Barr privately ordered re-examination of Michael Flynn's case, US officials say
Attorney General William Barr is ordering a re-examination of several high-profile cases, including that of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, US officials briefed on the matter say, in a move that could bring fresh scrutiny of the political motives behind actions at the Justice Department.
Posted — UpdatedUS Attorney Jeffrey Jensen of St. Louis has been tasked with taking a second look at some aspects of the sensitive cases, one of the officials said. It was not clear which other cases were under review, and what form the reviews had taken.
The revelation, first reported by The New York Times, comes days after Barr's Justice Department undercut career prosecutors in the case of Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone to recommend a reduced sentence. The move, which led four federal prosecutors to quit the case, invited fresh questions about the impartiality of Barr's Justice Department from political matters.
Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who served as Trump's first national security adviser and resigned a month into the new administration, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2017 to charges that he lied to the FBI about a conversation he had with the then-ambassador to Russia. The aftermath of the conversation, including Trump's encouragement of then-FBI Director James Comey to go easy on Flynn, led to the eventual appointment of former special counsel Robert Mueller.
The prospect of the Justice Department putting new scrutiny on the case would be a victory for Flynn and his legal team. It is also certain to please the President, who has maintained sympathy for his former aide and regularly claimed that cases emanating from the Mueller investigation were unjust.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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