NEW: Michael Flynn's defense is trying a 'Hail Mary' legal maneuver to shut down the criminal case against him. The unorthodox appeals court petition calls Flynn a victim of a 'Kafkaesque nightmare' being gratuitously prolonged by biased trial-court judge politi.co/2Tpkg0G
Some have said DOJ never dismisses a case after a guilty plea. Flynn's lawyers cite an instance in DC from 2012: 22-defendant FCPA case that ended for some with judge-issued acquittals. 3 who pleaded guilty had their pleas dropped on govt motion politi.co/2XaOS77
case was a fairly famous #FCPA sting seen as a major blow to government. Here's a story on it by @DelWilberwapo.st/3g1kPY6
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JUST IN: Judge denies release to anti-Trump DIA IT worker accused of sending top secret info to what he thought was a friendly foreign govt but was actually FBI. Feds say Nathan Laatsch also admitted reaching out to a 2nd govt. Earlier: politico.com/news/2025/05/2…
"He was hell-bent on providing information to a foreign government that aligned with his values," DOJ prosecutor Christina Clark said.
Clark said Laatsch admitted he also reached out to a 2nd foreign govt through a "portal" that left few traces. US Magistrate Judge William Porter said Laatsch "expressed a desire to to harm to the [US] government based on his dissatisfaction with the current administration."
NEW IN NJ PLAYBOOK: Inside Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's unusual, virtual Friday night court hearing following his arrest at @ICE jail. Magistrate judge warned @AlinaHabba & ICE against out-of-court statements about the case. w/@ryrivard politico.com/newsletters/ne…
USMJ Andre Espinosa also mulled whether the mayor of NJ's largest city could be considered a flight risk. (The government did not ask for detention.)
Judge also pondered a stay-away order for the facility where Baraka was arrested, but ultimately didn't impose that after the government expressed concern about his right to 'peacefully protest.'
I happened to be only reporter (far as I can tell) at detention hearing for @GeorgeMasonU student Abdullah Hassan, accused of plotting attack on Israeli consulate in NY. Magistrate judge ultimately ordered him detained pending trial. Thread 🧵
Hassan came in wearing the standard dark green Alexandria Detention Center jumpsuit. Says "Alexandria Inmate" on the back. He's strikingly skinny and young.
FBI Agent Tyler Ellefson says FBI ran a source at Hassan & Hassan urged source to mount a shooting attack on the Israeli consulate. The men discussed online weapons, tactics, getaway and specifically targeting the the lobby, he says.
THREAD: Just finished listening to back-to-back oral arguments at 9thCircuit on sanctions for lawyers involved in GOP Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s failed suit seeking to prohibit use of electronic voting machines in 2022 election. (1/X)
Bottom line: sounded like panel is inclined to uphold the $110,000 penalty on Andrew Parker and Kurt Olsen, but may lift the $12,000 imposed on famed Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz. (2/X)
Judge Patrick Bumatay sounded sympathetic to all three sanctioned lawyers. Judge Kim Wardlaw (Clinton) seemed generally unsympathetic. Judge Ronald Gould (Clinton) was somewhere in middle, seeming inclined to uphold sanctions against Parker & Olsen, while sparing Dershowitz. 3/X
HAPPENING NOW: 1st hearing in 10 months in Trump DC election case. Judge Chutkan says she won't set a schedule for the case during this session but hopes to do so later today.
Trump has entered not guilty pleas through his defense attorneys to the new indictment in the case (which contains the same basic charges). Trump is not here today. He was excused.
Chutkan is now noting how many deadlines were days or a few weeks away when the appeal was taken by Trump and froze the case by appealing. But sounds like she isn't inclined to give Trump a ton of time beyond what was left then. That's her baseline.
JUST IN: Epic benchslapping of TX Atty General's office by USDJ David Ezra at hearing he called to chastise them for an unusual letter they sent to 5th Cir. Tuesday suggesting he was insubordinate. Starts p. 44 of PDF storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…