The former judge chosen to oppose a government plan to drop criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn said he’ll make his initial court filings on June 10 and asked for oral arguments to be scheduled before a decision is made on the fate of the case.
John Gleeson, a former federal judge now in private practice, was asked earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington to provide a legal argument against the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss charges against Flynn. Gleeson also was asked to weigh in on whether President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser should be held in criminal contempt for now proclaiming innocence after he twice pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents.
In a letter to the court on Monday, Gleeson outlined a proposed timetable for his initial findings, followed by responses from the government, Flynn and any outside individuals or groups that want to weigh in.
Sullivan last week signaled the government’s request to dismiss wouldn’t be rubber stamped. He named Gleeson, a former federal prosecutor, as a friend of the court to argue against it and issued an order saying he’d accept outside briefs on the government’s controversial move.
In Monday’s filing, Gleeson said his brief would include “the constitutional validity of the court’s authority to deny such a motion.” The brief will also address whether Flynn should be ordered to explain why he shouldn’t be held in criminal contempt for perjury.
Gleeson, of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, co-authored an editorial in The Washington Post last week questioning whether the Justice Department acted honestly in seeking the dismissal of Flynn’s case.
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