Emmet Sullivan

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Emmet G. Sullivan
Image of Emmet G. Sullivan

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the District of Columbia (senior status)
Tenure

2021 - Present

Years in position

3

Prior offices
United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Bildung

Bachelor's

Howard University, 1968

Law

Howard University School of Law, 1971

Personal
Birthplace
District of Columbia

Emmet G. Sullivan is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He joined the court in 1994 after being nominated by Bill Clinton.[1]

Sullivan assumed senior status on April 3, 2021.[2]

Early life and education

A native of Washington, D.C., Sullivan graduated from Howard University with his B.A. in 1968 and his J.D. in 1971.[1]

Professional career

Judicial career

District of Columbia

Nomination Tracker
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Nominee Information
Name: Emmet G. Sullivan
Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Progress
Confirmed 85 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: March 22, 1994
ApprovedAABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: May 12, 1994
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: June 14, 1994 
ApprovedAConfirmed: June 15, 1994
ApprovedAVote: Voice vote

Sullivan was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on March 22, 1994, to a seat vacated by Louis Oberdorfer. The American Bar Association rated Sullivan Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Sullivan's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 12, 1994, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on June 14, 1994. Sullivan was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on June 15, 1994, and he received his commission the next day.[1][3][4]

Sullivan assumed senior status on April 3, 2021.[2]

Noteworthy cases

Trump administration asylum policy
See also: United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Grace, et al. v. Matthew G. Whitaker, 18-cv-01853 (EGS))

On June 11, 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that individuals who were victims of private crime, including domestic and gang violence, in their home country would no longer automatically qualify for asylum in the U.S.[5] In response, 12 adults and children who claimed to have been sexually abused, kidnapped, and beaten in their home countries challenged the policy.[6]

In his opinion, Sullivan wrote that the Trump administration's asylum policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). He wrote that the policy was "inconsistent with the intent of Congress as articulated in the INA. And because it is the will of Congress—not the whims of the Executive—that determines the standard for expedited removal, the Court finds that those policies are unlawful."[7]

Former national security advisor Michael Flynn's sentencing

Judge Sullivan oversaw the case in which former national security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to the FBI about contacting a Russian ambassador after President Donald Trump won the 2016 election.[8]

On December 18, 2018, Sullivan asked Flynn if he wanted to wait to be sentenced until his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation was complete. Flynn agreed.[9] On March 12, 2019, the office of the special counsel released a status report indicating that Flynn's cooperation with the office was complete.[10] Flynn was scheduled for sentencing on December 18, 2019. On November 27, 2019, Sullivan postponed Flynn's sentencing a second time pending the release of a report from the FBI inspector general regarding the investigation.[11]

In December 2019, Sullivan set a new sentencing date of January 28, 2020.[12] Sullivan then postponed Flynn's sentencing again to February 27, following Flynn's withdrawal of his plea.[13] On February 10, 2020, Sullivan canceled Flynn's Feb. 27 sentencing without setting a new hearing date.[14]

On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice filed a motion to drop the charges against Flynn.[15] In response, Sullivan issued an order on May 12, 2020, indicating that he would accept briefs from outside parties regarding the case. Sullivan wrote, "[A]t the appropriate time, the Court will enter a Scheduling Order governing the submission of any amicus curiae briefs."[16]

In response to Sullivan's May 7 order, lawyers representing Flynn filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 19, 2020. The appeal requested that the appellate court order the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case and reverse Sullivan's order allowing amicus curiae briefs. The appeal also requested that the district court reassign the case to another judge for any future legal proceedings.[17]

On May 21, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered Sullivan to respond to Flynn's challenge to Sullivan's refusal to dismiss the case. The panel consisted of judges Karen Henderson, Robert Leon Wilkins, and Neomi Rao.[18] In a hearing on June 12, the appellate court did not order Sullivan to dismiss the case per the Justice Department's request. Judge Henderson said of the July 16 hearing that Sullivan scheduled on the motion to dismiss the case, "There’s nothing wrong with him holding a hearing; there’s no authority I know of that says he can’t hold a hearing."[19]

The Department of Justice filed a brief with Sullivan on June 17 stating that Sullivan and his court did not have the right to review the prosecution's decision to drop the charges against Flynn. The prosecutors wrote, "Even if a court believes that a refusal to prosecute rests on an improper motive or amounts to a ‘gross abuse,’ it would lack any practical mechanism for forcing the executive to prosecute a case against its will."[20]

On June 24, 2020, the panel from the DC Court of Appeals voted two to one to issue a writ of mandamus ordering Sullivan to drop the case. Judges Henderson and Rao voted in favor of the order; Judge Wilkins dissented.[21] Sullivan responded by filing a petition with the appellate court on July 9, requesting that the full bench review the panel's decision.[22]

On July 30, the full United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order vacating the June 24 decision by the court's three-judge panel to drop the case. The order scheduled oral arguments in the case to take place before the full court on August 11.[23]

On August 31, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, by an eight to two vote, rejected Flynn's request to immediately dismiss his case. Judge Emmet Sullivan will continue hearing the case. The court rejected Flynn's request to remove Sullivan over allegations of bias.[24]

On September 1, 2020, Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Flynn's lawyers, the Department of Justice, and a court-appointed lawyer to file a joint status report by September 21, 2020. The report included suggested next steps and "a proposal for holding oral arguments on the Justice Department’s request to drop its prosecution of Flynn."[25]

Judge Sullivan did not issue a ruling during Flynn's court hearing on September 29, 2020. He requested that lawyers file additional documents within a week of the hearing.[26]

Flynn's attorneys submitted court papers on October 7, 2020, requesting the recusal of Sullivan. The attorneys alleged that Sullivan held a bias against Flynn. According to USA Today, Flynn's attorneys said, "His [Sullivan's] continued presence in the case has become a national scandal undermining confidence in the impartiality of the federal judicial system and faith in the rule of law."[27]

On October 23, 2020, Judge Sullivan ordered the Department of Justice to certify the accuracy of all submitted evidence by October 26, 2020. In early October, the Department of Justice confirmed that it had accidentally altered evidence by forgetting to remove inaccurately dated sticky notes from FBI documents.[28]

President Trump announced Flynn's full pardon via Twitter on November 25, 2020.[29] On November 30 of that year, the Department of Justice released Flynn's pardon and submitted a court filing requesting the dismissal of Flynn's criminal case.[30] According to CNN, the pardon cleared "Flynn from anything related to the investigation the FBI conducted into his contacts with Russia; his cooperation during the Mueller investigation and other cases Mueller could have investigated; and his disclosures about secretly lobbying for Turkey in 2016 before becoming Trump's first national security adviser."[31]

On December 8, 2020, Sullivan dismissed Flynn's criminal case. As a result of Trump's presidential pardon, Sullivan said, "Because the law recognizes the President's political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot."[32]

Conviction of Senator Ted Stevens voided (2008-2012)
See also: United States District Court for the District of Columbia (In Re: Special Proceedings, 09-0198)

In October 2008, Senator Ted Stevens was convicted of seven counts of corruption regarding unreported gifts. Following the conviction, Stevens noted the "repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct in [the] case."[33]

In April 2009, the United States Department of Justice asked Judge Sullivan to drop the charges against Senator Stevens, in the face of problems found in the case constructed by the prosecution.[34]

During the hearing for the conviction dismissal on April 7, 2009, Judge Sullivan dropped the conviction. In addition, he soundly criticized the prosecutors in the case, stating:

" In nearly 25 years on the bench, I have never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I have seen in this case. Again and again, both before and during the trial in this case, the government was caught making false representations and not meeting its discovery obligations.[35] [36] ”

Sullivan also appointed an attorney to pursue an outside investigation of the prosecutors and called for criminal contempt charges to be brought against the team.[35]

In the investigation, concluded in March 2012, it was determined that the prosecutors withheld evidence and tampered with witnesses, among other misconduct.[37]

See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Emmet G. Sullivan," accessed May 10, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Washington Post, "U.S. judge in Flynn case takes senior status, joining wave of jurists allowing Biden to name successors," February 4, 2021
  3. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1224 — Emmet G. Sullivan — The Judiciary," accessed May 10, 2017
  4. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 103rd Congress," accessed May 10, 2017
  5. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Sessions Rules Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Can’t Always Win Asylum," June 11, 2018
  6. ↑ Politico, "Judge strikes down Trump policy blocking domestic violence victims from asylum," December 19, 2018
  7. ↑ United States District Court for the District of Columbia, "Opinion, Grace, et al. v. Matthew G. Whitaker," December 19, 2018
  8. ↑ The Washington Post, "Federal judge seeks documents related to Michael Flynn’s January 2017 interview with FBI agents," December 12, 2018
  9. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Mike Flynn Sentencing Unexpectedly Delayed," December 18, 2018
  10. ↑ CNBC, "Former Trump advisor Michael Flynn’s cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller is ‘complete’," March 13, 2019
  11. ↑ Politico, "Judge delays Flynn sentencing to wait for Russia IG report," November 27, 2019
  12. ↑ Politico, "Flynn set for Jan. 28 sentencing after judge rejects claims ex-Trump aide was tricked," December 16, 2019
  13. ↑ The Hill, "Flynn sentencing delayed as he seeks to withdraw guilty plea," January 16, 2020
  14. ↑ The Hill, "Judge delays Flynn sentencing for second time," February 10, 2020
  15. ↑ United States v. Flynn, "Motion to Dismiss Case," May 7, 2020
  16. ↑ Politico, "Judge slows down effort to drop Flynn case," May 12, 2020
  17. ↑ Washington Post, "Flynn attorneys ask court to order judge to dismiss conviction," May 19, 2020
  18. ↑ Law.com, "In Flynn Case, Emmet Sullivan Will Brief DC Circuit About Power of Trial Judges," May 21, 2020
  19. ↑ Washington Post, "Court appears reluctant to order judge to immediately drop criminal case against Michael Flynn," June 12, 2020
  20. ↑ New York Times, "Justice Dept. Defends Dropping Flynn Case and Again Asks Judge to Dismiss It," June 17, 2020
  21. ↑ New York Times, "Appeals Court Panel Orders End to Michael Flynn Case," June 24, 2020
  22. ↑ Politico, "Flynn judge calls on appeals court to reconsider dismissal order," July 9, 2020
  23. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "Document #1854249," July 30, 2020
  24. ↑ Politico, "Appeals court deals setback to Flynn’s attempt to end DOJ case against him," August 31, 2020
  25. ↑ CNBC, "Judge forges ahead with Michael Flynn case after ex-Trump aide loses bid for quick dismissal," September 1, 2020
  26. ↑ The New York Times, "Judge Scrutinizes Justice Dept. Request to Drop Michael Flynn Case," September 29, 2020
  27. ↑ USA Today, "Michael Flynn's lawyers say judge is 'hostile,' should recuse himself from Trump ally's case," October 7, 2020
  28. ↑ Politico, "Judge orders Justice Department to verify its filings in Flynn case," October 23, 2020
  29. ↑ Twitter, "Donald J. Trump," November 25, 2020
  30. ↑ Politico, "’Any and all possible offenses’: Trump pardon grants Flynn a sweeping reprieve," November 30, 2020
  31. ↑ CNN, "Justice Department releases Trump's pardon of Flynn and asks court for dismissal," November 30, 2020
  32. ↑ CBS News, "Judge formally ends Michael Flynn's legal fight," December 8, 2020
  33. ↑ Fox News, "Sen. Ted Stevens Convicted on 7 Corruption Counts, Pledges to Pursue Campaign," October 28, 2008
  34. ↑ NPR, "Justice Dept. Seeks To Void Stevens' Conviction," April 1, 2009
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Politico, "Stevens judge calls for DOJ probe," April 7, 2009
  36. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  37. ↑ ABC News, "Sen. Ted Stevens Prosecutors Hid Evidence, Report Concludes," March 16, 2012
Political offices
Preceded by:
Louis Oberdorfer 		U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
1994-2021 		Succeeded by:
Jia Cobb



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