Court Seems Open to Allowing Judge to Scrutinize Bid to Drop Flynn Case

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court panel appeared inclined on Friday to permit a trial judge to complete his review of the Justice Department’s attempt to drop a criminal case against President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, as all three judges asked skeptical questions about a request that they intervene and order the case dismissed.

The nearly two hours of oral arguments, conducted by telephone because of the coronavirus pandemic and live-streamed over YouTube, were the latest step in an extraordinary and politically charged case against Mr. Flynn. He had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations in 2016 with the Russian ambassador before Attorney General William P. Barr decided last month to try to drop the case, a highly unusual intervention.

Rather than immediately granting the government’s request, the federal judge overseeing the matter, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, began a review of its legitimacy. He appointed John Gleeson, a former mafia prosecutor and retired federal judge, to argue against it and set arguments on the matter for July 16.

If the appeals court panel permits that process to play out, the Justice Department will have to respond to a scathing brief Mr. Gleeson submitted this week to Judge Sullivan that portrayed Mr. Barr’s decision as a “gross abuse” of power. The move undermined the rule of law by giving special favor to a presidential ally, offering a dubious rationale as a “pretext,” Mr. Gleeson wrote.