DOJ drops Michael Flynn criminal case, in wake of internal memo release
The Justice Department drops case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after internal memos were released raising serious questions about the nature of the investigation; Andy McCarthy, former U.S. Assistant Attorney, weighs in.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., called the Justice Department’s decision on Thursday to drop the case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn “outrageous” and said he plans to ask the DOJ’s inspector general to investigate the issue.
The comments from Nadler, who had delayed a hearing on Flynn’s investigation with Attorney General William Barr due to the coronavirus pandemic, came only hours after the DOJ announced it was dropping its case against Flynn.
“The decision to drop the charges against General Flynn is outrageous,” Nadler said in a statement. “The evidence against General Flynn is overwhelming. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. And now a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the president’s crony simply walk away.”
READ: DOJ MOTION TO DISMISS FLYNN CASE
Nadler added: “Even in the height of a national emergency—perhaps especially so—our country requires an impartial justice system. We are not supposed to get special treatment because we are friends with the President or refused to cooperate with federal investigators on his behalf. The decision to overrule the special counsel is without precedent and requires immediate explanation.”
The Justice Department’s move to drop its case comes shortly after internal memos were released that raised serious questions about the nature of the investigation that led to the retired Army lieutenant general’s 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI.
Those documents showed how agents discussed their motivations for interviewing him in the Russia probe—questioning whether they wanted to “get him to lie” so he'd be fired or prosecuted, or get him to admit wrongdoing. Flynn allies howled over the revelations, arguing that he was essentially set up in a perjury trap.
Flynn in January moved to withdraw his guilty plea for lying to the FBI in the Russia probe, citing "bad faith" by the government. That court filing came just days after the Justice Department reversed course to recommend up to six months of prison time in his case, alleging he was not fully cooperating or accepting responsibility for his actions.
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The case had been plodding through the court system without resolution ever since his original plea, even amid speculation about whether Trump himself could extend a pardon.
Flynn's case stemmed from a 2017 FBI interview, in which he was asked about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn ultimately pleaded guilty to making false statements regarding those conversations during his interview, as part of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Flynn resigned from his White House post in February 2017. The resignation came as he was accused of misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior White House officials about his communications with Kislyak. Pence, after being briefed by Flynn, had said in television interviews that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the ambassador.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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