The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday ordered the lower court judge, Emmet Sullivan, to dismiss the case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, as requested by the Justice Department.
The court order ruled “that Flynn’s petition for a writ of mandamus be granted in part; the District Court is directed to grant the government’s … motion to dismiss; and the District Court’s order appointing an amicus is hereby vacated as moot, in accordance with the opinion of the court filed herein this date.”
Federal prosecutors moved to drop the case last month after new evidence emerged showing that Flynn was set up and framed by malevolent Obama officials, including fired Director James Comey, fired Assistant Director Andrew McCabe and fired counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok.
A shocking, previously sealed document on Wednesday shed more light on the now infamous January 4, 2017 White House meeting of top Obama officials. Handwritten notes prepared by disgraced G-man Strzok indicate that Comey admitted that Flynn’s December phone calls with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak “appeared legit.” Nonetheless, according to Strzok’s notes, former President Barack Obama instructed top members of his administration to put “the right people” on the Flynn investigation.
“Make sure you look at things and have the right people on it,” Obama is quoted as saying.
Although he initially denied knowing about the Flynn investigation, former Vice President Joe Biden appears to be the one who “personally raised the idea” of investigating Flynn for violating the obscure, outdated and rarely used Logan Act during his phone calls with Kislyak.
🚨Peter Strzok notes from 1/4/17 released in Flynn case:
Discussion among Obama, Comey, Yates, Biden, and Susan Rice.
Biden: "Logan Act"
Obama: "Have the right people on" Flynn case.
Comey: The Flynn/Kislyak calls "appear legit." pic.twitter.com/20a3z46Z9Z
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) June 24, 2020
Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote in the Flynn decision: ”In this case, the district court’s actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch’s exclusive prosecutorial power. The contemplated proceedings would likely require the Executive to reveal the internal deliberative process behind its exercise of prosecutorial discretion, interfering with the Article II charging authority.”
The 2-1 ruling and order likely ends the brutal, years long legal persecution of the retired general that dogged him during and after the FBI’s politically corrupt Russia investigation.
This was the result of an appeal from Flynn’s lawyers asking for a so-called writ of mandamus — essentially an order telling a government official to carry out a certain duty — directing District Judge Emmet Sullivan to approve the DOJ’s motion to dismiss.
Sullivan did not immediately grant that motion and instead sought to hold hearings on the matter, angering Flynn allies.
The unusual move from Sullivan to keep the case alive despite prosecutors’ wishes was preceded by an unusual move from the DOJ itself to drop the charges against Flynn even after he had pleaded guilty — saying the FBI interview that led to his charge of lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador had no “legitimate investigative basis.”
The unpredictable Sullivan could try to appeal to the full appeals court or even to the Supreme Court in an attempt to drag out the case, but the obvious next step would be for Sullivan to comply with the order.
President Donald Trump cheered the decision on Twitter, saying, “Great! Appeals Court Upholds Justice Departments Request To Drop Criminal Case Against General Michael Flynn!”
Great! Appeals Court Upholds Justice Departments Request To Drop Criminal Case Against General Michael Flynn!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2020
Trump told reporters that he was “very happy” about the decision and that Flynn had been treated “very very horribly by a group of very bad people.” The president said that the persecution of Flynn and his campaign should never happen to anyone again in the United States.
“I want to congratulate him. He’s been through a lot,” Trump said.
Flynn called into Rush Limbaugh’s radio show Wednesday, finally breaking his silence on the case.
He called the decision a “good thing” for him and his family, and “a great boost of confidence” for the American people and “our justice system,” and lauded his attorney Sidney Powell, calling her a “terrific lawyer” and “the American guardian of justice.”
Flynn cautioned that his ordeal is not over. “This is a phase that has ended and we’ll go into another phase,” he told Limbaugh.
"I will just tell you that I have always believed and fought for our rule of law.
The most important thing that we have in this country, bar none, is that."@GenFlynn called into Rush Limbaugh's radio show after a court ruled that charges against him will be dropped. pic.twitter.com/OfgvdBnLns
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 24, 2020
U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham has reportedly reviewed the exculpatory FBI files on Flynn that were released last April, and has been using them to build a “serious case.” According to a Fox News source, the new information “could be sufficient” to bring charges against a number of corrupt FBI officials.