Michael Flynn Case Thrown Out By Appeals Court

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the case against Michael Flynn must be dismissed. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI but was trying to change his plea when the Justice Department abruptly dropped the charges against him.

Judge Emmet Sullivan refused to drop the case and ordered a review of the decision, asking a former judge to weigh in on the case. Flynn petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked them to intervene.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel ruled that Sullivan overstepped his authority by trying to override the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges.

"In this case, the district court's actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the executive branch's exclusive prosecutorial power," the judges wrote. "The contemplated proceedings would likely require the executive to reveal the internal deliberative process behind its exercise of prosecutorial discretion, interfering with the Article II charging authority."

Photo: Getty Images


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