Appeals court orders judge to drop Flynn case

WASHINGTON—U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan had decided to continue holding hearings in the criminal case of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, even after the Department of Justice moved to drop the charges against him. A panel of judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with Flynn in a 2-1 ruling on Wednesday.

What was Flynn accused of? He pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of lying to federal agents about his conversations with Russian officials in 2016. He later moved to withdraw his guilty plea. Subsequently released documents indicated the agents planned to entrap him. Trump applauded the decision on Twitter, while critics called for Sullivan and the Justice Department to appeal.

Dig deeper: Read my report in the Stew on the documents that caused the Justice Department to drop the charges against Flynn.