United States v. Flynn

507 F.Supp.3d 116

UNITED STATES of America

v.Michael T. FLYNN, Defendant.

Crim. Action No. 17-232 (EGS)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed December 8, 2020

Zainab Naeem Ahmad, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, New York, NY, Brandon Lang Van Grack, Hashim M. Mooppan, Jocelyn S. Ballantine, Kenneth Clair Kohl, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for United States of America.

Jesse R. Binnall, Abigail Frye, Pro Hac Vice, Lindsay R. McKasson, Pro Hac Vice, Harvey & Binnall, PLLC, Alexandria, VA, Robert K. Kelner, Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, DC, W. William Hodes, Pro Hac Vice, The William Hodes Law Firm, The Villages, FL, Molly McCann, Pro Hac Vice, Sidney Powell, Pro Hac Vice, Sidney Powell, P.C., Dallas, TX, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Emmet G. Sullivan, United States District Judge

Pending before the Court are: (1) the government's motion to dismiss the criminal information against Mr. Flynn with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a), see Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss Criminal Information Against Def. Michael T. Flynn ("Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss"), ECF No. 198; and (2) the government's notice of executive grant of clemency and consent motion to dismiss this case as moot, see Notice Executive Grant Clemency Consent Mot. Dismiss Moot ("Consent Mot. Dismiss"), ECF No. 308. Upon careful consideration of the motions, the applicable law, the entire record herein, and for the reasons explained below, the Court DENIES AS MOOT the government's motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 48(a), and GRANTS the government's consent motion based on the presidential pardon and DISMISSES this case AS MOOT .

I. Background

Mr. Flynn served as a surrogate and national security advisor for then-candidate Donald J. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Statement of Offense ("SOF"), ECF No. 4 at 1 ¶ 1.¹ After the November 2016 election, Mr. Flynn became a senior member of the President-Elect's Transition Team. Id. Mr. Flynn served as the National Security Advisor to President Trump from January 22, 2017 until he resigned on February 13, 2017. Ex. 1 to Def.’s Reply Mot. Compel, ECF No. 133-1 at 1-2.

A. The FBI Investigation Into Mr. Flynn's Activities

The criminal conduct underlying the offense, as set forth in the Information, was admitted to by Mr. Flynn when he entered his guilty pleas in this case. See, e.g. , Information, ECF No. 1 at 1-2; Plea Hr'g Tr. (Dec. 1, 2017), ECF No. 16 at 18-19; Sentencing Hr'g Tr. (Dec. 18, 2018), ECF No. 103 at 9-10. The Information, which was filed on November 30, 2017, charged Mr. Flynn with one count of willfully and knowingly making materially false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), during his interview with two FBI agents on January 24, 2017 in the White House. See Information, ECF No. 1 at 1-2; see also Sentencing Hr'g Tr., ECF No. 103 at 32. Under oath and with the advice of counsel, Mr. Flynn pled guilty to the crime on December 1, 2017. Plea Hr'g Tr., ECF No. 16 at 30-31; see also Plea Agreement, ECF No. 3 at 10.

According to the record evidence in this case, on July 31, 2016, the FBI opened an investigation, code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," into the Russian Federation's ("Russia") efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, which included determining the existence of any links between Russia and individuals associated with the Trump campaign. SOF, ECF No. 4 at 1 ¶ 1.² Among other things, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation set out to determine who, if anyone, from the campaign may have "been in a position to have received the alleged offer of assistance from Russia." Ex. 1 to Amicus Br., ECF No. 225-1 at 13.

Against this backdrop, and "as part of the larger Crossfire Hurricane umbrella," the FBI launched an investigation into Mr. Flynn on August 16, 2016, in order to determine whether he was "being directed and controlled by and/or coordinating activities with the Russian Federation in a manner which may be a threat to the national security and/or possibly a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, [ 18 U.S.C. § 951 et seq. ], or other related statutes." See Ex. 2 to Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 198-3 at 2-3. The communication describing the opening of the investigation into Mr. Flynn, code-named "Crossfire Razor," noted that: (1) Mr. Flynn was "an adviser to the Trump team on foreign policy issues"; (2) he had "ties to various state-affiliated entities of the Russian Federation"; (3) he had "traveled to Russia in December 2014"; and (4) he had "an active TS/SCI clearance." Id. At some point prior to January 4, 2017, though, the FBI drafted a "Closing Communication" to close the case, noting that certain investigative steps had yielded "no derogatory information" on Mr. Flynn and that the "FBI is closing this investigation." See Ex. 1 to Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 198-2 at 2, 5. The document also stated: "If new information is identified or reported to the FBI regarding the activities of CROSSFIRE RAZOR, the FBI will consider reopening the investigation if warranted." Id. at 5. Despite the written communication, the case was not closed at that time. See Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 198 at 4.

On December 21, 2016, Egypt introduced a resolution to the United Nations ("U.N.") Security Council regarding Israeli settlements, and the vote on the resolution was scheduled for December 22, 2016. SOF, ECF No. 4 at 4 ¶ 4. On December 29, 2016, then-President Barack H. Obama imposed sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election. See id. at 2 ¶ 3(a). Before the President-Elect was sworn into office and prior to the closing of Crossfire Razor, Mr. Flynn engaged in conversations with the then-Russian Ambassador between December 22, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Id. at 2-5 ¶¶ 3-4. Based on these communications, the FBI continued its investigation into Mr. Flynn and did not close the investigation of him. See Gov't’s Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 198 at 4-7.

As the investigation continued, Mr. Flynn made a series of materially false statements to FBI investigators during an interview at the White House on January 24, 2017 about his conversations with the Russian Ambassador. SOF, ECF No. 4 at 1-2 ¶ 2 (stating that "[Mr.] FLYNN's false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI's ongoing investigation into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the [Trump] Campaign and Russia's efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election"); see id. at 2-5 ¶¶ 3-4; see also Information, ECF No. 1 at 1-2. Mr. Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI about his request on or about December 29, 2016 to the Russian Ambassador that Russia refrain from escalating the situation in response to the sanctions imposed by the United States against Russia, and about the Russian Ambassador telling Mr. Flynn that Russia decided to moderate its response to the sanctions. SOF, ECF No. 4 at 2-3 ¶ 3. In addition, Mr. Flynn admitted to making false statements to the FBI about his request on or about December 22, 2016 to the Russian Ambassador that Russia vote against or delay Egypt's resolution to the U.N. Security Council, that the Russian Ambassador never described to Mr. Flynn Russia's response to his request, that Mr. Flynn did not request certain countries to take a particular position on the resolution, and that Mr. Flynn only asked the countries for their respective positions on the vote. Id. at 4-5 ¶ 4.

Separately, Mr. Flynn also admitted to making false statements in the documents that he submitted to the United States Department of Justice on March 7, 2017 under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 611 – 621 ("FARA"). Id. at 5 ¶ 5; see also Addendum to Gov't’s Mem. in Aid of Sentencing, ECF No. 75 at 3 (stating that "[Mr. Flynn] stipulated and agreed that he violated FARA by making materially false statements" in the FARA filings). Those FARA filings concerned a project that Mr. Flynn and his company, Flynn Intel Group, Inc. ("FIG"), performed on behalf of the Republic of Turkey. SOF, ECF No. 4 at 5 ¶ 5. Mr. Flynn, however, was not charged with any FARA violations. See Information, ECF No. 1 at 1; see also Status Hr'g Tr. (Sept. 10, 2019), ECF No. 114 at 20. For purposes of sentencing, Mr. Flynn did not dispute the relevance of the FARA references in the government's description of the nature and circumstances of his offense. See Gov't’s Mem. in Aid of Sentencing, ECF No. 46 at 3-5; see also Def.’s Mem. in Aid of Sentencing, ECF No. 50 at 12. Indeed, the government confirmed that Mr. Flynn could have been charged with making false statements in the FARA filings. Sentencing Hr'g Tr., ECF No. 103 at 28. Under the terms of the Plea Agreement, the government agreed not to further prosecute Mr. Flynn for the criminal conduct described in the SOF. Plea Agreement, ECF No. 3 at 2 ¶ 3. In the final analysis, the government did not charge Mr. Flynn with violating the Logan Act, 18 U.S.C. § 953, or with being a foreign agent. See Information, ECF No. 1 at 1.

B. Mr. Flynn's Guilty Pleas And Subsequent Motion To Withdraw His Guilty Plea

On November 30, 2017, Mr. Flynn entered into a plea agreement with the government upon the advice of counsel. See Plea Agreement, ECF No. 3 at 10. Judge Rudolph Contreras accepted Mr. Flynn's guilty plea on December 1, 2017, finding that Mr. Flynn entered the plea knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently with the advice of counsel. Plea Hr'g Tr., ECF No. 16 at 4, 30-31.

On December 7, 2017, this case was randomly reassigned to this Court. See generally Docket for Crim. Action No. 17-232. On December 18, 2018, this Court accepted Mr. Flynn's guilty plea a second time. Sentencing Hr'g Tr., ECF No. 103 at 5, 16. During that hearing, the Court extended the plea colloquy in view of Mr. Flynn's statements in his sentencing memorandum, which raised questions as to...