Michael Flynn appears in a file photo speaking at a conference in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 2017. (Photo by CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images.)
The U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday agreed to rehear the case regarding Michael Flynn’s request for a writ of mandamus — or, in other words, to force the trial court judge overseeing the matter to dismiss it without sentencing him after pleading guilty to lying to federal authorities.
The petition for the en banc hearing was filed by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan after a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit previously granted Flynn’s emergency petition on June 24. The three-judge panel directed Sullivan to dismiss the case. Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Neomi Rao penned the majority opinion, which George H.W. Bush-appointed Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson joined.
The order to re-hear the case is procedurally rare; it reads (in part) as follows:
“Upon consideration of the petition for rehearing en banc, the responses thereto, and the vote in favor of rehearing en banc by a majority of the judges eligible to participate, it is ORDERED that this case be reheard by the court sitting en banc. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the court’s order filed June 24, 2020, be vacated. It is FURTHER ORDERED that oral argument before the en banc court be heard at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. The parties should be prepared to address whether there are “no other adequate means to attain the relief” desired. Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court for D.C., 542 U.S. 367, 380 (2004). A separate order will issue regarding the allocation of oral argument time.
See below for the full order:
DC En Banc Order by Law&Crime on Scribd
[image via CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images]
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