thirdcoast said:
Someone is rattled and scared. Sounds exactly like a man who would think it's his patriotic duty to overthrow a sitting POTUS.
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Judge Emmet Sullivan's decision to appoint a retired federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's entirely proper decision to end the criminal prosecution of General Michael Flynn is designed to circumvent the constitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of federal judges. The Constitution limits this jurisdiction to actual cases and controversies.
There must be disagreement between the parties that requires resolution by a judge. If the parties agree, there is nothing for the judge to decide.
In the Flynn case, the prosecution and defense both agree that the case should be dropped. Because there is no longer any controversy between the parties to be resolved, there is no longer any case properly before the judge. His only job is to enter an order vacating the guilty plea and dismissing the case with prejudice.
But Judge Sullivan does not want to do that. He apparently thinks Flynn belongs in prison. He has as much as said that. So, he has manufactured a fake controversy by appointing a new prosecutor because evidently he does not like what the constitutionally authorized prosecutor the Attorney General has decided.
The new prosecutor has been tasked to argue for the result that Judge Sullivan prefers. But under our constitutional system of separation of powers, the new prosecutor has no standing to make such an argument. He is not a member of the executive branch, which is the only branch authorized to make prosecutorial decisions. He was appointed by a member of the judicial branch to perform an executive function a clear violation of the separation of powers, which allocates the power to prosecute to the executive, not judicial, branch.
It makes no constitutional difference that Flynn pleaded guilty even if his plea was voluntary, which is questionable in light of the threats against his son.
The Justice Department has the constitutional authority to dismiss a prosecution that it has brought at any time and for any reason, without being second-guessed by the judicial branch.
Judge Sullivan is basing his unconstitutional actions on Rule 48(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which provides that: "The government may, with leave of court, dismiss an indictment, information, or complaint. The government may not dismiss the prosecution during trial without the defendant's consent." This judge-written rule was designed to protect the defendant against manipulation by the government to circumvent the protection against double jeopardy. It is not properly employed to hurt the defendant by empowering the judge to act as both prosecutor and decision-maker.
It rarely if ever results in a judge denying leave to the government to drop a prosecution that it believes is unjustified.
Judge Sullivan is exceeding his authority by turning his courtroom into a three-ring partisan circus, designed to allow him to get his way despite the agreement of the actual parties before him. He is taking judicial activism to a new and grossly improper level, to the disadvantage of a defendant he does not like.
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There is a joke lawyers who practice in Federal Court like to tell. Angel Gabriel summons Sigmund Freud in heaven and tells him God is having delusions of grandeur. Freud asks how God can have delusions of grandeur: There is no one grander than Him. To which the Angel Gabriel responded, "he thinks he's a federal judge." But what Judge Sullivan is doing is no joke. He is endangering our system of separation of powers and he should be stopped by a writ of mandamus or a motion to recuse. Judges, too, are not above the law or the Constitution.
I hope they bring in a retired judge from somewhere in the 5th Circuit, if they do. Someone that isn't neck deep in the swamp.aggiehawg said:
BTW, if there is a new judge assigned to this case (poor Flynn because it just prolongs his agony) that judge can take all of the crap that was filed under seal and in camera and put it on the public record so we can see absolutely everything.
So much of this case has been hidden away from view.
The Office of Mike & Barry is calling Johnson & Jordan stooges of Russia spy operation in USAruddyduck said:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6882587-Letter-From-Obama-Office-to-NARA-03-13-20.html
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In U.S. v. Fokker Servs. B.V., which I first wrote about for Forbes.com here, the district judge was overturned via an extraordinary writ of mandamus. That means that the government (and Fokker) went directly to the court of appeals and persuaded it to intervene and put a stop to the unlawful conduct of the trial judge. Oddly, J. Sullivan's Minute Order on amicus briefs in Flynn cites the Fokker precedent to support appointing amicus curiae in a criminal case. But he neglects to mention that mandamus was granted against the district court judge in that case! Moreover, appointing amicus to represent a lower court's view that neither party will defend (as happened on appeal in Fokker) is far different from appointing amicus in trial court to represent an alternative prosecutor's view of the case.
The Fokker case arose in the context of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) the Department of Justice entered into with a Dutch company that disclosed violating U.S. sanctions and export control laws. In such deals, defendants plead guilty to a charge, but the government does not prosecute the case right away. In exchange, for a certain agreed-to period of time, the defendant demonstrates that it has reformed its conduct and put more effective compliance protocols in place. If the government is satisfied at the end of the time period, it will dismiss the charge and the defendant will avert criminal punishment. District judges primarily have to approve these deals to ensure that DOJ is not using them to defeat a defendant's right to a speedy trial. In Fokker, however, the district judge refused to enter the DPA because he felt that the company was getting off too easily and should have to pay a higher fine, hire an independent monitor, and that individuals at the company should have to face prosecution.
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Combining the worst aspects of Sineneng-Smith with the worst aspects of the Fokker case is hardly a winning recipe for the administration of justice. Given the current posture of the case, DOJ and/or Flynn may well seek and receive a mandamus judgment against J. Sullivan from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Such a course of action will seem quite appropriate if J. Sullivan follows through, given how extreme and indefensible his actions will appear in light of the contrary Ginsburg and Srinivasan precedents. If J. Sullivan does not come to his senses (and mandamus does not happen for some reason), Gen. Flynn will have to incur additional, unjustified expense responding to a slew of amicus briefs making novel arguments against himin a case DOJ has already asked to dismiss. Whatever else happened in Flynn's case, this injustice is still entirely avoidable.
law-apt-3g said:The Office of Mike & Barry is calling Johnson & Jordan stooges of Russia spy operation in USAruddyduck said:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6882587-Letter-From-Obama-Office-to-NARA-03-13-20.html
Wildcat said:thirdcoast said:
Someone is rattled and scared. Sounds exactly like a man who would think it's his patriotic duty to overthrow a sitting POTUS.
Yeah. Trump flipped long-time DOJ lawyers and high ranking members of the intelligence community to be lieutenants in his despotic regime.
Put down the crack pipe you old Commie.
Obama just doesn't want his documents used as part of a RUSSIA! disinformation campaign...Patentmike said:law-apt-3g said:The Office of Mike & Barry is calling Johnson & Jordan stooges of Russia spy operation in USAruddyduck said:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6882587-Letter-From-Obama-Office-to-NARA-03-13-20.html
Btw, this ties into the impeachment process, as I said at the time. If the Dems got a Court ruling limiting Executive Privilege, Trump could have used that ruling to expose Obama Admin documents.
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And people like the CIA director Brennan, he said "well, President Trump, he's a Russian asset" and then others were saying well, you know, they were basically accusing President Trump of treason. Which way is it guys? You drag the country through three years of being at each other's throat's over something you knew was a lie and a hoax! Why did you do it and who helped you do it?
Scruffy said:
Maybe this is all part of the plan.
Show America how corrupt all branches are including the judicial.
Bring out all heads of the snake and chop them off in one stroke.
I honestly do not know where Sullivan's mind is going right now, Too far off the rails to predict...except for one thing. He's going the Van Grack a pass for lying in his court among others of Team Mueller and Eric Holder's firm of Covington & Burling.VaultingChemist said:
What is the purpose of his actions? Is dementia creeping in? It sure appears that he is sabotaging his credibility as a judge, and is being egged on by his "friends".
It could be as simple as Sullivan realizing that some of his fellow judges and D.C. attorney friends could be implicated in the developing unmasking scandal. Demonize Flynn, and hope it justifies the illegal unmasking. Who knows what rumors that Sullivan is being told?oysterbayAG said:
It clearly seems to me that Sullivan has been infected with TDS ! Sullivan has morphed into one of those deranged left wing looneys on MSNBC ! It's obvious he hates Trump. Trump actually said this in his interview with Maria this morning. Sullivan is scrambling to protect his boy Obama from Trump's OBAMAGATE investigations and is making many mistakes. He must be getting bombarded by his libtard cocktail circuit lawyer friends with sleazy creative made up judicial procedures to F*** Flynn and then F*** Trump, analogous to the slymeball Weissmann concocting new Federal Laws on the fly !
Hopefully, he's not that stupid. No way he gets nominated just on age alone (75?).hawk1689 said:
He might have been promised a supreme court nomination (the next time a D holds office) to hold the water.
fasthorse05 said:
Might as well get this comment over with, depending on your age, you're going to hear the word "Fokker", and either think about the movies with Ben Stiller, or the ****e-Wolf fw 190, the outstanding German fighter.
Maybe that's just me.
I am flat out of guesses now. Nothing in my legal career have I ever seen something this screwed up...by a judge...on purpose.Rockdoc said:
What's your best guess on what happens?
RiskManager93 said:
My belief is Sullivan is trying to drag this out beyond the election in the hopes a President Biden can proceed with the charges.
It's a Hail Mary attempt.
so what unfortunate business did cummings take care of for sullivan's son? and soros money? or is this all twitter bs?jdavault said:
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managed to keep your cool with your son and all that "unfortunate business". Thank heavens your looong time friend, fellow alum, and partner/associate on so many projects, Elijah Cummings, was able to "take care of it". Especially when Rod intended to exploit things. No one wanted that young man to pay for the crimes he actually committed. I suppose such stressful situations can leave a mark no matter how well "handled". Perhaps that explains why the vast majority of your decisions since 2015 have been in direct opposition to your previous record?
Whatever the case may be, we look forward to several more years of your work on the bench. And may I be the first to congratulate you on your recent acceptance of a very lucrative Board Position at the Environmental Law Institute! I know it isn't public yet, you're a modest man and wanted to keep it secret, but it's too exciting too keep quiet! And please give my regards to Mr. George Soros, he recognized your long standing commitment to the environment and contributed all those hundreds of millions to expand board positions for qualified people like yourself.
