Attorneys for Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI twice, have decided they are not pleased the judge in the case is pursuing possible contempt of court charges and hasn’t blindly granted the Dept. of Justice’s motion to drop all charges against him. On Tuesday Flynn’s lawyers filed a 36-page motion in federal appeals court demanding the judge in his case let him off scot-free.
Joshua Geltzer, the Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a Georgetown Law professor called the move “Bonkers.”
Last week Judge Emmet Sullivan surprised all parties by tapping a retired judge to criminal contempt charges for perjury were warranted. Flynn swore in court he lied to the FBI, then retracted that plea.
The retired judge, John Gleeson, was also appointed to “present arguments in opposition to the government’s Motion to Dismiss.”
By law the judge is required to rule based on what is best for the people, not Flynn.
Judge Gleeson had penned an op-ed titled, “The Flynn case isn’t over until the judge says it’s over.” In it, he argued the DOJ’s “record reeks of improper political influence.”
“The department now says it cannot prove its case,” Gleeson adds. “But Flynn had already admitted his guilt to lying to the FBI, and the court had accepted his plea.”
In it he also suggested the Dept. of Justice is a party to corruption and political influence.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirscher, now an NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst, called the move a “stunt,” and “desperate and frivolous.”
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