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Prosecutors Ask for Flynns Attorney–Client Communications, Hint at More Charges

Prosecutors on the case against Lt. Gen Michael Flynn asked the court to give them access to Flynns ..

Prosecutors on the case against Lt. Gen Michael Flynn asked the court to give them access to Flynns communications with his former lawyers. The prosecutors suggested they are interested in information that could help them level additional charges against Flynn.

Communications with ones lawyers are normally protected by attorney-client privilege. The prosecutors argued, however, that Flynn gave up that privilege when he accused the lawyers of giving him bad advice.

“When a defendant claims that his conviction should be vacated or his sentence reduced because his counsels professional performance was so deficient that it violated the defendants constitutional rights, it follows that the defendant must have waived his attorney-client privilege in that case,” the prosecutors said in a Feb. 9 court filing (pdf).

Flynns current lawyer, Sidney Powell, noted “there are limitations” to the prosecutors argument, but offered to work it out.

“I hope we can even reach an agreement,” she told The Epoch Times via email. “Weve already provided the key documents and waived privilege as to those communications.”

In a Feb. 9 response to the court, Powell indicated Flynn will take up to two weeks to respond to the prosecutors move (pdf).

In a Feb. 10 order, the district judge, Emmet Sullivan, gave Flynn and the prosecutors until Feb. 24 to reach an agreement on “the terms of the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the authorization of disclosure of information with respect to Mr. Flynns ineffective assistance of counsel claims.”

The Plea

Flynn, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump and former head of Military Intelligence during the Obama administration, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to one count of lying to the government.

The charge stemmed from a Jan. 24, 2017, interview he gave to two FBI agents: Peter Strzok, former FBI deputy assistant director for counterintelligence operations, and Supervisory Special Agent Joe Pientka.

In his statement of offense, Flynn also admitted to lying on foreign lobbying paperwork for his now-defunct consultancy, Flynn Intel Group. He wasnt charged for this.

After Flynn hired new lawyers last year, he began to push back and is now asking the federal court to allow him to withdraw his plea. He argues the former lawyers gave him bad advice and led him to admit to crimes he didnt commit.

He pointed out that the former lawyers, from firm Covington and Burling, had a conflict of interest because it was them who prepared the foreign lobbying paperwork and it was thus in their interest to avoid blame for it and have Flynn take the blame instead.

Covingtons spokesperson previously responded by saying it cant comment on the allegations due to the attorney-client privilege.

“We do not have any further comment at this time,” the spokesperson said in a subsequent email to The Epoch Times.

Additional Charge

The prosecutors suggested in their filing that they may use information from Covington to try charging Flynn with lying in the lobbying papers if the court allows him to withdraw his plea.

Any limitation the court puts on how the attorney-client information can be used shouldnt “preclude the government from prosecuting the defendant for perjury if any information that he provided to counsel were proof of perjury in this proceeding,” they said.

They also asked the judge, “to make cRead More – Source
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