Judge Dismisses Case Against Gen. Flynn Following Pardon from President Trump
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was expected in light of the pardon from President Donald Trump that wiped away Flynn’s conviction for lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation.
Thank you and congratulations to General Flynn. He and his incredible family have suffered greatly! https://t.co/UjH6LVuON8
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2020
Sullivan acknowledged in his 43-page order that the president’s pardon required the case to be dismissed. But he claimed that the decision to pardon Flynn was a political, rather than legal, one.
“The history of the Constitution, its structure, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the pardon power make clear that President Trump’s decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one,” Sullivan wrote.
“Because the law recognizes the President’s political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot.”
He also argued that the pardon did not mean that Flynn was innocent of a crime to which he had twice pleaded guilty.
Though the president has the right to pardon Flynn, “a pardon does not necessarily render ‘innocent’ a defendant of any alleged violation of the law,” Sullivan wrote. “Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the acceptance of a pardon implies a ‘confession’ of guilt.”
The order brings to an end a yearslong legal saga.
The Justice Department last spring moved to dismiss Flynn’s case, arguing that there was no basis for the FBI to have questioned him in the first place and that the statements he made during the interview were immaterial to the underlying investigation into whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia.
Sullivan had resisted the department’s request to dismiss the case and appointed a former federal judge from New York to argue against its motion.
He defended his stance on Tuesday even as he dismissed the case, writing that “many of the government’s reasons for why it has decided to reverse course and seek dismissal in this case appear pretextual, particularly in view of the surrounding circumstances.”
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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