#Appeals court delays decision on dismissal of Michael Flynn charges

A federal appeals court on Friday stayed a decision ordering that a judge accept the Justice Department’s motion to drop its criminal case against fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued an order that gives the former Army lieutenant general and the Justice Department 10 days to respond to Judge Emmet Sullivan’s petition Thursday for a rehearing by the full appeals court, the Washington Examiner reported.

The filing also stated that the three-judge panel’s June 24 decision ordering Sullivan to grant the Justice Department’s motion to drop the charges against Flynn had been stayed “pending disposition of the petition for rehearing en banc,” which means by the full 11-member appellate court.

Sullivan’s lawyers on Thursday argued that the 2-1 ruling by the three appellate court judges last month ordering him to drop the case was a “dramatic break from precedent that threatens the orderly administration of justice.”

Sullivan asked for the full appellate court to review the panel’s decision.

Flynn, who briefly served as President Trump’s national security adviser, was fired in February 2017 and then pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about discussing sanctions and a UN vote in December 2016 with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn says he did not intentionally lie and the Justice Department said in May it would drop the case, finding FBI agents had no valid basis to interview Flynn days into Trump’s presidency.

The Justice Department said it wanted to drop the case because of investigative misconduct.

Transcripts of the calls between Flynn and Kislyak were released in late May, showing Flynn did discuss sanctions and the UN vote.

In pleading guilty to lying to the FBI, Flynn agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which ultimately found no evidence that Trump’s campaign “colluded” with Russia.

Flynn also avoided charges for admittedly working as an unregistered agent of Turkey and making false statements to the Justice Department about that work.

Trump has praised Flynn and argued that the charges should be dropped.