Michael Flynn lands a victory as an appeals court has ordered a judge to dismiss his case.
It was the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia who ordered that a federal judge will, or must, dismiss the case against Michael Flynn, who is the former national security advisor for President Donald Trump.
This ruling means that Flynn will not face any jail time and his court battles are likely over.
The vote took place with three judges, giving Flynn a 2-1 ruling in his favor. That allowed U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to permit the Justice Department’s motion to drop the case and essentially grant Flynn the victory.
“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.” (NBC News)
Previously, Flynn pleaded guilty to telling lies to FBI agents back in January of 2017. However, his agreement to cooperate with prosecutors starting falling to pieces in regards to a different case with Flynn’s previous business partner, so Flynn decided he wanted to “withdraw his plea” per a report on NBC News.
Bringing the issue up to speed, Flynn had asked the appeals court to have his current case dismissed. He directed this question towards Judge Sullivan, demanding it be dropped. That’s where the 2-1 victory comes into play and now Sullivan essentially has to drop the case.
What’s next for Flynn?
Flynn was not sentenced, nor convicted, so nothing is required to be expunged from his record.
Provided that Judge Sullivan follows all directions from the appeals court and officially allows the case to be dismissed, then it’s all over for Flynn and he walks free and the case is officially over.
But there’s always a chance that Judge Sullivan could appeal the decision and have it reviewed once again. There is no indication one way or the other if Sullivan would actually do that.
President Donald Trump responded, on Twitter, saying “Great! Appeals Court Upholds Justice Departments Request To Drop Criminal Case Against General Michael Flynn!“