Flynn judge calls on appeals court to reconsider dismissal order

A federal court judge is putting up a highly unusual fight against an appeals court ruling seeking to immediately shut down the prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn for making false statements in the FBI’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Lawyers for U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan filed a petition Thursday asking the full bench of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a 2-1 decision a panel of that court issued last month, directing Sullivan to dispense with his plans for a hearing and instead grant the government’s request to drop the case.

Sullivan’s petition says the steps he was taking are commonplace and denounces the appeals court’s earlier decision to intercede as “a dramatic break from precedent that threatens the orderly administration of justice.”