Federal Appeals Court Says Michael Flynn Case Will Not Be Immediately Dismissed

A federal appeals court blocked the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to have the criminal case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn dismissed.

Monday’s ruling came after a teleconference hearing on Aug. 11 was held before the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court voted 8-2 to block the dismissal request from the Department of Justice and Flynn’s legal team. It overrides the decision from June where a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in favor of dismissing the case.

“As to Petitioner’s first two requests — to compel the immediate grant of the Government’s motion, and to vacate the District Court’s appointment of amicus—Petitioner has not established that he has “no other adequate means to attain the relief he desires,”” the court’s majority opinion said.

The court also blocked Flynn’s request to reassign Judge Emmet Sullivan from Flynn’s case. Flynn’s team argued Sullivan, who was the presiding judge originally assigned to case, had taken action in court with a clear bias against Flynn.

“We also decline to mandate that the case be reassigned to a different district judge, because Petitioner has not established a clear and indisputable right to reassignment,” the opinion said.

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 on charges of making false statements after lying to FBI investigators about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Part of his plea deal required cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

However, Flynn retained a new lawyer in 2019 and began efforts to have his guilty plea dropped.

Monday’s decision means Sullivan will now decide whether to dismiss the case per the request of Flynn’s legal team and the Department of Justice. Flynn is expected to appeal if Sullivan decides to move forward with sentencing.