The Flynn case continued on 29 September or a trifle earlier, and Anna Salvatore and Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare have provided a useful & mostly non-technical hearing of this argument as to whether Judge Sullivan should accept the government contention that the case against Flynn should never have been opened, or decline it and continue the sentencing phase. Among a lot of interesting interpretations, I think this recount of the behavior of Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, is indicative of yet another third-rate Trumpian personality. The Gleeson mentioned below is retired Judge Gleeson, asked by Judge Sullivan to advocate for continuing the sentencing phase of Flynn’s trial, since the government refuses to fulfill that responsibility. Barr is, of course, AG William Barr.
Now it’s Powell’s turn.
The attorney for Flynn claims that Barr did not respond to her letter, nor did he ever meet with her. Then, apropos of nothing, she states that she hasn’t spoken with the president either “other than an update into the status of the litigation.”
There is a collective gasp among the 500 people on the conference call. You can hear it over the mute function that has all but a few of them in listen-only mode.
“What?” asks Judge Sullivan, speaking for the masses.
Powell says she can’t discuss the issue, as she claims that any of her conversations with the president are protected by executive privilege. Sullivan reminds Powell that she doesn’t work for the government; there is no executive privilege for lawyers representing private parties or for anyone outside the government.
Powell, in response, admits that she recently spoke personally to Trump and requested that he not pardon her client.
It is a magical kind of a courtroom moment. Here Judge Gleeson has been trying to argue that there’s been political interference in the case, but he’s largely had to rely on the implausibility of the government’s stated reasons for its positions to justify the claim—along with dozens of presidential tweets. But here’s the lawyer for the defendant announcing that she has been briefing the president personally on the status of the litigation.
Not one, but two unforced errors. Salvatore and Witte’s general description of Powell is also noteworthy in the context of evaluating the personalities attracted to Trump’s orbit:
Sidney Powell, the lawyer for Flynn, plays the role of the table-banging Fox News pundit—furiously denouncing the witch hunt against her client that was hatched by Barack Obama and executed by his entire administration and, as she put it, continues to this day.
It’s never a good sign when someone says you belong in the company of table-banging Fox News pundits – famously known even within Fox News for their incompetence.
