U.S. appeals court orders judge to dismiss case against Trump's former national security adviser

Combo photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump (in large photo) and his first national security adviser Michael Flynn on different occasions. (Xinhua)

"In this case, the district court's actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch's exclusive prosecutorial power," judge Neomi Rao writes in the majority opinion.

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn, the first national security adviser to President Donald Trump.

Ruling 2-1 with two Republican-appointed judges carrying the majority, a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals approved Flynn's petition to intervene in the case and ordered Sullivan to grant the Department of Justice's (DOJ) move to drop charges against Flynn.

"Flynn's petition for a writ of mandamus be granted in part; the District Court is directed to grant the government's ... motion to dismiss; and the District Court's order appointing an amicus is hereby vacated as moot, in accordance with the opinion of the court filed herein this date," the court order reads.

A screenshot taken from U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter account shows one of his tweets on June 24, 2020. (Xinhua)

Trump cheered the decision immediately, tweeting: "Great! Appeals Court Upholds Justice Departments Request To Drop Criminal Case Against General Michael Flynn!"

"In this case, the district court's actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch's exclusive prosecutorial power," judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed to the circuit court by Trump, wrote in the majority opinion.

Judge Robert Wilkins, an appointee by then democratic President Barack Obama, dissented from the decision, saying he would grant Sullivan the space to explore the DOJ's request for dismissal.

"It is a great irony that, in finding the District Court to have exceeded its jurisdiction, this Court so grievously oversteps its own," Wilkins wrote in his dissent.

Amid a long-running political fight, the Justice Department last month dropped its charge that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his communications with then Russian ambassador to the United States during Trump's presidential transition period in late 2016.

Instead of immediately grant the motion, Sullivan appointed an outside counsel, former federal judge John Gleeson, to outline a counter-argument to the DOJ's move.

Former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn (R, Front) leaves the federal court following his plea hearing in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

The DOJ move came after Flynn had twice pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 general elections.

If unchallenged with further appeals, the ruling exonerates Flynn after he sought to change his plea and claimed innocence, local media reported.

The FBI probe into Flynn's link with Russia led to Flynn's ouster by Trump in February 2017. ■