Judge Emmet Sullivan Retiring, Oversaw Michael Flynn Case (1)

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, a trial court docket mainstay in Washington who presided over the politically fraught prosecution of Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and litigation over Hillary Clinton’s electronic mail server stemming from her days as secretary of state, is retiring.

The 27-year veteran of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is one in every of not less than two dozen federal judges to announce plans in current weeks to take senior standing and provides President Joe Biden, a Democrat, the chance to fill their seats.

Appointed to 3 completely different courts by Republican and Democratic presidents, Sullivan was on the middle of numerous high-profile political and nationwide safety circumstances, together with points involving terror suspects held by the U.S. army in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

More just lately, he presided over the prosecution of Flynn, the senior nationwide safety aide to former President Donald Trump who pleaded responsible to mendacity to federal brokers throughout Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

During the case, Sullivan clashed with the Justice Department over its uncommon request to drop the case, a transfer he noticed as politically charged. Prosecutors argued that Flynn was tricked into mendacity to the FBI. Sullivan finally dismissed the case in December after Flynn was pardoned by Trump.

Appointed by Bill Clinton to the D.C. District Court in 1994, Sullivan wound up overseeing litigation involving Hillary Clinton’s use of a non-public electronic mail server whereas she was the nation’s prime diplomat. The situation grew to become a significant controversy throughout her ill-fated 2016 presidential marketing campaign. Sullivan additionally presided over the federal government’s failed corruption prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Before becoming a member of the D.C. District, Sullivan was appointed by George H. W. Bush to the D.C. Court of Appeals and by Ronald Reagan to the D.C. Superior Court. He was born and raised in Washington and obtained his undergraduate and legislation levels from Howard University.

Sullivan might be taking senior standing, a type of semi-retirement, on April 3, in line with an announcement from Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. She’s D.C.’s nonvoting delegate within the House. Norton is already in search of a substitute for Sullivan and accepting purposes, the assertion mentioned.

Separately, the White House notified the Senate on Thursday that it was withdrawing the nominations of Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach, of Puerto Rico, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Maria Teresa Bonifacio Cenzon for the District of Guam; and Edmund G. LaCour Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama. All three had been nominated by Donald Trump.