Appeals Court To Hear Flynn's Bid To Force Judge To Drop Case Against Him

A federal appeals court will hear arguments Friday on Michael Flynn's bid to force a lower court to dismiss the Justice Department's criminal case against the former national security adviser.
The hearing before a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is the latest front in the long-running legal case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.
The matter before the appeals court stems from the Justice Department's highly unusual move last month to drop its 2 1/2-year-old case against Flynn. The department argues that the FBI never should have interviewed him and that any false statements Flynn might have made were not material to a legitimate investigation.
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is presiding over the Flynn case, has not yet granted the government's motion to dismiss. Instead, he has appointed a former federal judge, John Gleeson, as outside counsel to argue against the government's move.