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Tag: emmet sullivan
Federal Judge Orders Postal Service To Find And Deliver Unsent Ballots Immediately

Federal Judge Orders Postal Service To Find And Deliver Unsent Ballots Immediately

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, has ordered the United States Postal Service to check its facilities for any unsent ballots and send them immediately.

Under Sullivan's order, postal workers must inspect their facilities between 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Election Day — and if they find any ballots that haven't been delivered, make sure they go out right away and arrive at their destination before the polls close.Sullivan also ordered the Postal Service to give his court an update on their sweeps.

Under Trump's watch, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been blamed for making changes that have slowed down mail delivery — which, Democrats have been warning, could cause ballots to arrive too late to be counted. Some Democratic activists have, for weeks, been urging Biden supporters to hand-deliver their absentee ballots.

Michael Flynn

Judge Sullivan Will Seek Additional Hearing On Flynn Sentence

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Last December, Judge Emmet Sullivan made clear what he thought about Michael Flynn's claim of being "ambushed" by FBI investigators with a one-sentence ruling: "The court summarily disposes of Mr. Flynn's arguments that the FBI conducted an ambush interview for the purpose of trapping him into making false statements."

The idea that Flynn—who has pleaded guilty twice to lying in connection with his phone calls to the former Russian ambassador—was trapped has been ludicrous all along. Flynn is guilty—and of a lot more than he has been charged with in court. The trivial charges of perjury were supposed to be the former national security advisor's slap-on-the-wrist exchange for providing information that kept both Flynn and his son from facing far more serious charges.

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Judge Eases Order Requiring Justice Department To Release Flynn Records

Judge Eases Order Requiring Justice Department To Release Flynn Records

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan announced in a filing on Tuesday that he will not force the Justice Department to comply with his previous order to release records relating to Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser who was charged as a part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Last week, the Justice Department boldly defied Sullivan’s orders in a filing, saying that it was refusing to release the audio recordings of Flynn’s discussions with Russian officials, which would include his conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn pleaded guilty in late 2017 for lying to the FBI about the content of these conversations during the Trump administration’s transition period.

The department did release a separate recording and transcript of a voicemail Flynn received from one of Trump’s lawyers, which was relevant to the obstruction of justice investigation. But it said the other materials were not relevant to Flynn’s sentencing, which is the matter before Sullivan.

Many observers saw the refusal as a brash defiance of a judge’s explicit order, and some suggested that it may be a part of Attorney General Bill Barr’s attempts to cover up damaging information for the president.

But Sullivan’s response on Tuesday makes those interpretations less likely.

“The government is not required to file any additional materials or information on the public docket pursuant to the Court’s Orders of May 16, 2019,” the judge’s filing said.

“It was surprising for the court to have asked for these transcripts to be publicly filed in the first place, but it’s even more surprising to see the court back down in the face of outright DOJ refusal,” said Lawfare Executive Editor Susan Hennessey in a tweet. “I’d imagine there was lots of back and forth behind the scenes here.”

She added that it’s possible Sullivan agreed to let the government file the materials under seal.

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said: “I’m surprised by this move, because the information would appear to be relevant to the factors that he is required to consider at sentencing. He appears to be deferring to DOJ’s view of what is relevant.”