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Former Flynn Defense Counsel Covington and Burling ‘just now found additional docs’ In Flynn File

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Michael Flynn

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s previous defense team turned over recently discovered emails and handwritten notes Wednesday to his new counsel, suggesting that the delay in turning over the documents were due to technical issues since being ordered by the presiding federal judge six months ago to turn over all documents.

On July 25, 2019 presiding Federal Judge Emmet T. Sullivan, ordered the well-known law firm of Covington and Burling LLP to ‘promptly turn over the entire file’ on Flynn to his new defense attorney Sidney Powell. The order was made under threat of a hearing before the District of Columbia Ethics Counsel. The law firm turned over what is described as a ‘voluminous’ amount of documents but it apparently wasn’t all the documents. On Wednesday, the law firm turned over more documents and suggested in a supplemental notice filed with the court that there may be even be more documents not yet produced.

“In reviewing materials in response to the Court’s March 6, 2020 Order (Doc. 174) to respond to Mr. Flynn’s specific allegations in his Supplemental Motion to Withdraw Plea of Guilty, however, we have found emails and two pages of handwritten notes that were not previously transferred to successor counsel,” the notice submitted by Flynn’s former lawyers Robert Kelner and Stephan P. Anthony stated. “With respect to the emails, this appears to have resulted from errors in the process of collecting and searching electronic materials that were not contained in the working case file. The two pages of notes appear to have been inadvertently missed during the file transfer process.”

Flynn’s new defense team is combing through the new trove of documents, suggesting that the appropriate action by the DOJ would be to dismiss Flynn’s case entirely based on egregious government misconduct.

“It’s an interesting new production of documents from the Flynn file. It will be even more interesting to see what the firm has to say about them. We are really looking forward to a hearing in court on all the issues that will exonerate General Flynn,” said Powell, who spoke to SaraACarter.com.

“Meanwhile, the government still refuses to produce the original 302 and the DOJ memo of January 30, 2017 that exonerated him of any Russia issue, and it still refuses to dismiss the case because of the egregious government misconduct from the inception of this persecution—including slipping an FBI Agent secretly into a presidential briefing in August 2016—before the election—to collect information on nominee Trump and General Flynn,” she added. “The country and Justice would be best served if the DOJ would take responsibility for these outrageous actions and the deliberate attempted destruction of an honorable man. The agents who interviewed him knew he was honest with them.  They later altered the 302 until it was approved by Andrew McCabe.”

Last week, a status report was filed by prosecutors to delay the anticipated April 3 status report hearing to April 24. Justice Department prosecutors contend that the documents provided by Flynn’s former legal counsel “are voluminous, span numerous topics that arose during Covington’s 30-month representation of Mr. Flynn, and include many pages of sometimes difficult-to-decipher handwritten notes.”

“The government needs additional time to digest this information and any additional information that Covington may provide,” the status report stated.

“In order to allow the government adequate time to review the materials that have been produced and to request, receive, and review any follow-up information or documents, the government respectfully asks this Court to allow the government three additional weeks to provide a further status update and, if feasible, a proposed briefing schedule,” the prosecutors stated.

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Biden Administration Proposes Rule to Fortify Federal Bureaucracy Against Republican Presidency

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Joe Biden

In a strategic move, the Biden administration has unveiled a proposed rule aimed at reinforcing the left-leaning federal bureaucracy, potentially hindering future conservative policy implementations by Republican presidents. This move has raised concerns about the efficacy of democratic elections when a deep-seated bureaucracy remains largely unchanged, regardless of electoral outcomes.

Key points of the situation include:

Presidential Appointees vs. Career Bureaucrats: Of the 2.2 million federal civil workers, only 4,000 are presidential appointees. The vast majority, made up of career bureaucrats, continue in their roles from one administration to the next. This continuity is facilitated by rules that make it exceedingly difficult to discipline or replace them, resulting in a bureaucracy that tends to lean left politically.

Union Political Affiliation: A striking 95% of unionized federal employees who donate to political candidates support Democrats, according to Open Secrets, with only 5% favoring Republicans. This significant political skew among federal workers raises questions about the potential for political bias in the execution of government policies.

Obstructionism and Challenges for GOP Presidents: Some career bureaucrats have been accused of obstructing Republican presidents’ agendas, leading to policy delays and challenges. For example, during the Trump administration, career lawyers in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division declined to challenge Yale University’s discrimination against Asian American applicants, prompting Trump to seek legal counsel from other divisions. The case was subsequently dropped when Joe Biden took office.

Biden’s Countermeasures: President Biden has taken steps to protect the bureaucracy’s status quo. In October 2020, Trump issued an executive order aiming to reclassify federal workers who make policy as at-will employees, but Biden canceled it upon taking office.

Proposed Rule and Congressional Actions: The rule unveiled by the Biden administration seeks to further impede a president’s ability to reinstate Trump’s order. Additionally, some Democrats in Congress are pushing to eliminate the president’s authority to reclassify jobs entirely. This has been referred to as an attempt to “Trump-proof the federal workforce.”

Republican Candidates’ Pledge: GOP candidates such as President Donald J Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis have pledged to address this issue. According to reports from Fox News, Ramaswamy has gone further, advocating for the elimination of half or more of civil service positions, emphasizing the need for accountability.

Debate on the Merit of the Civil Service: While Democrats and their media allies argue that civil service protects merit over patronage, critics contend that the system has evolved into a form of job security for federal workers with minimal accountability. Federal employees often receive higher salaries and more substantial benefits than their private-sector counterparts.

In summary, the Biden administration’s proposed rule and broader actions to protect the federal bureaucracy have sparked a debate over the role of career bureaucrats in shaping government policy.

Republican candidates are vowing to address these concerns, highlighting the need for accountability and ensuring that government agencies work in alignment with the elected president’s agenda. This ongoing debate raises important questions about the relationship between the bureaucracy and the democratic process in the United States.

Information in this article was retrieved from Fox News.

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