John Gleeson, the retired judge whom District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan asked to make his case against Michael Flynn for him, did just that on Friday. Wrote Gleeson:
There is clear evidence that the Government’s case against Defendant Michael T. Flynn rests on pure pretext.
There is clear evidence that this motion [to dismiss from the Department of Justice] reflects a corrupt and politically motivated favor unworthy of our justice system….
In resolving the Government’s request for [dismissal of its case against Flynn], the only evidence that ultimately matters is the record I have outlined above: a record replete with patently pretextual attempts to justify what is plainly a corrupt political errand for the President.
Given this evidence … the Court [Sullivan] can — and should — deny the Government’s motion … and then proceed to sentence Flynn for his crime.
This threat has been hanging over the head of Trump’s former National Security Advisor since 2017. Initially the government brought charges against Flynn for lying but then retracted its case when new evidence emerged that he had been set up by Obama administration officials in the Justice Department.
Not good enough, said Sullivan. When Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell, demanded that Sullivan dismiss the case as requested by the government, he dithered. She asked the circuit court to intervene and pressure Sullivan to dismiss the case. A three-judge panel said yes. Sullivan said no and demanded a full court hearing on the matter.
The en banc court, replete with Obama and Clinton-era judges, reversed the three-judge panel and said Sullivan could proceed with his investigation into why the government wanted to dismiss its case against Flynn.
Part of Sullivan’s strategy was to ask Gleeson to make his case for him.
Sullivan has set September 29 as the date to hear from Flynn’s attorney before he makes his decision. It’s clear what that decision will be, regardless of any additional arguments his attorney might come up with: Flynn is guilty of lying and perjury and will be sentenced accordingly.
What happens next is clear: Sullivan will declare that the government’s request to dismiss was political, that it reflected meddling in the case by the president who put pressure on the Justice Department to “go easy” on his good friend Flynn, and that even though the government has asked Sullivan to dismiss its case against Flynn he will go ahead and act as prosecutor, judge, and jury. Flynn, who has been under the cloud for nearly four years, could be sentenced for many more years.
The case will be appealed to the Circuit Court, which is all but certain to affirm Sullivan’s decision to sentence Flynn. That will be appealed to a superior court and, lacking a reversal there, it could go to the Supreme Court.
All of which will be played out, and headlined by a compliant media, during the president’s reelection campaign.
Photo: Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor The New American primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
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