Former national security adviser Michael Flynn can't count on President Donald Trump, but he also can't count on U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to follow the sentencing recommendations made by both the prosecution and his attorneys, according to Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz. Flynn has three ways — "none of them good" — to stay out of prison, Dershowitz said.
"It is obvious that Judge Sullivan regards Flynn as guilty of far more serious crimes than he pleaded to or was even charged with committing," Dershowitz writes in an column for Fox News Wednesday.
Flynn has three options, but all can backfire, warned Dershowitz. He can push to have Sullivan recused, cooperate more with the prosecution, or ask that Sullivan throw out his "questionable" guilty plea.
Dershowitz took issue with Sullivan, saying he made "several fundamental errors" from the beginning, including suggesting Flynn might be guilty of treason, reflecting an "abysmal ignorance" of governing case law.
Flynn has admitted he represented Turkey before joining the Trump administration and that he had failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but he was neither charged with that or treason, said Dershowitz.
Sullivan accused him having "sold your country out," over the Turkey issue, said Dershowitz, and this was "flat out wrong."
This shows the judge thinks Flynn is guilty of even more serious crimes, Dershowitz maintained.
President Donald Trump has the power to pardon Flynn or commute a sentence, but the retired Army general can't count on that, said Dershowitz.
"Flynn shouldn’t have lied to the FBI," he concluded. "He has already paid a heavy price and will probably pay an even heavier one."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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