Case against Michael Flynn dropped

The Justice

WAS H I NGTON» Department dropped its criminal case Thursday against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, who previously pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with a Russian diplomat.

The extraordinary move comes amid a sustained attack by Flynn’s lawyers on prosecutors and the FBI, accusing them of egregious conduct. In recent days, Flynn’s lawyers said the Justice Department had uncovered new documents that pointed to misconduct, particularly in investigators’ interview of Flynn in January 2017 as part of its inquiry into whether Trump advisers conspired with Russia’s election interference.

Law enforcement officials cited that interview in moving to drop the charges, saying in a court filing that the some of newly found documents showed that the questioning “was untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Flynn.” Prosecutors said that the case did not meet the legal standard that Flynn’s lies be “materially” relevant to the matter under investigation.

“The government is not persuaded that the Jan. 24, 2017, interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr. Flynn’s statements were material even if untrue,” the U.S. attorney in Washington, Timothy L. Shea, said in a motion to dismiss the charges.

In a possible sign of disagreement, Brandon L. Van Grack, the Justice Department lawyer who led the prosecution of Flynn, abruptly withdrew from the case Thursday. Flynn’s lawyers repeatedly have attacked Van Grack by name in court filings, citing his “incredible malfeasance.”

Responding to the news, Trump told reporters that Flynn was “an innocent man,” and said he now views him as an “even greater warrior.”

Flynn first pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to investigators and cooperated extensively before moving to withdraw his plea and fight the case in court.

He also entered a guilty plea a second time in 2018 at an aborted sentencing hearing.

It is now up to the federal judge in Washington overseeing the case, Emmet G. Sullivan, to decide whether to dismiss the case.