Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday sought to disqualify Judge Emmett Sullivan from “further participation” in his case.
In a filing on Wednesday, Flynn and his legal team argued that Sullivan “cast an intolerable cloud of partiality over his subsequent judicial conduct” and “risked undermining the public’s confidence in the judicial process.”
“[A]ll that must be demonstrated to compel recusal,’ then, is ‘a showing of an appearance of bias…sufficient to permit the average citizen reasonably to question a judge’s impartiality, ” the filing states.
According to the filing: “The circumstances of this case lead any reasonable observer to believe that the current judge has a personal interest in the outcome, is irreparably biased against general Flynn, and is actively litigating against him. His continued presence in the case has become a national scandal undermining confidence in the impartiality of the federal judicial system and faith in the rule of law writ large. The Constitution compels, and all statutory bases require (‘shall recuse’), that Judge Sullivan recuse himself from any further proceedings even if he has granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice.”
“Judge Sullivan satisfied that standard when he actively litigated against General Flynn,” the filing continued. “He has since far exceeded it — rising to the level of demonstrating actual bias.”
Flynn and his legal team added that “the court’s contempt and disdain for the defense was palpable throughout the hearing on September 29, 2020, including when defense counsel made an oral motion for his immediate disqualification, which he refused to allow even to be fully stated for the record.
”Accordingly, the defense files this motion to confirm the oral motion made at the hearing,” the filing stated. “Judge Sullivan’s Immediate Disqualification is Mandatory.”
This is a breaking news story, please check back as more information becomes available.
