A federal judge postponed retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s criminal sentencing set for next month until after the release of the Justice Department watchdog’s report on alleged government surveillance abuses against a member of the Trump campaign.
Federal prosecutors had been scheduled to inform the court whether they had reversed their recommendation of no prison time for President Trump’s first national security adviser. Instead, the Justice Department and Flynn’s defense team filed a joint motion asking for a delay because they expect Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report to “examine topics related to several matters raised by the defendant.”
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington agreed with that request on Wednesday and delayed the sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for Dec. 18, until further notice.
Horowitz confirmed last week that he expects his final report to be released to the public on Dec. 9. He is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee two days later.
Flynn, 60, pleaded guilty two years ago to lying to investigators about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late 2016 regarding sanctions and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. He was one of a handful of people connected to the Trump campaign who were targeted by the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation, Crossfire Hurricane, which began in July 2016.
Flynn’s cooperation led prosecutors to recommend no jail time, and Flynn’s lawyers requested a sentence of probation and community service.
Flynn faced an initial sentencing hearing last December during which Sullivan indicated he might settle on prison time. “Arguably, you sold your country out,” he said to Flynn at one point. Flynn’s legal team abruptly requested a delay, noting that their client could still cooperate with Mueller, and the judge agreed.
Earlier this year, Flynn fired the defense team that negotiated the plea deal, and Sidney Powell took over. Powell, a former federal prosecutor, has been highly critical of the government and sought a dismissal of the case, alleging prosecutors improperly pressured Flynn into the plea deal. She has argued, “there never would’ve been a plea to begin with” if Flynn knew how much information the Justice Department was hiding from him.
Prosecutors shot back, arguing, “the government has exceeded its discovery and disclosure obligations in this matter.”
Powell’s team has unleashed a flurry of allegations, including that the FBI manipulated notes on its interview with Flynn. She has also urged Sullivan to order the Justice Department to produce two Blackberry devices said to be used by Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor who allegedly played a central role in the launch of the Trump-Russia investigation, as exculpatory evidence.
The Justice Department has rejected some of the claims by Flynn’s lawyers as “conspiracy theories” and told the court that many of Powell’s allegations were “divorced from the facts.”
Trump’s GOP allies have eagerly anticipated Horowitz’s year-and-a-half-long investigation, believing his report will show that top Justice Department and FBI officials misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by using an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele to obtain warrants to wiretap onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Leaks about the report show Horowitz found missteps and lapses in judgment but no evidence of political bias by top officials tainting the Russia investigation.
Horowitz’s investigators did find that an FBI lawyer, identified as Kevin Clinesmith, allegedly altered a document related to the surveillance of Page, but determined Clinesmith’s actions did not taint the overall validity of a renewal application. Additionally, the inspector general is expected to determine that the opening of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016 was justified.
