He’ll Eventually Prevail, but Flynn Stands to Lose the Mandamus Fight
Andrew C. McCarthy August 15, 2020
G eneral Michael Flynn is going to lose the battle. That was the takeaway from Tuesday’s hearing before the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Flynn will eventually win the war, but President Trump’s first national-security adviser is still in a slog, and there are more scraps ahead.
The battle in question is Flynn’s petitioning of the D.C. Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus against federal district judge Emmet Sullivan. Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. It is something of a last resort, when a judge is acting so lawlessly that the damage could be incurable if a higher court fails to intervene. Here, the writ would direct Judge Sullivan to end his highly irregular inquiry into the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case against Flynn and just grant that motion, as the law requires.
Flynn will eventually prevail in having the case dismissed, because he has an ace in the hole: If all else fails, the president will pardon him. Meanwhile, maybe Sullivan will grant the dismissal motion, as the judge’s lawyer hinted at the hearing. If he does not, maybe there will still be time for Flynn to win a reversal on appeal — an eventuality that some circuit judges suggested but that, practically speaking, may hinge on whether President Trump is reelected (if Trump loses, he’d have to pardon by January 20). Naturally, Flynn would rather not go the pardon route; there is more vindication if the case is formally dismissed on the motion of the prosecuting authority that brought it.
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https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/michael-flynn-case-mandamus-petition/
