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Flynn Defense Team Moves to Disqualify and Remove Judge Sullivan From Trial

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Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s defense team filed a motion Wednesday to disqualify D.C. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan from his position in Flynn’s trials after his blatant demonstration of bias against Flynn beginning in December of 2018. . .

In court documents released Wednesday, Flynn’s lawyers allege that Sullivan “cast an intolerable cloud of partiality over his subsequent judicial conduct” and “risk[ed] undermining the public’s confidence in the judicial process” by exhibiting unethical judicial behavior.

“Here, there can be no question that this judge has created the appearance of bias that mandates his disqualification,” the motion says.

Flynn’s lawyers argue that Sullivan is litigating against Flynn despite his judicial position, and violating the impartiality he is sworn to protect.

“[A]ll that must be demonstrated to compel recusal,” then, is “a showing of an appearance of bias … sufficient to permit the average citizen reasonably to question a judge’s impartiality,” the motion states. (Read more from “Flynn Defense Team Moves to Disqualify and Remove Judge Sullivan From Trial” HERE)

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Lawyer Admits She Asked President Trump Not to Pardon Michael Flynn

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A lawyer for Michael Flynn on Tuesday told a federal judge that in her effort to have her client’s case vacated she’s spoken in person about the case to President Trump and asked him not to pardon Flynn.

Powell said she spoke with Trump and White House lawyer Jenna Ellis recently about the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the case.

“I provided the White House with an update on the overall status of the litigation,” Powell said in a federal court in Washington, D.C. “I never discussed this case with the president until recently, when I asked him not to issue a pardon.”

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan concluded the five-hour hearing without making a ruling on the department’s motion to dismiss.

Powell did not say why she asked Trump not to issue a pardon and said she made no other requests to the president. (Read more from “Lawyer Admits She Asked President Trump Not to Pardon Michael Flynn” HERE)

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FBI Whistleblower on Mueller Team Details Real Reason Flynn Was Targeted

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In a stunning and detailed interview conducted September 17 by U.S. attorney Jeff Jensen, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case agent for the original investigation of former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and who later worked on Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel blew the whistle on myriad problems that plagued those investigations from the very beginning.

FBI Special Agent William Barnett told Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators that the handling of the probes troubled him so much that he threatened to quit working on it in one case, and threatened to go to the Inspector General in another. According to the summary of Barnett’s interview, he said there was never any basis for the bizarre “collusion” theory the agency and the special counsel relentlessly pursued, to the point that agents made jokes about how they could take any piece of information and claim it was evidence of collusion. He said the Special Counsel Office (SCO) pursued Flynn simply as a means to “get Trump” and viewed FBI investigators as a “speed bump” slowing down the work of the attorneys leading the inquisition.

The broader Trump investigation was “opaque,” the case theory was “supposition on supposition,” the Flynn probe in particular was “unclear and disorganized,” and its predicate was “not great,” Barnett told investigators. According to the interview notes, he felt there was “little detail concerning specific evidence of criminal events.”

When Barnett was first placed on the case in 2016, he said he assumed he’d have a better understanding of why the investigation into the Trump campaign was launched as he read through the evidence. But “after being involved in the investigation for six weeks, Barnett was still unsure of the basis of the investigation concerning Russia and the Trump Campaign working together, without a specific criminal allegation.” Much was made over the Republican National Convention platform amending a proposed change in support of “lethal assistance” to Ukraine to “appropriate assistance.” While some at the FBI attempted to claim this was a sign of collusion with Russia, he characterized the theory as “groping.” (Read more from “FBI Whistleblower on Mueller Team Details Real Reason Flynn Was Targeted” HERE)

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Michael Flynn Remains in Legal Purgatory Over Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax

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. . .In an en banc hearing, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the biased judge presiding in Flynn’s case, Emmet Sullivan, can move forward with hearings on the recent Department of Justice motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Flynn. This came after the lengthy history of DOJ/FBI overreach and possible prosecutorial misconduct regarding their investigation to Flynn were unearthed (via Axios):

The full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an 8-2 ruling on Monday denying former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s petition to force a federal judge to immediately drop his criminal case, as requested by the Justice Department.

Why it matters: The ruling will allow District Judge Emmet Sullivan to hold hearings to discuss the motion to dismiss the case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty in the Mueller investigation to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the former Russian ambassador.

The big picture: The Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr moved to dismiss the charges against Flynn in May, following a review that alleged prosecutorial misconduct by the FBI agents who had interviewed Flynn.

Judge Sullivan pumped the brakes on the case and sought to hear from outside parties on whether he should accept the government’s motion.

(Read more from “Michael Flynn Remains in Legal Purgatory Over Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax” HERE)

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Flynn and DOJ Argue Judge Appears ‘Biased’ in Bid Before Appeals Court to Get Case Quickly Dismissed

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In their latest bid to end a protracted legal fight immediately, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s lawyer and the Justice Department argued on Tuesday that the presiding judge in the former Trump national security adviser’s case had the appearance of bias.

Sidney Powell, the former federal prosecutor who took over Flynn’s legal defense last year, and acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall, representing the Justice Department in court following its move to toss the false statements charge against Flynn, clashed with Judge Emmet Sullivan’s attorney, Beth Wilkinson, during a four-hour hearing before 10 skeptical judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Powell and Wall argued that Sullivan appeared biased against Flynn, including through his appointment of retired New York Judge John Gleeson as amicus, his resistance to drop the case, and his alleged violation of separation of powers, and said the en banc appeals court should agree with the three-judge appeals panel ruling from June that ordered the Bill Clinton appointee to drop the case. Sullivan, who had asked for a rehearing from the entire appeals court, and Wilkinson said Tuesday that Sullivan should be allowed to hold a hearing on the DOJ’s motion to dismiss, saying fears about intrusive questions were speculative.

The lengthy questioning from many of the judges indicated they might disagree with the 2-1 June decision from their colleagues, which has been vacated, and would allow Sullivan to hold a dismissal hearing. If the appeals court doesn’t force Sullivan to drop the case, the politically charged legal fight threatens to extend up to and past the Nov. 3 election. (Read more from “Flynn and DOJ Argue Judge Appears ‘Biased’ in Bid Before Appeals Court to Get Case Quickly Dismissed” HERE)

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FBI Informant Said Michael Flynn Was Not ‘Going to Be Around Long’; GOP Senator: ‘Somebody Needs to Go to Jail for This’

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By Daily Caller. A professor who served as an FBI informant during the investigation of the Trump campaign told one of his students in early 2017 that incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn was not “going to be around long,” according to audio that the student published Sunday.

Steven Schrage, a former Bush administration official, released audio of a conversation he had on Jan. 10, 2017, with Stefan Halper, the FBI informant.

In the audio file, which Schrage included in an essay published by journalist Matt Taibbi, Halper is heard saying that he doubted that Flynn would last long in the Trump administration.

“If you go to the [National Security Council], you have to consider very carefully if you feel it’s appropriate for you to work for Flynn. I don’t think Flynn’s going to be around long. That’s just my guess,” Halper told Schrage, according to the audio recording. (Read more from “FBI Informant Said Michael Flynn Was Not ‘Going to Be Around Long'” HERE)

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Lindsey Graham: ‘Somebody Needs to Go to Jail for This’

By Daily Caller. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday released an FBI memo from 2018 that he says shows investigators lied to the Senate about statements that the primary source for the Steele dossier told the FBI regarding the salacious document.

“This document clearly shows that the FBI was continuing to mislead regarding the reliability of the Steele dossier,” Graham said in a statement announcing the release of an eight-page briefing document that the FBI provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee in February 2018.

The memo summarizes what Igor Danchenko, the primary source for dossier author Christopher Steele, told the FBI during interviews in early 2017. Steele relied primarily on Danchenko, a Russia analyst, to collect information for an investigation into Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia. . .

According to Graham, the newly declassified FBI memo shows that the bureau did not disclose any of the dossier’s red flags in the Senate Intelligence briefing document.

“Somebody needs to go to jail for this,” Graham said Sunday. (Read more from “Lindsey Graham: ‘Somebody Needs to Go to Jail for This'” HERE)

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Flynn Update: Full DC Appeals Court Reinstates Case Against Retired General

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An appeals court has agreed to take up the case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, which the Justice Department is attempting to dismiss.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order on Thursday that states that oral arguments for the en banc review by the full appeals court are scheduled for Aug. 11, after a three-judge appeals court panel agreed with the Trump administration and Flynn’s legal team, ordering the district court to allow DOJ lawyers to drop the charges. The order vacates the one dealt by the smaller panel last month.

Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is overseeing the Flynn case, had filed a petition for a rehearing of the case against President Trump’s former national security adviser by the full appeals court.

Flynn, a target of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI investigators about his December 2016 conversations with a Russian envoy, but after changing legal teams, Flynn began to claim he was innocent and had been set up by the FBI. After Attorney General William Barr appointed U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen to review the Flynn case, who has unearthed a host of new documents deemed exculpatory by Flynn’s lawyers, the Justice Department engaged in an effort to get the case dropped.

The order Thursday extends the timeline of the legal fight closer to the November election. It may put more pressure on Trump, who told reporters this month he hopes Flynn is “going to be able to win it,” to consider a pardon for his former adviser.

(Read more from “Flynn Update: Full DC Appeals Court Agrees to Rehear Case” HERE)

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New Flynn Notes: ‘FBI Leadership’ Decided Not to Provide Russian Call Transcripts to Flynn in Interview

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Newly released documents in the Michael Flynn case include a January 2017 DOJ draft memo that states “FBI leadership” decided against showing Flynn transcripts of his calls with the Russian ambassador in the White House interview that led to his guilty plea.

The DOJ document, dated January 30, 2017 — along with a batch of handwritten notes from DOJ and FBI officials describing Flynn’s White House interview with former FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI agent Joseph Pientka on January 24, 2017 — shed further light on the FBI’s spontaneous interview with Flynn, who had just begun his role as national-security adviser for President Trump.

“FBI advised that based on this interview, they did not believe General Flynn was acting as an age of Russia,” the DOJ draft document, which is heavily redacted, states. “FBI also advised that although they recognized the statements were inconsistent with the FISA collection, they believed that Flynn believed what he was telling them. FBI did not confront Flynn with the communications during the interview.”

The document explains that while the Bureau “prompted Flynn with language used during the call,” Flynn was not shown his actual words because of a decision “made by FBI leadership not to confront Flynn with the actual tech cuts.”

The mentioning of “tech cuts” about the interview’s subject matter — Flynn’s December 2016 conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — adds further context to the questions over how Flynn’s calls were monitored in the first place. “Tech cuts” are commonly referred to as internal FBI documents that contain and describe FISA intelligence, suggesting that the FBI picked up Flynn’s calls through FISA surveillance. DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz has said his office found no evidence of a FISA application on Flynn, raising the possibility that Flynn’s calls with Kislyak were picked up through FISA surveillance of the Russians. (Read more from “New Flynn Notes: ‘FBI Leadership’ Decided Not to Provide Russian Call Transcripts to Flynn in Interview” HERE)

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Judge Refuses to Dismiss Flynn Case

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Washington, D.C. federal District Judge Emmett Sullivan is refusing to dismiss the criminal case against former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and is now arguing that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it ordered him to do so last month in a 2-1 ruling.

Sullivan, through his attorney Beth Wilkinson, filed a petition on Thursday for a so-called “en banc” review by the entire D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the three-judge panel was improperly trying to force the district court “to grant a motion it had not yet resolved … in reliance on arguments never presented to the district court.”

Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, had successfully sought a writ of mandamus from the three-judge panel on the appellate court ordering the district court to toss the case. Writs of mandamus are unusual remedies, which are appropriate when there has been a “usurpation of judicial power” that is “clear and indisputable,” Powell acknowledged. . .

“All the district court has done is ensure adversarial briefing and an opportunity to ask questions about a pending motion,” Sullivan’s motion reads. “Outside the panel opinion, those actions have not been considered inappropriate—much less an extreme separation-of-powers violation justifying mandamus.”

If en banc review is granted, an oral argument date would then be set, likely in the fall. If en banc review is denied, Sullivan could appeal to the Supreme Court — a process that could take months to resolve, past Election Day. (Read more from “Judge Refuses to Dismiss Flynn Case” HERE)

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Judge Cancels Hearing After He’s Told to Dismiss Flynn Case

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U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Thursday ordered the cancellation of a hearing he had scheduled in Michael Flynn’s case, following a ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals saying Sullivan has to dismiss the case.

The Department of Justice had filed a motion to dismiss Flynn’s case despite his guilty plea after unsealed FBI notes cast doubt on the bureau’s intentions when they interviewed Flynn in January 2017. Sullivan refused to grant the motion right away. Instead, he called for briefs and a hearing to debate the matter, even appointing retired Judge John Gleeson to argue against the dismissal.

Flynn then petitioned the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus — which would order Sullivan to drop the case — which the court granted in a 2-1 decision.

Sullivan’s decision to cancel a hearing, which had been scheduled for July 16, along with other related deadlines, does not necessarily mean that he is ready to dismiss the case against Flynn, who was accused of providing false statements to the FBI related to his contact with a Russian ambassador. Sullivan could opt to challenge the ruling by seeking a review from the full D.C. Circuit Court roster. (Read more from “Judge Cancels Hearing After He’s Told to Dismiss Flynn Case” HERE)

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