Appeals court gives Flynn judge 10 days to respond on case dismissal legal tangles
Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn may not need to wait months for answers in court to the Justice Department dropping his case.
Posted — UpdatedA three-judge appeals court panel ordered the trial judge overseeing Flynn's case, Emmet Sullivan, to explain by June 1 what the court should do with Flynn's emergency request to force the dismissal of his case.
The Justice Department, which is seeking to drop the lying charge to which Flynn pleaded guilty, is also allowed to chime in, the appeals court said.
Thursday's order comes from three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, two of whom have recently sided with the Trump administration in cases related to the Mueller investigation.
The appeals court judges are Karen Henderson, Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao. Wilkins is an Obama appointee, but Rao and Henderson are both appointees of Republican presidents. Rao joined the court last year after serving in President Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget.
On Tuesday, Sullivan set a schedule to hear arguments well into July about whether he must dismiss the case against Flynn, as the Justice Department has requested.
Sullivan appears to be weighing whether he must dismiss Flynn's guilty plea at the Justice Department's direction, or if he could sentence Flynn, and whether he should hold him in contempt of court.
Sidney Powell, Flynn's defense lawyer, said the appeals court's move signaled it was taking the appeal "seriously, as it should." The appeal is directly challenging Sullivan's appointment of a third-party lawyer -- known as an amicus or "friend of the court" - -to weigh in on the case.
"The Circuit has now ordered the Judge's response and is ignoring his amicus," Powell said on Thursday.
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