The judge has signaled skepticism about the legitimacy of Attorney General William Barr’s intervention to help a Trump ally.
A federal judge pressed lawyers for the Justice Department and for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, on Tuesday about why he should grant the request to dismiss a criminal case against Mr. Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. The judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, also asked whether political considerations had inappropriately influenced the case, focusing in part on back-channel communications involving Mr. Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell — including a letter she sent Attorney General William P. Barr last year and conversations she had with Mr. Trump. But Judge Sullivan announced no ruling at the conclusion of the roughly four-hour — and, at times, heated — hearing. The judge said that he was mindful of an appeals court instruction to rule expeditiously in the high-profile matter, but also that the case record he had to review was “voluminous” and told the lawyers to file certain additional materials within a week. The hearing, conducted by teleconference because of the coronavirus pandemic, had been scheduled for July and was delayed more than two months because of a failed effort by Ms. Powell to get an appeals court to order Judge Sullivan to end the case without review. The case centers on one of the convictions stemming from the investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia’s 2016 election interference. Mr. Flynn was one of the Trump campaign officials that the F.B.I. focused on as a possible conduit. After it became clear that Mr. Flynn was lying to his colleagues, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence, about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December 2016, the F.B.I. questioned him about the calls in January 2017. F.B.I. investigators concluded that Mr. Flynn lied to them too, and he was charged with making a false statement by the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, after he took over the investigation. Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty. Mr. Trump initially distanced himself from Mr. Flynn, whom he had fired, but eventually began to use his case to attack the Russia investigation. After Mr. Flynn became a cause for Mr. Trump’s supporters, he changed defense lawyers and sought to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming that he did not lie after all. Mr. Barr then sought to withdraw the prosecution, but rather than immediately granting the request, Judge Sullivan has begun a review of whether it was legally justified.
