Barr orders review of Flynn case
U.S. Attorney General William Barr reportedly ordered a reexamination of the Michael Flynn case in a new sign that the nation’s top law enforcement officer is bending over backward to favor allies of President Trump.
Just days after Barr pushed a more-lenient sentence for Roger Stone, reports say the controversial AG has also asked for an unprecedented review of the prosecution of Flynn, the former national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in the Russia probe.
The new reports say Barr has assigned Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, to reexamine the Flynn case as well as several other unspecified cases.
It’s unknown what if any legal reasons have been offered by Barr to take another look at the Flynn case, which Trump regularly denounces as an unfair witch hunt similar to the successful prosecutions of Stone and the president’s ex-campaign manager, Paul Manafort.
“This is absolutely something that should shock the conscience of every American regardless of political persuasion who cares about the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice,” David Laufman, a former top federal prosecutor, told CNN.
Prosecutors are supposed to act independently of political consideration and are bound by legal ethics not to favor political allies like Flynn and Stone.
Barr insisted in a new interview that he doesn’t take orders from anyone, including Trump. But Barr has all but eviscerated decades-long department policies barring such interference in cases involving political cronies.
Flynn admitted lying to FBI agents and cooperated with Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion with Trump’s campaign in 2016.
The disgraced former national security adviser was set to escape the scandal without prison time until, for reasons that remain unclear, he hired a zealous new lawyer and moved to withdraw his guilty plea.
The strange legal push, which could end with Flynn’s losing credit for cooperation and being thrown in prison, came as far right-wing supporters of Trump lauded him as a hero for supposedly standing up to the so-called Deep State.