An appeal by the Department of Justice to have the legal case involving former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn’s allegations of wrongful prosecution transferred to Washington, D.C., was denied by a federal judge.
“In sum, the Court concludes that the interests of justice weigh against transfer of this case to the DDC. Plaintiff is entitled to seek redress in his home forum, and Defendant’s Motion presents no overwhelming need to disturb that choice. The only party who would clearly be inconvenienced by relocation of this action to the DDC is Plaintiff, who would be forced to litigate outside of his home state. The Government is not over burdened by litigating here,” District Judge Mary Scriven ruled on June 12.
In line with the now fully discredited Trump-Russia collusion fiction, Flynn in March of this year filed a $50 million lawsuit against the government alleging unfair prosecution. The Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida’s United States District Court is where Flynn filed the lawsuit. He is a citizen of Florida.
During the course of special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry, Flynn was shortly employed as President Trump’s national security adviser. Flynn, a retired three-star general, originally entered a guilty plea to the charge of lying to FBI investigators, but he later asked to withdraw the plea as it became clear that the FBI did not think he was guilty of lying to its investigators. In addition, the aforementioned agents made an effort to get the case against him dropped, but their higher-ups overruled them.
Flynn was ultimately exonerated by Trump with a pardon after the DOJ requested that the charges brought against him be dropped.
Flynn and his lawyer, Jesse Binnall, claimed in their initial claim that the prosecution’s case against him was partisan in nature.
“Flynn was the target of a politically motivated investigation and prosecution that had no merit when it began, no merit during its course, and no merit in the end when the charges were withdrawn by the DOJ and ultimately dismissed by the Court after Flynn received a full pardon,” the initial filing alleged. “During that meritless and unlawful investigation and prosecution, Flynn was falsely and maliciously painted by the conspirators as a traitor to his nation who acted in concert with a foreign power, and the SCO even threatened Flynn’s son with prosecution unless Flynn were to plead guilty. ”
“The federal government’s targeting of a citizen for baseless criminal prosecution and eliciting a plea bargain through threatening family members is outrageous conduct of the highest order,” it said.
Tuesday’s hearing before a House committee by Special Counsel John Durham yielded additional information regarding a report that was extremely skeptical of the FBI’s choice to initiate a counterintelligence probe into the 2016 Trump campaign.
“Durham testified for over five hours before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday over the details of the 306-page report. Released on May 15, following a four-year investigation, it concluded that the FBI should have launched a preliminary, not a full, investigation into ties between Trump and Russia. Durham also accused the department of a double standard in its probing of foreign interference on Trump’s campaign and then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s,” Politico reported.
“I want to emphasize in the strongest terms possible that my colleagues and I carried out our work in good faith with integrity and in the spirit of following the facts wherever they lead without fear of favor. At no time and in no sense did we act with the purpose to further partisan or political ends,” Durham told the committee.
“Former Special Counsel John Durham shut down a line of questioning from Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that sought to assert Donald Trump Jr. had committed a crime during a meeting in Trump Tower,” according to Fox News.
The exchange came during Durham’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Schiff referenced a Trump Tower meeting between Trump Jr. and Russian individuals prior to the 2016 election that the lawmaker claimed constituted a crime.
“Are you aware, Mr. Durham, that [Robert] Mueller’s and Congressional investigations also revealed that Don Jr. was informed that a Russian official was offering the Trump campaign ‘very high-level and sensitive information” that would be incriminating of Hillary Clinton…?” Schiff asked.
“Sure, people get phone calls all the time from individuals who claim to have information like that,” Durham retorted.
“Really? The son of a presidential candidate gets calls all the time from a foreign government offering dirt on their opponent. Is that what you’re saying?” shifty-Schiff asked.
“I don’t think this is unique in your experience,” Durham shot back.
Schiff was then censured by the House.
“The Republican-led effort to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., over his claims about former President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia succeeded Wednesday, USA Today reported.
House lawmakers voted 213-209 along party lines to censure Schiff, with six lawmakers voting present. Immediately after the vote, Democrats in the lower chamber began chanting “shame.”
Flynn news source.
