Ex-judge urges court to sentence Michael Flynn despite DOJ bid to drop case

A former judge appointed to oppose the Justice Department’s request to drop its case against Michael Flynn urged sentencing to move ahead in a court filing Wednesday, arguing the government’s request to dismiss the case has only “pretextual” justification. Ex-Judge John Gleeson said in a DC federal court filing that “[t]he facts surrounding the filing of the Government’s motion constitute clear evidence of gross prosecutorial abuse. They reveal an unconvincing effort to disguise as legitimate a decision to dismiss that is based solely on the fact that Flynn is a political ally of President Trump.”...But Gleeson wrote there was “transparent disingenuousness” from the Justice Department. “[T]he Government’s narrative is riddled with plot holes,” he wrote. “For example… when Flynn claimed to have forgotten aspects of the calls, the agents decided to help him out: they deliberately ‘refresh[ed] [Flynn’s] recollection’ by repeatedly prompting him with ‘the exact words Flynn used’ in his conversations with Kislyak.”...Flynn admitted in 2017 he was untruthful about discussing with Kislyak a U.N. vote and a request to resist escalating sanctions. Transcripts were released last month and Flynn’s GOP defenders say they prove there was “nothing improper” about the calls. Other recently released documents revealed that the FBI nearly closed its investigation of Flynn on Jan. 4, 2017, after finding no evidence that he was a Russian agent. But Strzok and his mistress, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, with whom he traded anti-Trump text messages, intervened to keep the case open citing the obscure Logan Act of 1799, which bans ordinary citizens from conducting foreign diplomacy. The law is widely considered unconstitutional...MORE