Michael Flynn moves to withdraw guilty plea in scathing rebuke of DOJ

Attorneys for former national security adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn have filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea from two years ago, "because of the government's bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement."

What are the details?

The Washington Examiner notes that Flynn "was one of handful of people connected to the Trump campaign who were targeted by the FBI's counterintelligence investigation, Crossfire Hurricane." Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., The Hill reported, and agreed to cooperate fully with former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Flynn's new defense team came out swinging, accusing prosecutors of trying to force Flynn to sign a statement that said he intentionally signed a Foreign Agents Registration Act disclosure form — required for public officials to fill out and reveal relationships with foreign principals — containing material false statements.

The motion filed by Flynn's attorneys also points out other new developments in Flynn's case, particularly the FISA abuses uncovered last month in the Department of Justice inspector general's report showing the abuses used by the FBI to spy on Trump campaign aides.

Flynn's attorneys further accused the court of rejecting "every request in Mr. Flynn's motion for exculpatory evidence, including requesting the required production of the inexplicably 'missing' original 302 by the fired and infamous former FBI agent Peter Strzok."

"It is beyond ironic and completely outrageous that the prosecutors have persecuted Mr. Flynn, virtually bankrupted him, and put his entire family through unimaginable stress for three years," Flynn's attorneys wrote, further pointing out that as of December 2018, the government was so satisfied with Mr. Flynn's cooperation "that it filed its motion recommending probation because of his substantial assistance."

The defense team accused the government of breaching its original plea agreement when Justice Department prosecutors did an about-face last week, and asked the court to sentence Flynn to up to six months in prison.

"Justice is not a game," Flynn's attorneys wrote," and there should be no room for such gamesmanship in the Department of Justice."