Appeals Court Rejects Flynn Bid To Force Judge To End Criminal Case, No Questions Asked

[Gothmog]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Michael Flynn cannot force a federal judge to agree to drop criminal charges against the former national security adviser, a full panel of the D.C. appeals court ruled on Monday.

The ruling means that U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan for the District of Columbia can proceed in examining why the Justice Department took the unprecedented step of dropping its criminal case against Flynn, after Flynn had both pleaded guilty and then withdrawn his plea.

The order is a reversal of the intervention a three-judge appellate panel made in the case earlier this summer, when it commanded Sullivan to immediately dismiss that case. The full appeals court had already blocked that order, in an early indication that it was skeptical of the move to intervene in the district court proceedings at this time.

The fallout from the Justice Department’s May decision to walk away from Flynn’s prosecution has been extraordinary and unprecedented.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/appeals-court-rejects-flynn-bid-to-force-judge-to-end-criminal-case-no-questions-asked

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Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

1. K&R!

[fleur-de-lisa]

2. K&R

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Well well,

squeezing the Orange A-Hole to react,oh my,me thinks the Orange Putzinhimmer will have Billy the Barge draft a get out of jail free document before weeks end.

[unblock]

9. yup, much ado about nothing.

well, the process is important, of course. but yeah, donnie will pardon him and that will be that.

but it puts the ugly action on the the ugly person. it's right that donnie should be the one who does the unforgiveable.


bit of a side note, but this is where i think the supreme court went wrong in bush v. gore. they should have ducked the issue. republicans had complete control of state government at the time, and they would have certified it for shrub, or the legislature would have intervened, or whatever.

even if they ended up not sending any electors to the electoral college due to the dispute, republicans controlled the majority of house delegations in congress, so even then, shrub would have become president.

the difference is, political institutions would have made a blatantly political decision, instead of the supreme court. the did unnecessary damage to their own reputation, even given their obvious goal of handing republicans a win.

[Wellstone ruled]

15. First will be

a commutation of Sentence,followed by a Pardon on November 4 th. Same for Stone.

[Miguelito Loveless]

20. The problem for Flynn and Stone then

is they cannot then use the Fifth when they get called to testify against Trump.

[Wellstone ruled]

30. Yes.

By then,NY will have Trump tied up six ways till Sunday.

[FBaggins]

26. Even less than that

Far more likely that Sullivan holds the hearing and grants the motion. That became pretty clear during the en-banc hearing.

There might be some language in the dismissal that highlights the DOJ's odd behavior... but there doesn't appear to be much room to actually deny the motion and force a pardon.

[unblock]

28. Lovely.

[Wellstone ruled]

31. What ever happens,Flynn

is headed for Leavenworth late 2021.

[FBaggins]

33. Not on any of these charges

Perhaps there's something new?

[Wellstone ruled]

34. There will be Justice.

Despite what many think,this Case as well as others will be a happening. Our Dems control the House where all legislation begins and if we do capture the Senate,we will see legislation that will put a end to Abusive Political Actions.

We are a juncture in our Country were the majority of citizens are truly feed up with what has happened and want a stop put to it.

The Rank and file want their Courts back. And Flynn is a poster Boy of how the system is used and abused by the Right Wing Elites .

[FBaggins]

36. I'm not sure how that's responsive

What in there means that he'll be in Leavenworth by the end of next year? Because the case "will be a happening" (whatever that means)?

[Gothmog]

4. Appeals court denies Michael Flynn and Justice Department's effort to end his case

Link to tweet

A federal appeals court ruled Monday against Michael Flynn and the Justice Department in their request to quickly shut down his criminal case.

This story is breaking and will be updated

[Bayard]

5. YAY!!

Go Judge Sullivan! He's one of the good guys.

[still_one]

6. That is why the full court was necessary, and even more important why appointment of judges is so

critical

That alone should be enough reason to vote Democratic

[Gothmog]

12. Control of the courts is on the ballot this election

[still_one]

14. +++

[Tacan]

25. Control of the courts was on the 2016 election. We cannot fail again.

[sheshe2]

7. K&R 🇺🇸

[DarthDem]

8. 8-2 Reversal

Heh. Quite the stinging rebuke of the two Republican appointees who wrote the majority three-judge panel opinion, and who failed to convince even one of their colleagues to uphold their ruling. Justice is served.

[underpants]

10. 💥

[iluvtennis]

11. Excellent news - judges did the right thing. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

13. The rubber meets the road

Rule of law!

[Gothmog]

16. Judges have decided that it will not force SULLIVAN to dismiss the case or reassign matter to a diff

Link to tweet

[AllaN01Bear]

17. best news ive heard today.

[Gothmog]

18. From MSNBC

Link to tweet

[djacq]

19. Lock His A_s Up!

That's right, lock his a_s up.

[Thekaspervote]

21. We are STILL a nation of laws creep! You do not get preferential treatment

[George II]

22. The SOB pleads guilty and then whines about it? The good thing is that this is delaying....

....any final decision, hopefully until after January 20, so there will be no pardon.

[Doug.Goodall]

23. Why is Flynn not in jail yet?

This guy should have been locked up a year ago.

[Princess Turandot]

24. Judge Griffith, in a concurring opinion on his last day on the bench...

Nice rebuke of the 2 judges on the original appeals court panel who found for Flynn.

On his last day on the bench, Judge Thomas Griffith writes:

"Today we reach the unexceptional yet important conclusion that a court of appeals should stay its hand and allow the district court to finish its work rather than hear a challenge to a decision not yet made."

Link to tweet

Ann Marimow is a legal reporter for WaPo.

Griffith announced his retirement early this year, thus the 'last day on the bench' reference. He was a 2005 appointee of Bush 43 in 2005. (Both Obama and Biden voted to confirm him at the time.)

[Jim__]

27. Yes!!! Good for the Appeals Court!

Lock him up!

[greenjar_01]

29. Delay delay delay until after January 20

The wheels of justice move so slowly, you know?

[FBaggins]

35. Not much room for that

The ruling ends with "As the underlying criminal case resumes in the District Court, we trust and expect the District Court to proceed with appropriate dispatch." (emphasis mine)

"Appropriate dispatch" is usually code for "don't dilly dally" and lower courts take it seriously. Plus... Sullivan's attorney argued that there wasn't any reason to believe it would take much time at all (claiming that it would probably have been over by mid-July if Flynn hadn't gone the mandamus route in the first place) and that there probably wouldn't be many (if any) questions.

[greenjar_01]

37. Always look forward to the Conservative Lawyers Newsletter

Thanks, buddy.

[dem in texas]

32. Thank God We Have a Good Judge.

Flynn was a General dealing in top secret matters for our country. Yet he had no loyalty to our country and sold secrets to a foreign government. Then he had the nerve to get up on the stage at the 2016 Repup convention and lead the chant "Lock Her Up, Lock Her Up" against Hillary.

Flynn is a Law-Breaker, a Hypocrite and a Traitor. I say "Lock Him Up, Lock Him Up"!