Radio Recap – Appeals Court to Flynn Judge: Explain Yourself

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in General Flynn’s case issued an order telling the federal district judge to explain himself.

On today’s Jay Sekulow Live we discussed the appeals court order to the judge in the General Flynn case. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has given Judge Emmet Sullivan until June 1 to respond to General Flynn’s attorney’s petition for a writ of mandamus.

If you’ll remember, a petition for a writ of mandamus was filed by General Flynn through his lawyer Sidney Powell. She’s done a fantastic job in this case. I can’t say that enough. She asked for a writ of mandamus to not allow this judge to appoint this amicus curiae which is basically now a special prosecutor, to continue to go after General Flynn after the Department of Justice said that they were done with the case. The DOJ agreed with the motion that was filed to withdraw the guilty plea, that it should be accepted, and the case should be over.

So the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued this order yesterday:

Upon consideration of the emergency petition for a writ of mandamus, it is ORDERED, on the court's own motion, that within ten days of the date of this order the district judge file a response addressing petitioner's request that this court order the district judge to grant the government's motion to dismiss filed on May 7, 2020.

The government is also invited to respond in its discretion within the same ten-day period.

The key part here is that they want within ten days, the district court judge to file a response addressing the writ of mandamus that was in fact put forward by General Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell.

Former U.S. Attorney and current ACLJ Senior Counsel Andy Ekonomou made the following point:

My read on it is I’ve never seen it before in forty-five years of practicing law. It is in my view a slap in the face to the district judge, telling him: What are you doing? When the defendant asks for the case to be dismissed and the government concurs in that and says the prosecution should terminate, who are you to appoint a referee to come in and assist you in making a decision on something that the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure say you have to do ministerially? What are you doing balking at this and refusing to rule?

I think it is an embarrassment to the judge. I think it’s a humiliating blow. It was done very tactfully. It was done in an attempt to save face. They did not name the district judge. They could have said Judge Emmet Sullivan but they just said the district judge. I noticed that and it was unanimous. It was a three judge panel of the D.C. Circuit that unanimously agreed and issued this order to Judge Sullivan.

I think it is really a phenomenal piece work on the part of Sidney Powell, on the part of Attorney General Barr, and I think it’s a humiliation to the district judge.

The fascinating aspect of this is the ordering of the district court judge to respond to the writ of mandamus. I’ve been practicing law for forty years, too. I cannot remember a time where a court of appeals ordered a judge to respond, basically filing a brief with the court of appeals. Usually they make their decision, it’s reviewed by the court of appeals. This is really unprecedented.

The full broadcast is complete with more analysis of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals order to Judge Sullivan as well as more discussion of the current state of the General Flynn matter.

Watch the full broadcast below.