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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday ordered oral arguments in the bumpy attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice to dismiss the prosecution against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Those arguments are set for Friday, June 12, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. before judges Karen L. Henderson (appointed by George H. W. Bush), Robert L. Wilkins (appointed by Barack Obama) and Neomi Rao (appointed by President Donald Trump).
The D.C. Circuit panel further accepted amicus briefs filed by Watergate Prosecutors, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Inc., John M. Reeves, the New York City Bar Association, former United States Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and the Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund. In separate orders dated Tuesday, the court denied an amicus brief filed by Paul Andrew Mitchell. The court has not decided whether to accept amicus arguments from GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.
Further motions or amicus briefs must be submitted by Friday, June 5, the court ordered. Any reply by Flynn’s legal team is due by Wednesday, June 10.
The oral hearing for the appeal with regards to Judge Sullivan's extraordinary amicus ruling was held today. Here it is at CSPAN, for anyone who is interested:
This was just the hearing and it is generally not possible to draw clear conclusions about how an appeals court or the Supreme Court will decide based on the questions asked. That being said, here is a link to an article examining the hearing.
Flynn is in a strong position here, but we will have to wait for the ruling to know the final outcome. If I had to guess, the Appeals Court will severely restrict Judge Sullivan's latitude and essentially order him to follow the required procedures. That would force Judge Sullivan to cancel the Amicus process and any further expansion of this case and rule on the DOJ's motion to dismiss.
If this is what happens, the Judge would still have the latitude to rule against dismissal of the case, but he would also be left without authority to do anything else with it after that. This would leave the case in a state of legal limbo, which would prompt another appeal to the DC Circuit Court, which would at that point almost certainly rule that the case is dismissed.
Or, the Judge could dismiss the case himself, which would also result in the case being dismissed.
The point that is gumming up the works here is that Judge Sullivan has not ruled on the DOJ's motion to dismiss yet. The DC Circuit Court wants to rule on Judge Sullivan's decision on that motion, if such a ruling is needed, and not on his failure to make a decision on that. By ordering him to basically make a decision on that, the judicial proprieties would be maintained and the outcome will eventually be the same, regardless of what the judge rules.
If the Circuit Court grants mandamus, that will be an epic smack-down of a 36 year federal District Judge. I could be wrong, but I think that they would prefer to not do that, if they can find a way. It would certainly be fine with me if they did, however. Sullivan deserves it. His conduct has been absolutely outrageous.
This was just the hearing and it is generally not possible to draw clear conclusions about how an appeals court or the Supreme Court will decide based on the questions asked. That being said, here is a link to an article examining the hearing.
Flynn is in a strong position here, but we will have to wait for the ruling to know the final outcome. If I had to guess, the Appeals Court will severely restrict Judge Sullivan's latitude and essentially order him to follow the required procedures. That would force Judge Sullivan to cancel the Amicus process and any further expansion of this case and rule on the DOJ's motion to dismiss.
If this is what happens, the Judge would still have the latitude to rule against dismissal of the case, but he would also be left without authority to do anything else with it after that. This would leave the case in a state of legal limbo, which would prompt another appeal to the DC Circuit Court, which would at that point almost certainly rule that the case is dismissed.
Or, the Judge could dismiss the case himself, which would also result in the case being dismissed.
The point that is gumming up the works here is that Judge Sullivan has not ruled on the DOJ's motion to dismiss yet. The DC Circuit Court wants to rule on Judge Sullivan's decision on that motion, if such a ruling is needed, and not on his failure to make a decision on that. By ordering him to basically make a decision on that, the judicial proprieties would be maintained and the outcome will eventually be the same, regardless of what the judge rules.
If the Circuit Court grants mandamus, that will be an epic smack-down of a 36 year federal District Judge. I could be wrong, but I think that they would prefer to not do that, if they can find a way. It would certainly be fine with me if they did, however. Sullivan deserves it. His conduct has been absolutely outrageous.
Oh good an analysis by the Red State News.
One thing they got right is the court is reluctant to intervene prior to Sullivan making a decision.
Quote:
“Courts have said he’s not a ‘mere rubber stamp,’ ” Henderson said of Sullivan’s independent judicial authority. “There’s nothing wrong with him holding a hearing; there’s no authority I know of that says he can’t hold a hearing.”
Oh good, an analysis by the establishment left wing rag, the Washington Post, which is notorious for it's political bias, its partisan agenda and a consistent supply of 'Fake news'.
This was just the hearing and it is generally not possible to draw clear conclusions about how an appeals court or the Supreme Court will decide based on the questions asked. That being said, here is a link to an article examining the hearing.
Flynn is in a strong position here, but we will have to wait for the ruling to know the final outcome. If I had to guess, the Appeals Court will severely restrict Judge Sullivan's latitude and essentially order him to follow the required procedures. That would force Judge Sullivan to cancel the Amicus process and any further expansion of this case and rule on the DOJ's motion to dismiss.
If this is what happens, the Judge would still have the latitude to rule against dismissal of the case, but he would also be left without authority to do anything else with it after that. This would leave the case in a state of legal limbo, which would prompt another appeal to the DC Circuit Court, which would at that point almost certainly rule that the case is dismissed.
Or, the Judge could dismiss the case himself, which would also result in the case being dismissed.
The point that is gumming up the works here is that Judge Sullivan has not ruled on the DOJ's motion to dismiss yet. The DC Circuit Court wants to rule on Judge Sullivan's decision on that motion, if such a ruling is needed, and not on his failure to make a decision on that. By ordering him to basically make a decision on that, the judicial proprieties would be maintained and the outcome will eventually be the same, regardless of what the judge rules.
If the Circuit Court grants mandamus, that will be an epic smack-down of a 36 year federal District Judge. I could be wrong, but I think that they would prefer to not do that, if they can find a way. It would certainly be fine with me if they did, however. Sullivan deserves it. His conduct has been absolutely outrageous.
Judge Sullivan’s conduct has been fine, it is Trump/Barr’s conduct in this case that has been outrageous.
Oh good, an analysis by the establishment left wing rag, the Washington Post, which is notorious for it's political bias, its partisan agenda and a consistent supply of 'Fake news'.
Sure all those Pulitzer prizes for the Red State News, no politics there. Geez at least read a real news source like the WSJ rather than some blogger.
Nothing happening on this until July in any event unless the court short circuits the judges right to make a ruling.
Judge Sullivan’s conduct has been fine, it is Trump/Barr’s conduct in this case that has been outrageous.
Yes, its outrageous to insist on the government following the law, not lying, not falsifying their reports and charges, not hiding information from the defense and on insisting on defendant's civil rights.
Sure all those Pulitzer prizes for the Red State News, no politics there. Geez at least read a real news source like the WSJ rather than some blogger.
Nothing happening on this until July in any event unless the court short circuits the judges right to make a ruling.
I've seen a number of lawyers break down the case and most of them agree on one fact: Judge Sullivan is a self-important pompous ass who hired some political activist clerks and staff and listens to them a lot more than he should. He's overstepped his authority on many other occasions. Tricky thing is, removing a sitting federal judge is not something that anyone wants to do if they can avoid it.
Refusing to allow the prosecution to drop their case is not something that exists within the purview of any judge's authority. Judge Sullivan appears to be making stuff up and giving himself additional authority on the fly whenever he feels the need. Pretty clear that he's pretty massively Left-biased. Pretty clear that he's hell-bent on taking down Flynn. I don't think he's fit to judge a cake baking contest at this point.
That's one of those things that's really annoying. Judges should have no political bias, yet all of them do. How can we rely on them to do their jobs when they are inherently biased? Mind you, I don't want Right bias either, but it certainly exists.
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