A federal judge’s recent decision regarding special counsel Robert Mueller’s charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn raised serious new questions about the DOJ’s probe into Russian meddling; with some calling on Flynn to withdraw his guilty plea.
The controversy began when U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras officially recused himself from the case; eventually being replaced by Judge Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan immediately ordered Mueller’s team to provide “any evidence in its possession that is favorable” to the former Trump advisor.
The judge’s request raises serious questions over whether Mueller and his team misled US officials in order to secure Flynn’s guilty plea; raising the possibility he could withdraw his admission and go to trial.
“Mueller’s team has since postponed Flynn’s sentencing. And last Wednesday, Mueller’s team filed a protective order ‘governing the production of discovery,’ which indicates they won’t fight the order to hand over documents,” writes Fox News.
“Could this provide General Flynn with factual grounds of which he was previously unaware to seek to have his plea vacated?” asked former assistant US attorney Andrew McCarthy. “Would he have a viable legal basis to undo the plea agreement that he and his lawyer signed on November 30? We do not know at this point.”