Judge Denies Michael Flynn’s Allegations of FBI Ambush, Sets Sentencing for January

Nearly a year after delaying his initial sentencing, Judge Emmett Sullivan has rejected attempts by former White House national-security adviser Michael Flynn to throw out his previous guilty plea due to prosecutorial misconduct, and set Flynn’s sentencing for January 28.

In a 93-page decision issued Monday, Sullivan rejected claims from Flynn’s defense team that the former three-star general was trapped by FBI agents during questioning over his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one count of lying to federal agents, only later claiming that he was deliberately manipulated by the FBI in a set-up.

“The sworn statements of Mr. Flynn and his former counsel belie his new claims of innocence and his new assertions that he was pressured into pleading guilty to making materially false statements to the FBI,” Sullivan wrote.

The judge also denied a bombshell claim by Flynn’s team that the FBI tampered with notes from the interview and deliberately withheld exculpatory information from Flynn. Flynn’s defense had argued that the government was required to turn over the original interview document under the Brady rule, which established the government’s obligation to turn over evidence that can be useful for the defense.

In November, the Department of Justice admitted that it had indeed misattributed notes to former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who was one of two agents to conduct the interview, encouraging Flynn’s allies to believe a positive decision was forthcoming. (Read more from “Judge Denies Michael Flynn’s Allegations of FBI Ambush, Sets Sentencing for January” HERE)

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