A federal judge is asking Michael Flynn, his attorneys, and attorneys for the special counsel to appear in court next week on July 10th.
The hearing set for next Tuesday would be the first court appearance for Flynn since last December, when the former Defense Intelligence Agency chief appeared in a packed courtroom to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., about his lobbying during the presidential transition on a United Nations resolution critical of Israel, and about his lobbying work favorable to the Turkish government.
It would also be the first hearing before the judge currently assigned to Flynn's case, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan. A few days after Flynn's high-profile plea last year, the judge who accepted it — Rudolph Contreras — recused himself.
No official reason has ever been given by the court, but Contreras reportedly approved a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant related to the Trump-Russia investigation. In addition, text messages exchanged between a top FBI agent later removed from that investigation, Peter Strzok, indicate that he was friendly with Contreras.
Last week, attorneys filed a joint motion with the court indicating Flynn was not yet ready for sentencing but asking the court to prepare a pre-sentencing report.
The pre-sentencing report is an investigation into whether a person’s background may warrant a harsher or more lenient sentence, takes 70 to 90 days to prepare and is a necessary step in the federal system before sentencing. However, prosecutors are not required to set a sentencing date even after the report is complete.
That request led Sullivan to ask both sides to file a new statement about why the report should be ordered up without the usual procedure of setting a sentencing hearing at the same time.
(...)
The new submission Monday morning didn't shed much light on Flynn's role in Mueller's investigation or why sentencing the retired Army general now would be problematic.
"Although this matter is not ready for sentencing, the parties intend to request that a sentencing hearing be scheduled promptly once the matter becomes ready for sentencing," prosecutors and defense attorneys wrote in their joint filing. "The parties believed this approach would put the Court in a position to schedule a sentencing hearing, if the Court were to so choose, on a more expedited schedule at such time as the matter becomes ready for sentencing."
Something about that language seems to have irked Sullivan, prompting him to call in lawyers for both sides, plus the defendant. "Mr. Flynn is directed to attend," the judge's brief order said.
Judge sets hearing in Flynn case (Politico)