Retired federal judge John Gleeson on Wednesday published an 82-page memo accusing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of a “gross abuse of prosecutorial power,” and urging the court to reject the attempt to drop the criminal case against Michael Flynn. Gleeson also accused the attorney general of giving special treatment to a presidential ally and undermining the public’s trust in the US legal system.
Flynn is President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser. He twice pleaded guilty to a felony count of “willfully and knowingly” making false statements to the FBI under terms established in a deal stemming from the Mueller investigation. Flynn retracted his plea in January, and the DOJ officially dropped charges last month after being directed by Attorney General William Barr to do so. However, this prompted a public outcry that ultimately led to federal judge Emmet Sullivan decision to halt the case until the issue could be resolved.
Sullivan appointed Gleeson to argue in opposition to the DOJ’s move. Besides being a retired federal judge, Gleeson is also known as a prominent former mafia prosecutor. However, Flynn’s attorneys and the DOJ have attempted to bypass Gleeson and presiding judge Sullivan by seeking a ruling from an appeals panel. The panel is expected to hear the case on Friday and issue a decision as to whether Sullivan will be allowed to continue to conduct his review of the request to drop charges. Attorneys for Sullivan have urged the three-judge panel not to short-circuit his review by assuring that the Sullivan has not yet decided to adopt the arguments put forth by Gleeson.
Gleeson’s memo is a sharp rebuke of the DOJ. Gleeson states the “reasons offered by the government are so irregular, and so obviously pretextual, that they are deficient.” He also added that “the facts surrounding the filing of the government’s motion constitute clear evidence of gross prosecutorial abuse. They reveal an unconvincing effort to disguise as legitimate a decision to dismiss that is based solely on the fact that Flynn is a political ally of President Trump.”
However, Gleeson also states Flynn should not be held in criminal contempt of the court despite the fact that he lied while under oath when he gave conflicting statements about his to Sullivan. This dismisses an earlier possibility raised by Gleeson last month. He also added that Sullivan should, however, take Flynn’s behavior into account, deciding on a sentence for Flynn.
The unusual duality of hearing a case simultaneously at a district level and at an appeal level will continue at least until the upcoming hearing before the appeals panel this Friday. If the panel decides to allow the investigation to continue the case itself may continue for some time further.
