Flynn judge delays decision to drop case
Schedule to be set for challenges to position
WASHINGTON – A federal judge is delaying an immediate decision on a Justice Department request to abandon the prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying he will allow time for outside parties to challenge the government’s position.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in an order Tuesday that he would set a schedule for parties to submit their challenges at a later date, injecting more drama into the case against the former
Army general who first pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017 about his communications with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
In the brief order, Sullivan did not address the Justice Department’s effort to drop the case, saying only that he “anticipates that individuals and organizations” will seek to file arguments of their own.
“Accordingly, at the appropriate time, the Court will enter a scheduling order governing the submission of any amicus curiae briefs,” Sullivan said.
Flynn’s lawyers quickly responded and said outside parties had no standing in the case.
“A criminal case is a dispute between the United States and a criminal defendant,” Flynn’s lawyers argued in their own filing. “There is no place for third parties to meddle in the dispute, and certainly not to usurp the role of the government’s counsel. For the Court to allow another to stand in the place of the government would be a violation of the separation of powers.”
The attorneys made repeated reference to a group of former prosecutors they dubbed “Watergate prosecutors” who sought to enter the case, but they asked the judge to deny them a forum. The Justice Department’s decision has prompted a wave of protest, including from about 2,000 former department officials who have called for the ouster of Attorney General William Barr
“The ‘Watergate Prosecutors’ have no special role and no authority whatsoever to insert themselves in this litigation on behalf of anyone,” Flynn’s attorneys said. “They are no different than all those whose requests and attempts this court has quickly and resoundingly denied.”
Instead, Flynn’s lawyers appealed for the judge to follow the Justice Department’s recommendation.
“Moreover, this travesty of justice has already consumed three or more years of an innocent man’s life – and that of his entire family,” the attorneys argued. “No further delay should be tolerated or any further expense caused to him and his defense. This Court should enter the order proposed by the government immediately.”