Appeals Court Orders Dismissal of Flynn Case

New FBI evidence made prosecution questionable.

A federal appeals court ordered the judge presiding over the case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to grant the motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him made by the Department of Justice.

“ORDERED that Flynn’s petition for a writ of mandamus be granted in part; the District Court is directed to grant the government’s Rule 48(a) 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,” the three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 Wednesday.

District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who had been handling the Flynn case since December 2017, was reluctant to grant the Justice Department’s motion for dismissal, feeling Flynn could be charged with perjury or contempt, and he kept the case open.

“In its motion, the government explains that in light of newly discovered evidence of misconduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the prosecution can no longer prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any false statements made by Flynn were material to a legitimate investigation,” Appeals Court Judge Neomi Rao wrote for the majority.

“This is plainly not the rare case where further judicial inquiry is warranted,” Judge Rao wrote. “To begin with, Flynn agrees with the government’s motion to dismiss, and there has been no allegation that the motion reflects prosecutorial harassment. Additionally, the government’s motion includes an extensive discussion of newly discovered evidence casting Flynn’s guilt into doubt.”