Judge dismisses case against Michael Flynn, acknowledging Trump pardon made it irrelevant

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan has dismissed the criminal case against former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, admitting his presidential pardon rendered the case moot, but denying Flynn is innocent.

The judge dismissed the charges against Flynn on Tuesday, declaring the case “dismissed as moot” two weeks after President Donald Trump issued a pardon to his former cabinet official. Trump granted Flynn a full pardon the day before Thanksgiving.

Flynn had initially pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, only to attempt to reverse his guilty plea earlier this year, claiming he had been entrapped by the bureau.

The Justice Department dropped the case against Flynn back in May after evidence emerged to suggest the retired general was indeed set up by the FBI, and that he was even threatened with charges against his son if he did not enter a guilty plea.

Further evidence subsequently emerged showing even the FBI didn’t believe Flynn was a Russian agent – nor did they believe he had deliberately lied to the agency during the interview in which he was charged with doing so.

However, Judge Sullivan repeatedly refused to let the rapidly-dissolving case against Flynn go, even after the Washington, DC Circuit Court of Appeals ordered it closed. The judge appealed that decision and managed to keep the case going for several more months.

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