Appeals court refuses to dismiss Flynn case

WASHINGTON—A panel of federal appellate judges in June ordered a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss the case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. But the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that decision by a vote of 8-2 on Monday. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements to the FBI during the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian agents during the 2016 presidential election. The U.S. Department of Justice moved to drop the charges after it found evidence of misconduct by the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn.

Will Flynn now face sentencing? No, the case will go back to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who delayed the Justice Department’s motion for dismissal pending more information. Flynn’s lawyers had asked the appeals court to force Sullivan to dismiss the case.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew on the documents that caused the Justice Department to drop the charges against Flynn.