Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) filed an amicus brief on behalf of all Democratic Members of the Committee in the case of United States v. Michael Flynn in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Following the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the government’s criminal charges against Michael Flynn, which set off numerous protests within the Department and across the legal community, the Committee’s filing argues that the Department’s motion represents the most overt demonstration of the rule of law being corroded for political purposes—in this case, to serve the demands of President Trump. Today’s filing is part of a series of actions Chairman Nadler announced last week to counter Attorney General William Barr's continued defiance of Congress and politicization of the Department of Justice.
Chairman Nadler released the following statement on the filing:
“Few things are more corrosive to the rule of law—and the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system—than the injection of partisanship, favoritism, or corruption into prosecutorial decisions. In this case, the impropriety is barely concealed. Attorney General Barr has stonewalled congressional oversight at every turn, depriving the House Judiciary Committee of any opportunity to question him about his mischaracterization of the Mueller Report, his role in the sentencing of Roger Stone, or the policies he has put in place to facilitate the improper politicization of prosecutorial decision making. Now, he seeks to stonewall the judicial branch as well, and that must not be tolerated. Today’s filing makes this argument in the starkest terms, and lays out exactly what is at stake if the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and the President of the United States is allowed to pervert justice for their own political purposes. ”
