Elie Honig writes:

Just when it seemed that Attorney General William Barr would get away with intentionally tanking his own Justice Department’s conviction of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, a federal judge on Wednesday slammed on the brakes and now is demanding real answers.

There’s a common saying that the courts are the final bulwark against tyranny. “Tyranny” may be a bit much here, but Judge Emmet Sullivan certainly seems to be taking a stand against an unconscionable abuse of power by Trump and Barr.

Barr’s move to clear Flynn is outrageous and transparently political. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. He admitted under oath that he knew it was a crime to lie to the FBI, that he was not entrapped, that he was “in fact guilty of the crime charged,” and that he had committed additional crimes relating to his work for Turkish interests in the United States.

According to a letter signed by over 2,000 former federal prosecutors and other Justice Department alumni (including me), it is “extraordinarily rare, if not unprecedented” for the Justice Department to move to vacate a conviction after such an admission of guilt by a defendant. With this move, Barr once again undermined his own credibility and independence. [Continue reading…]