A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a judge to grant the Department of Justice's (DOJ) unusual move to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals approved Flynn's petition to intervene in the case after a district court judge had tapped an outside counsel to argue against the DOJ's move.
The panel ruled 2-1, with two Republican-appointed judges carrying the majority, that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan overstepped his authority in second-guessing the prosecutors' decision.
"In this case, the district court’s actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch’s exclusive prosecutorial power," Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed to the circuit court by President Trump, wrote in the majority opinion.
"If evidence comes to light calling into question the integrity or purpose of an underlying criminal investigation, the Executive Branch must have the authority to decide that further prosecution is not in the interest of justice," Rao added.
Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee, dissented from the decision, saying he would grant Sullivan the space to explore the DOJ's request for dismissal.
"It is a great irony that, in finding the District Court to have exceeded its jurisdiction, this Court so grievously oversteps its own," Wilkins wrote in his dissent. "This appears to be the first time that we have issued a writ of mandamus to compel a district court to rule in a particular manner on a motion without first giving the lower court a reasonable opportunity to issue its own ruling."
An attorney representing Sullivan before the circuit court declined to comment. Flynn's attorney and the DOJ did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
The decision is the latest twist in a case that has morphed from a straightforward plea agreement to a political battle, with the administration's critics saying it's part of a series of incidents where Attorney General William Barr has intervened on behalf of the president's allies.
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thehill.com
A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals approved Flynn's petition to intervene in the case after a district court judge had tapped an outside counsel to argue against the DOJ's move.
The panel ruled 2-1, with two Republican-appointed judges carrying the majority, that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan overstepped his authority in second-guessing the prosecutors' decision.
"In this case, the district court’s actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch’s exclusive prosecutorial power," Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed to the circuit court by President Trump, wrote in the majority opinion.
"If evidence comes to light calling into question the integrity or purpose of an underlying criminal investigation, the Executive Branch must have the authority to decide that further prosecution is not in the interest of justice," Rao added.
Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee, dissented from the decision, saying he would grant Sullivan the space to explore the DOJ's request for dismissal.
"It is a great irony that, in finding the District Court to have exceeded its jurisdiction, this Court so grievously oversteps its own," Wilkins wrote in his dissent. "This appears to be the first time that we have issued a writ of mandamus to compel a district court to rule in a particular manner on a motion without first giving the lower court a reasonable opportunity to issue its own ruling."
An attorney representing Sullivan before the circuit court declined to comment. Flynn's attorney and the DOJ did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
The decision is the latest twist in a case that has morphed from a straightforward plea agreement to a political battle, with the administration's critics saying it's part of a series of incidents where Attorney General William Barr has intervened on behalf of the president's allies.
CONTINUED:
Appeals court orders judge to dismiss Flynn charges
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a judge to grant the Department of Justice's (DOJ) unusual move to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
