Ciara Torres-Spelliscy weighs in on DOJ dropping the Michael Flynn case
By Sean Illing
Vox
May 8, 2020
Excerpt
On the same day that the Supreme Court decided the Kelly v. US case, better known as the Bridgegate case, the Department of Justice’s dropping charges against Michael Flynn makes this a banner day for corruption.
In Kelly v. US, the US Supreme Court decided unanimously that Bridget Anne Kelly would not go to jail for her role in Bridgegate because even though “for no reason other than political payback, Baroni and Kelly used deception to reduce Fort Lee’s access lanes to the George Washington Bridge — and thereby jeopardized the safety of the town’s residents. But not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.” The Kelly case is likely to make corruption prosecutions involving lying to the public more difficult, if not impossible, to prosecute.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice’s choice to drop charges against Michael Flynn is disgraceful. Michael Flynn lied to the FBI and admitted that he lied both in his guilty plea and then in person to the judge in his case. Lying to federal authorities like the FBI is a federal crime under 18 U.S. Code § 1001. Dropping the case against him does damage to the rule of law which requires the DOJ to treat like cases alike and for the United States to be a nation of laws, not men.
DOJ’s own internal guidance on 18 U.S. Code § 1001 states that individuals convicted of violating this part of the law are eligible for up to five years in prison or fines of up to $250,000. The unmistakable impression that had been left by the Flynn affair is that he is being treated differently because he is close to the President. This is not the way the administration of justice should work in America.
Between Michael Flynn’s freedom and Bridget Anne Kelly’s freedom, this has been a stellar moment for white-collar criminals getting away with crimes for which others would have been incarcerated. Today is a mournful day for anyone who still had faith in the rule of law. But it is an election year, and the electorate has a chance to change who is in power in November. A new administration would bring a new Attorney General, preferably one who will enforce the law without fear or favor.
This article was originally published on the Vox website on May 8, 2020, with the headline, “11 legal experts agree: There’s no good reason for DOJ to drop the Michael Flynn case.”
Post date: May 8, 2020
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