Thread by @DawsonSField

Lets see how many red pills, Judge Sullivan drops in his filing against the Petition for a Writ of Mandamus in the @GenFlynn case. #ButNothingsHappening
politico.com/f/?id=00000172…

Starts off talking about the unusual case that got them to this point. Including the unprecedented case of an Acting US Attorney contradicting what previous DOJ prosecutors have sworn repeatedly to the judge over 3 1/2 years of this case.
This is not normal & must to be explained

If he drops the lying to the FBI charge about Russia, will @GenFlynn be charged by DOJ with lying to the FBI about Turkey.

All in favor of Flynn being charged with lying to the FBI in the Turkey case, say drop the case now & lets put him through this again... Fail!

I haven't used this term but the judge is stating clearly that he can't assume the DOJ to dismiss the charges is valid without assuming the DOJ decision to bring the charges wasn't valid. Judge normally has to take DOJ filings with a “presumption of regularity” but this isn't.

Since the judge hasn't even made his decisions yet, asking the appeals court to overturn his decision is premature in legal terms.
In addition, dismissing the case would prevent the revelation of the seal evidence that supports DOJ's dismissal.

Also highlights where Fokker applies to charging decisions, this went beyond that into guilty pleas & sentencing hearings. Placing the case within the court's jurisdiction to resolve.
Even notes Fokker only applies when there is a presumption that DOJ's conduct is regular...

I expect this petition will be denied & Judge Sullivan can continue to expose the irregularities in 3 1/2 years of DOJ decision to prosecute Gen. Flynn.

As I have discussed, if the guilty plea is dismissed, then Gen. Flynn faces perjury & criminal contempt charges for his guilty plea.
DOJ has moved to dismiss the lying about Russia charges, but the dismissal does not include lying to DOJ about Turkey through FARA.

We know that the false information in the FARA filing was crafted by Covington & Burlington lawyers, though Flynn had given them accurate information. Flynn also testified that he was satisfied with his attorney's & their advice. (Wonder why Judge Sullivan thinks that is perury?)

So in front of Judge Contreras, Gen. Flynn confessed to knowingly making material false statements in a FARA filing. Statements made by C&B attorneys not Flynn. So if Sullivan drops the single Russia count, Flynn has already confessed to Turkey related crimes not covered...

In the Dec. 2018 sentencing, DOJ reiterated that Gen. Flynn's statements were material to the case (what DOJ is now disputing in the motion to dismiss).
The judge can't decide if the Motion to Dismiss is 'regular' until he decides the earlier DOJ postions were irregular.

In other words, Sullivan argues he must decide which DOJ prosecutor is not telling him the truth. Is Acting USA Tim Shea lying to clear Flynn or did SCO Van Grack lie to the court when he said the statements were material.

Unless you think Van Grack was truthful, you want this!

Sullivan shows how he was very concerned that Flynn was not guilty & again tried to get Flynn to expose the inadequacies of Covington's representation of him...

Judge even offered a court appointed lawyer to review Covington's representation of Flynn! (Same as Buryakov case)

If you paid attention to the sentencing hearing (and didn't listen to the #FearPorn it was clear that the Judge had serious concerns about Flynn's guilty. But Flynn wouldn't take Not Guilty for an answer, because his lawyers were pressuring him to take the deal.

Sullivan then went after Van Grack & his team, trying to resolve if Flynn was pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit as a way to avoid guilty for larger crimes. He asked SCO (he did not accuse Flynn) if this was treasonous? They wouldn't answer...

So Sullivan's 'treason' question, forced the Special Counsel's Office to confirm in court that @GenFlynn did not commit Treason. But so many people interpreted the opposite way on both sides of the aisle.

Some of us recognized that day what Judge Sullivan had done to Van Grack and to all of the unregistered foreign agents working for the Obama administration...

With his Covington lawyers replaced by @SidneyPowell1 the entire character of the case changed.

I guess competent defense lawyers not trying to railroad their client is a very big change in direction!

I love how he got a footnote in explaining that the Special Counsel's Office agreed that he did not have to recuse himself from the case do the fact that Sidney Powell loves how Judge Sullivan seeks the truth against crooked prosecutors at DOJ!

As most know, the evidence she sought was very broad, but since SCO had only charged Gen. Flynn for 1 narrow charge, the Brady order only applied to that specific charge. And Brady violations require a retrial not a dismissal as the consequence of not providing the evidence.

So again in Jan. 2020, DOJ was asserting that Flynn was guilty & the lies were material to the FBI's investigation.
Gen. Flynn responded by asking to withdraw his guilty plea.

As I have been saying, Gen. Flynn was either guilty of perjury when he plead guilty or when he claimed he was innocent on 1/29/20. Without determining if he had adequate justification to commit perjury to the court, a dismissal will lead to a perjury charge.

The judge has not withdrawn the guilty plea yet because he has not had time to determine if Flynn's new story is true.
Covington's lawyers have not provided answers to the judge yet in response to the allegation that they illegally pressured @GenFlynn into pleading guilty.

This is very bad for Covington, the judge is telling the appeals court that he must have their lawyers explain to the court what happened & if Gen. Flynn's allegations are true.

When it's been shown that they concealed the side agreement from the court that pressured him.

The judge wants to know why Van Grack withdrew from the case the same day the DOJ contradicted 3 1/2 years of filings that Van Grack made in the case. Not a very regular thing to do, & something that requires the judge to determine what happened in his court.

Says DOJ motion for dismissal confirms judge has some discretion in making the dismissal. Then they packed in 20 pages of evidence to help the judge agree with them! Rather than just a filing ordering Sullivan to drop the charges as some think this is, but not DOJ...

Judge is also puzzled why Acting US Attorney Tim Shea signed it, rather than the line prosecutors who worked the case. We know it is because they are suspects but DOJ has not explained that yet to the court. Then as soon as he signed it, he left the post! This is most irregular.

While moving to Dismiss with Prejudice the charges for lying to the FBI about Russia. The DOJ did not ask the judge to dismiss the charges for lying to the DOJ about Turkey.
DOJ dido not withdraw any of the filings saying Flynn was guilty.
So DOJ has 2 stories still on the record

So unlike it says in Sidney's writ (which I don't take seriously for this reason) the judge has not ruled against DOJ's motion. He just hasn't ruled yet. Seeking advice from a former judge on the issues raised. While trying to determine if Flynn was forced to lie to the court.

For all those arguing that the judge getting an attorney to file this response is some bad sign, read the facts. See Ex parte Fahey, 332 U.S. 258, 260 (1947)
(a mandamus petition has “the unfortunate consequence of making the judge a litigant, obliged to obtain personal counsel”)

The judge makes clear that he can't yet rule on the DOJ's motion to dismiss. He hasn't even received the answers from any of the parties yet to make such a decision on the motion.

As I said before, the writ will almost certainly fail, as the judge has made no decision yet & hasn't even secured all the fact to make a decision yet.
A Writ of Mandamus is supposed to be a last resort, not a step before we reach the first resort.

Sidney Powell even provided ammunition for the judges to dismiss the writ in her filing!

As you can see the Fokker decision was a very different one, where the court had already ruled against DOJ, putting them in a situation where the defendant might escape justice.

This is funny!
Sidney's petition argued for immediate dismissal on the grounds that Judge Sullivan exposing the evidence in court “will subject [DOJ] to sustained assaults on its integrity.”

Sidney is arguing against Sullivan exposing SCO corruption to protect DOJ's reputation!

The next section is looking at the precedents of judges reviewing DOJ motions. Not real exciting, but obviously if the judge had no discretion DOJ would not need to file a request...
They ask for 'leave of the court' to dismiss, in other words it requires the courts permission.

Fokker applies to the executive branch's charging decisions. Once a defendant has plead guilty, it becomes a matter for the courts to dismiss or sentence for that conviction. It is no longer a prosecution. Just as the court can ignore DOJ sentencing recommendations.

Back to discussion of how 'irregular' this entire cluster #%(* of a case has been...
The judge says that now @GenFlynn & AUSA Tim Shea have both told the court that 3 1/2 years of DOJ filings in the case are completely false.
If that isn't 'irregular' then I don't know what is...

Dismissing the case does not resolve if DOJ acted properly...
The judge must determine if Shea or Van Grack are lying...

How can you say you are for General Flynn and not want that question answered in open court?

Judge also notes that DOJ did not asked Judge Sullivan to dismiss with prejudice the charges of lying to the DOJ in FARA filings about Turkey. Charges Flynn has confessed under oath to having committed. So the motion only dismisses 2 of the 3 charges.

The judge says he can't rule on the motion without determining if the motion conforms to the 'presumption of regularity' that would make it a regular prosecution decision.

As Judge Sullivan correctly points out, Appeals courts make legal decisions, they do not make rulings on facts. And the facts have not even been entered into the record yet so granting the writ would destroy the collection of the fact pattern at the district court.

As it would not be legal for the judge to serve as the advocate against the defendant or prosecution, he has to appoint an Amicus to present the other side of the case & resolve disputed facts.

Sullivan explains that he is not bringing in an Amicus to rule on the case, but to inform him of the facts so he can rule on the case.
Facts such as whether Van Grack or Shea were telling the truth in his court room!

Why did he appoint Judge Gleeson? As I have said since his appointment, it is because he is skeptical of prosecution pressuring defendant to take guilty pleas. Exactly what Flynn alleges happened to him!

Forcing the dismissal, will expose Gen Flynn to allegations under statute, federal rules & contempt charges for lying to the court. Those have to be ruled on to protect Gen. Flynn & expose those who illegally pressured him to lie to the court.

Looking at the various issues the judge has to look at in regards to the false guilty plea... punishing contempt, vacating judgements (the plea) investigations, barring persons from courtrooms, providing legal fees...

Would be nice to see @GenFlynn get all of his money back...

BOOM!

If Flynn's withdraw statement is true, it is not Flynn that is facing contempt charges! It is the people who coerced him into pleading guilty, mislead him & dissuaded him from withdrawing his plea when the judge wanted him to do so! #ButNothingsHappening

Judge discusses his authority (not DOJ's) to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate criminal contempt in his court room. Noting he only appointed an Amicus, meaning he does not intend to prosecute Flynn on the current record.

Of course, if Judge Gleeson confirms that @GenFlynn was coerced into lying, the next step would be for Judge Sullivan to announce a show cause for the Covington attorneys & Special Counsel's Office prosecutors & possibly a special prosecutor!

The judge just handed us 46 pages full of red pills, did the other people you read see them?

Did I miss any?

Can't wait! This should cause major #PanicInDC!

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