The New York Times reports:

A Federal District Court judge may go forward with his plans to scrutinize the Justice Department’s request to drop the prosecution of President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, a full appeals court ruled on Monday. A three-judge panel on the court had earlier ordered the judge to end the case immediately.

Separately, a panel on that same court ruled for a second time that the House cannot sue Donald F. McGahn II, the president’s former White House counsel, for defying a subpoena. The full court already reversed one such ruling by that same panel on different grounds, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would “immediately” ask the full body for another do-over.

“If allowed to stand, this wrongheaded court of appeals panel ruling threatens to strike a grave blow to one of the most fundamental constitutional roles of the Congress: to conduct oversight on behalf of the American people, including by issuing our lawful and legitimate subpoenas,” she said, calling the ruling “a flawed judicial attack on the entire House.”

Both cases arose from the Trump-Russia investigation, involve separation-of-powers issues and put on display a partisan divide on the appeals court: Each was randomly assigned to a three-judge panel that had two Republican appointees, even though Democratic appointees are a majority. The full court can vacate panel rulings it disagrees with and rehear the matter. [Continue reading…]