In a controversial move that is sure to anger democrats, an appeals court has ordered Michael Flynn’s case to be dropped. Judge Emmett Sullivan has been ordered by a federal appeals court to drop the charges against the former national security advisor. The move comes after Flynn’s defense attorneys produced an FBI memo that they claimed proved entrapment.
Flynn has twice pled guilty to lying to the FBI. His defense, however, maintained that the FBI coerced him into lying by framing their interview in a specific way. The memo includes correspondence between two agents pondering when they should remind Flynn that it is a crime to lie to the FBI.
Michael Flynn has twice pled guilty to charges of lying to the FBI. Mr. Flynn lied to the federal agency about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US, which occurred before Trump was sworn into office. This constituted a non-federal employee conducting foreign policy on behalf of the United States, a serious crime.
Unless the federal appeals court’s decision is further appealed, Flynn will be exonerated of his charges. President Donald Trump and his supporters have rallied around Flynn, who has since recanted his guilty plea and now maintains innocence. Mr. Trump has long held distaste for FBI oversight into his administration. For months, the president railed against the investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia.
The prosecution is almost certain to appeal the DC court’s ruling. Given that the case is highly political, it’s almost certain to interest higher courts. Likewise, its basis in the power of the judiciary makes the case a big deal for precedent. If people can plead guilty to lying to the FBI but then get exoneration from hand-written notes, it could be a large shift in how the justice system processes federal crimes.
The appeals court ruling opens old wounds for both democrats and republicans. Mr. Trump’s campaign’s ties to Russia have been a sore spot throughout his term as president. Now, with Flynn back in the headlines, Mr. Trump is once again having to defend his 2016 campaign’s conduct. During Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the campaign’s Russian connections, he indicted several Trump staffers.
Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos and some 29 other Trump associates have had criminal charges filed against them. Their ties to Russian hacking organizations and Wikileaks brought extreme scrutiny. Needless to say, the Russian nationals tapped by Trump’s campaign weren’t just buying online home insurance for the campaign.
