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Trey Gowdy shocked at Flynn case: 'Never seen anything like this' in my legal career
By Julia Musto
Published May 14, 2020
Former Rep. Trey Gowdy said Thursday that in his 20-year legal career, he has never seen such blatantly biased action like that of the judge in the Michael Flynn case.
In an interview on "America's Newsroom" with host Sandra Smith, Gowdy -- a former federal prosecutor -- accused Judge Emmet Sullivan of prosecuting the case himself by not accepting the Department of Justice's (DOJ) motion to drop the case against Flynn and now by calling on a retired judge to review the motion as an amicus curiae.
"I have never seen anything like this before in my life," Gowdy remarked. "I mean, judges don't prosecute cases. So, you know, this judge may talk about perjury but he's going to need to resign his job and go back to the United States attorney's office if he wants to prosecute perjury cases.
"Lots of defendants move to undo their pleas. Lots of defendants move to withdraw their pleas," he continued. "You don’t have a special master appointed to investigate them."
Judge Emmet Sullivan has a reputation for punishing Department of Justice overreach, including during the case against then-Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens. (AP)
In 2016, the FBI questioned Flynn about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In recently illuminated documents, department heads appeared to have debated how best to charge him -- highlighting the Logan Act as a possible legislative tool.
Flynn eventually pled guilty to making false statements in 2017, but now accuses the government of entrapment.
While Trump allies claim Flynn was wrongly targeted and have suggested high-level involvement in an effort to bring him down, Democrats claim the DOJ's decision to abandon the case shows how it has become politicized.
Gowdy told Smith that while there is no question judges have the power to control their courtroom, the move by Sullivan is unprecedented.
"[And,] I have never seen anything like what Judge Sullivan is doing. And, if you’re going to pick someone to look into it, don’t pick someone who [has] already made up his mind that Bill Barr made a mistake," he said, pointing to an op-ed Gleeson co-authored in The Washington Post this week, urging Sullivan to scrutinize the DOJ's motion.
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"I mean, you talk about bias. You talk about prejudice. The person he’s picked has already expressed an opinion on the outcome of this case," Gowdy exclaimed. "Never in 20 years have I seen a judge do something like this."
https://www.foxnews.com/shows/media-buzz/trey-gowdy-michael-flynn-judge-sullivan-biased-actions