueller’s investigation into 2016 campaign interference closed last year, Flynn changed defense teams, began attacking prosecutors, and gained Trump’s support, claiming he was entrapped in a partisan FBI and Justice Department conspiracy.

In January, Attorney General William P. Barr tapped Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, to review how the case had been handled. Jensen said publicly last week that he recommended it be dropped. Jensen asserted that newly analyzed FBI reports and communications showed the bureau had no valid basis to question Flynn, so any lies he told were not relevant to a criminal probe.

The Justice Department’s attempts to dismiss the case last week prompted fresh accusations from law enforcement officials and Democrats that the criminal justice system was caving to political pressure from the Trump administration.

Flynn prosecutor Brandon Van Grack, a Mueller team member, quit the case in apparent protest before the Justice Department’s move to drop the charges, while Trump applauded the actions.

if yous say so

[gfejunkie]

Good luck with that shit.

When the only entity that can bring charges has already dropped the charges anything else is just politics and politics has no place in a court of law. This idiot judge is just postponing the inevitable.

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by gfejunkie

Good luck with that shit.

When the only entity that can bring charges has already dropped the charges anything else is just politics and politics has no place in a court of law. This idiot judge is just postponing the inevitable.

I suspect they have something on the judge to make the ruling that he did or he's part of that deep state clique who hates trump.

this is the same judge who presided over a case where prosecutor misconduct was exposed; withholding exculpatory evidence to the defense.

he has appeared to ignore the issue of the missing 302 form; ignored the failure to turn in all the evidence.

it looks like he has appeared to ignore the secret deal that forced Flynn to lie about not being forced to accept the deal.

Refused to allow Flynn to reverse his guilty plea.

[Redhot1960]

[LexusLover]

"Postpone"? Unlike the Eccie political forum Federal Judges don't shoot from the hip and take their time to carefully review the underlying facts and their clerk's briefing on the issues.

Munch prematurely celebrates a lot. There is nothing in this mess that deserves celebration.

[Redhot1960]

I like "extra innings"...

[Redhot1960]

listen carefully at 02:20: 4




https://theconservativetreehouse.com...n/#more-191600

[bambino]

The judge is a little mercurial eh? He could have sentenced Flynn last year but kept postponing it. He declined to hear 23 amicus briefings in favor of Flynn during the trial, now he wants to hear them against Flynn. After the exculpatory evidence released recently exonerated Flynn, Sullivan still wants to fuck with him. Trump should pardon him and end the charade. Fuck Sullivan.

[gfejunkie]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/flynn-jud...-amicus-briefs

[gnadfly]

Originally Posted by gfejunkie

Good luck with that shit.

When the only entity that can bring charges has already dropped the charges anything else is just politics and politics has no place in a court of law. This idiot judge is just postponing the inevitable.

Perhaps he is giving Lawfare a chance to plead their case. Can a "friend of the court" be AG Barr, Rep Trey Gowdy, or any number of Senators or Reps?

Originally Posted by LexusLover

"Postpone"? Unlike the Eccie political forum Federal Judges don't shoot from the hip and take their time to carefully review the underlying facts and their clerk's briefing on the issues.

Munch prematurely celebrates a lot. There is nothing in this mess that deserves celebration.

If Sullivan does convict Flynn what would you think the chances of Flynn winning on appeal?

Originally Posted by bambino

The judge is a little mercurial eh? He could have sentenced Flynn last year but kept postponing it. He declined to hear 23 amicus briefings in favor of Flynn during the trial, now he wants to hear them against Flynn. After the exculpatory evidence released recently exonerated Flynn, Sullivan still wants to fuck with him. Trump should pardon him and end the charade. Fuck Sullivan.

Trump should let this play out. I believe Barr has many of the documents he needs except the original 502s that Yates took off with. Every judge knows what a perjury trap is and what bastards some of these Feds are. Witness Senator Stevens case. In a way, Sullivan may be helping Trump in letting these people decloak as Obama just did.

[bambino]

Originally Posted by gnadfly

Perhaps he is giving Lawfare a chance to plead their case. Can a "friend of the court" be AG Barr, Rep Trey Gowdy, or any number of Senators or Reps?

If Sullivan does convict Flynn what would you think the chances of Flynn winning on appeal?

Trump should let this play out. I believe Barr has many of the documents he needs except the original 502s that Yates took off with. Every judge knows what a perjury trap is and what bastards some of these Feds are. Witness Senator Stevens case. In a way, Sullivan may be helping Trump in letting these people decloak as Obama just did.

Trump can’t pardon him until he’s convicted.

[HedonistForever]

Originally Posted by bambino

Trump can’t pardon him until he’s convicted.

A Presidents power is that he can stop case at any point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federa..._United_States

A federal pardon can be issued prior to the start of a legal case or inquiry, prior to any indictments being issued, for unspecified offenses,
and prior to or after a conviction for a federal crime

[HedonistForever]

Trump should get on TV and say "I'm going to follow the lead of my predecessor Barack Obama who pardoned General Cartwright before ever serving a day in jail, in essence, letting him go "scot-free", just to shove it up Obama ass!


I would love to hear what CNN and MSNBC would say to that! But, but, but!