Sixteen former Watergate prosecutors are urging a judge not to dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
CNN obtained legal memos filed by the ex-prosecutors. The filings detail why they believe Judge Emmet Sullivan has the authority to reject the government’s dismissal request and sentence Flynn. The news network noted Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The group of former prosecutors called themselves friends of the court or “amici” in legal wording.
“The parallels and the contrasts between the Watergate affair and the present situation now before this court make manifest that amici have a direct and substantial interest in the proper disposition of the pending motion directed by the incumbent attorney general to protect a close ally of the president," they said in court filings.
They also maintain they offer a "unique perspective on the need for independent scrutiny and oversight to ensure that crucial decisions about prosecutions of high-ranking government officials are made in the public interest, are viewed as legitimate and are not subsequently reversed by political intervention."
According to CNN, the former prosecutors are: Nick Akerman, Richard Ben-Veniste, Richard Davis, Carl Feldbaum, George Frampton, Jr., Kenneth. Geller, Gerald Goldman, Stephen Haberfeld, Henry Hecht, Paul Hoeber, Philip Allen Lacovara, Paul Michel, Robert Palmer, Frank Tuerkheimer, Jill Wine-Banks and Roger Witten.
The Justice Department had said it was dropping the case against Flynn. However, Sullivan said he would not immediately grant the request to dismiss and was willing to hear from outsiders. Prosecutors maintained Flynn lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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