Now it looks like Sullivan wants amicus briefs. Swell. Maybe those 2000 former DOJ officials will be asked to present their take on Flynn. Maybe he wants to hear from Obama.
Judge slows down effort to drop Flynn case - POLITICO
Flynn is ****ed.
Flynn should be ****ed. Maybe you just have no idea how the law actually works. In this case, Flynn already confessed - uncoerced - to the judge and specified how he met each of the elements of the charge. That's called an
allocution.
"In plea bargains, an allocution may be required of the defendant. The defendant explicitly admits specifically and in detail the actions and their reasons in exchange for a reduced sentence. In principle, that removes any doubt as to the exact nature of the defendant's guilt in the matter." Based upon those sworn statements, in court, under oath, under penalty of perjury, the judge found Mr. Flynn guilty of the charge to which he pled. We're past that stage. He's guilty. We're still at the sentencing phase.
What AG Barr has tried to do is undo centuries of criminal law practice, and years of prosecutorial effort in this case, for purely political reasons - to curry favor with his boss. The memorandum filed with the court by DoJ was outrageous on its face. They asserted that the lies, which were central to the investigation, were "immaterial". That is ludicrous, and contrary to his plea. (In addition, it raises the issue of perjury - if he lied in his allocution, that is a basis for prosecution.)
Collusion, in this case, is when the plaintiff (DoJ) and defendant (Flynn) "collude" for a particular outcome from the court that is contrary to the law and facts of the case. There is a very real chance that Judge Sullivan will not allow either the withdrawal of the plea or the reversal of the DoJ
because he doesn't have any legitimate reason to agree to it. Yes, those will become issues on appeal, which creates a whole different kettle of fish. It would not be an abuse of his discretion to disallow the plea change, or ignore the last minute submission of the DoJ.
Mostly, of course, it is because this is a blatant miscarriage of justice - not for the Defendant, but for the United States. That's now how the system is supposed to operate.
