The Justice Department rejected Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s newest bid to gain more evidence, saying on Tuesday there is nothing more in the file that relates to his December 2017 guilty plea to lying to FBI agents.
Sidney Powell, Flynn’s attorney, filed a sweeping argument last week, accusing the FBI and prosecution of misconducting and of withholding favorable evidence. She wants the case dismissed.
In one request, she demanded the contents of two BlackBerry cell phones supposedly used by Joseph Mifsud. He is the mysterious Maltese professor whose London breakfast conversation in April 2016 sparked the FBI Trump-Russia probe.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon L. Van Grack said Mr. Mifsud and his conversation with Trump adviser George Papadopoulos has nothing to do with Flynn’s FBI interview about phone calls with the Russian ambassador. The FBI interviewed Flynn in his early days as President Trump’s national security adviser. He later resigned.
Mr. Van Grack said Ms. Powell is raising entirely new allegations of FBI misconduct based on material the prosecution turned over before the guilty plea.
“By making new arguments for the first time in his Reply, the defendant has potentially placed this Court in the position of reviewing novel assertions and arguments that the defendant claims are essential to his cause without the benefit of the government’s factual responses and legal analysis,” he said.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Monday canceled a planned hearing next month, saying he will rule based on submitted briefs by both sides.
Mr. Van Grack guessed that the judge will disappoint the defense.
“It may be the court intends to strike any arguments or claims raised for the first time by the defendant in his Reply,” he said. “And it may be that the Court plans to require the defendant to raise any new claims for relief in a properly pled motion to which the government can respond fully.”
Ms. Powell asserted that the FBI ambushed Flynn that day at the White House by not notifying the White House counsel and leading him to believe it was on a different topic. She also said the FBI edited 302s, the form for recording agent interview notes, to make Flynn look more guilty.
She said special counsel Robert Mueller’s team threatened to prosecute Flynn’s son on a lobbying violation related to their consulting firm.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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