Renowned law professor Jonathan Turley — long critical of a judge's rulings against Michael Flynn — has hailed a federal appeals court order to dismiss the criminal case against President Donald Trump's former national security advisor.
"I was previously criticized for being a 'lone wolf' in objecting to the actions of Judge [Emmet] Sullivan in the Flynn case," Turley, who teaches Public Interest Law at George Washington University, wrote on Twitter.
In a stinging 2-1 ruling, a three-judge appeals panel instructed Sullivan, a federal district court judge, to let Flynn off the hook following his plea of guilty to lying to the FBI.
The decision recognizes the ultimate power of the Justice Department on criminal cases.
The Justice Department had made a motion to Sullivan to have the case against Flynn dismissed — but the jurist instead appointed a former federal judge to argue why the case should stand.
"While others insisted that Sullivan was clearly supported in this actions, this rare intervention undermines that prior analysis," Turley tweeted.
"Few of us expected the court to take such action rather than let him reach the inevitable dismissal."
In 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his talks with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S. shortly before Trump was inaugurated. He later attempted to withdraw the plea.
But since last year, Flynn and his new lawyer Sidney Powell have sought to retract his plea.
In its ruling, the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia said the Justice Department's dismissal request was not an "unusual case where a more searching inquiry is justified."
Trump appointee Neomi Rao, who wrote the decision, said forcing Sullivan to grant the Justice Department's dismissal request would stop "the judicial usurpation of executive power."
Turley has long been critical of "third party briefings" in trial hearings on sentencing or dismissal.
"However, my greater concern is over writings from legal experts who suggest that Sullivan could and should deny the motion to dismiss," Turley wrote on his blog, JonathanTurley.org.
"The notion that Sullivan would insist on the Justice Department prosecuting a case is bizarre, particularly when the Justice Department has determined that it can no longer do so ethically and that the prosecution was marred by misconduct."
In a recent column for The Hill, Turley called newly released transcripts of Flynn's calls to Kislyak "deeply disturbing — not for their evidence of criminality or collusion but for the total absence of such evidence."
He added: "Flynn's calls are not just predictable but even commendable at points. When the Obama administration hit the Russians with sanctions just before leaving office, the incoming Trump administration sought to avoid a major conflict at the very start of its term."
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