Judge Anthony Trenga (Credit: American Law Institute)
“U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia slammed the Department of Justice’s request to designate former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn a ‘co-conspirator’ in the ongoing case it has against his former business partner after the government stated on numerous occasions that Flynn was a cooperating witness.
Trenga issued the 38-page scathing opinion in the late afternoon Tuesday that the “United States at this point has not presented or proffered evidence to sufficient to establish by a preponderance of the evidence a conspiracy for the purposes of admitting against the Defendant the hearsay statements of alleged co-conspirators.”
Trenga goes on to argue that “Notably absent from the government’s proffer is any evidence from Michael Flynn, who, as discussed above, has admitted that he made certain false statements in the FARA filing that was the object of one of the charged conspiracy and has entered into a cooperation agreement with the United States that extends to this prosecution.”
Earlier on Tuesday this news site first reported that Flynn’s current defense Attorney Sidney Powell, who recently replaced Flynn’s former defense attorney Robert Kelner, submitted a filing to the Eastern District of Virginia fighting the government’s proposal to ask the Court to deem Flynn a “co-conspirator” in the case against his former partner Bijan Rafiekian. The designation was solely for the purpose of obtaining the admission of one document the government itself claims is already admissible under a different rule, according to a brief filed by Powell. (Read more: Sarah Carter, 7/10/2019)