The Department of Justice grossly misused their power according to ex-judge

The DoJ's quest to get former national security advisor Michael Flynn off the hook for lying about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States has hit another snag.

In his brief filed today, former U.S. District Judge John Gleeson tore into a request by the government to dismiss the case by calling the request "clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power," and that the government has "has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the president."

Gleeson was appointed by Judge Emmet Sullivan as a friend of the court to review the request to dismiss the case. While this was his opinion on the matter, it Sullivan and an appeals court whether to accept the motion, according to the Associated Press.

The judge, who was also a former federal prosecutor in New York said that the DoJ's request is "riddled with errors of law and fact and they depart from positions that the government has taken in other cases."

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 for lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian Ambassador to the United States regarding the removal of sanctions imposed on Russia, according to reports by NPR.

In January, Flynn filed court papers to withdraw his guilty plea, citing that federal prosecutors had broken their end of the bargain when they sought prison time after he cooperated extensively during the investigation.

Whether or not this will mean anything in the long-run has yet to be seen. For now, this is a win for people who still believe in some sort of checks and balances.

This isn't going to be the last thing we hear regarding this case. I'm sure like many times in the past that somehow the Trump administration will be able to maneuver this case and still end up rescuing Flynn.

It's crazy to me that something as cut and paste as one of our national security advisors lying about his actions with the Russian government - one of our fiercest rivals - to the FBI is still something we need to talk about being okay or not. What he did was wildly illegal. Full stop.

Let's ignore the fact that he lied. The guy still broke the Logan Act which is a federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the government.

Instead, let me hear what you think about this development in the comments below.

-Alex

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The Statesmen

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