Gen Michael Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell has filed an emergency appeal in order to shut down the unethical and possibly illegal actions by crooked judge Emmet Sullivan after he refused to dismiss the charges against Flynn and who asked for amicus briefs which the Supreme Court struck down unanimously less than two weeks before. He also hired an anti-Trump judge to argue the case against dropping the charges against Flynn.
Sullivan’s actions are unprecedented and in all likelihood, illegal. In my not so humble opinion, Sullivan should never sit on the bench for the rest of his life. Maybe longer. Just kidding, you can’t serve on the bench after you die, that only works with voting if you are a Democrat, although lifelong Republicans seem to vote for Democrats after their death for some strange reason.
Sullivan’s actions have been nothing short of a power grab. He has gone against every precedent in the book and he will only get worse if no one steps in to stop his lawless behavior.
Writs of mandamus are extraordinary remedies, which are appropriate when there has been a “usurpation of judicial power” that is “clear and indisputable” — and, Powell argued, Sullivan’s behavior fits the bill. Powell pointed in particular to Sullivan’s bizarre suggestion in December 2018 that Flynn had “sold out his country” and could have been prosecuted for “treason,” as well as Sullivan’s misstatements on the facts of the case.
Powell also demanded the appellate court vacate Sullivan’s order appointing an “amicus curiae,” or “friend of the court,” to argue in favor of preserving Flynn’s guilty plea on one count of making false statements to the FBI during an unusual January 24, 2017 White House interview. Oral arguments are set for July 16.
The amicus appointed by Sullivan, retired federal judge John Gleeson, has openly criticized the Trump administration’s handling of Flynn’s case, raising concerns that he was selected to improperly bolster Sullivan’s efforts to keep the Flynn case alive even though both the government and defendant want it dismissed. (In 2013, Gleeson himself held that “the government has near-absolute power under [the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure] to extinguish a case that it has brought” — but he has since apparently changed his opinion.)