Appeals court orders judge to dismiss Michael Flynn caseThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday ordered that a federal judge dismiss the case against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ending his long court battle and freeing him of the prospect of a prison sentence.
By a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel said U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan had no choice but to grant the Justice Department's motion to drop the case against Flynn.
"Because this is not the unusual case where a more searching inquiry is justified, and because there is no adequate remedy for the intrusion on 'the Executive’s long-settled primacy over charging decisions,' we grant the petition for mandamus in part and order the district court to grant the government’s Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss the charges against Flynn," Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote in the three-judge panel's majority decision.
Flynn twice pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to FBI agents in Jan. 2017 about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. But after an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors fell apart in a separate case involving Flynn's former business partner, Flynn sought to withdraw his plea.
Last month, Flynn asked the appeals court for an order directing U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is handling his case, to dismiss it. That came after the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case, which led Sullivan to appoint a retired federal judge to examine the government's justification and to analyze whether Flynn should be separately found in contempt of court for his guilty plea.
Because he was never sentenced, Flynn was never actually convicted so there is no conviction to wipe off the record. If Sullivan follows the appeals court's instructions and formally grants the government's motion to dismiss, the case will be over. Sullivan could also appeal Wednesday's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. He has not said whether he would do so.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/appeals-court-orders-judge-dismiss-michael-flynn-case-n1231988