Thread by @McAdooGordon

Flynn case. J.Sullivan’s memorandum opinion on the Rule 48 motion to dismiss is completely inappropriate & he knows it. That motion was mooted by the pardon. In order to try & hide that fact, he coupled his order on that motion w/his order on the motion to dismiss for mootness.

He’s making it superficially look like the opinion relates to the mootness (pardon) motion, but it does not. It’s an opinion on the Rule 48 motion, not the mootness (pardon) motion. By putting those two motions together in one order, he obscures that distinction.

This is even clearer when compared to the other minute order he issued at the same time, which ruled that all the other pending motions were moot. The order on the Rule 48 motion should have been grouped with those too. It’s moot just like they are because of the pardon.

If he’d grouped the Rule 48 motion w/those others, it would’ve been obvious he was issuing an opinion on a moot motion, which is inappropriate. So, he coupled his rulings on the 2 motions to dismiss together into their own order to obscure the inappropriateness of the opinion.

Here you can see the Minute Order that applies to all the other pending motions:

And here's the separate order on the equally as moot Motion to Dismiss under Rule 48 and the only live motion left to rule on: the Motion to Dismiss for Mootness.

drive.google.com/file/d/1enkN7p…

And, if you're just dying to do so, here's a link to the Memorandum Opinion that you can read yourself.

drive.google.com/file/d/1GU7TJF…