Federal prosecutors have requested to move forward with the sentencing of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn after Flynn's cooperation with the government stalled. Government lawyers hope to complete the sentencing phase in either October or November, but Flynn's lawyer is arguing for more time, claiming that prosecutors have withheld relevant information from her team.
"As new counsel, we have only recently received the entire file, which occupies 13 hard drives, comprised of more than 300,000 documents, and we are still working with prior counsel to tie up some loose ends," Sidney Powell wrote, adding that there's still "much information" she doesn't have.
The government claimed otherwise, writing that it “is not aware of any issues that require the Court’s resolution prior to sentencing."
When Flynn shook up his defense team and switched to Powell, many deemed it a sign of rough waters ahead. Flynn had been cooperating in the government’s prosecution of one of his former colleagues, who was found guilty of illegal lobbying on behalf of Turkey last month. Ultimately, prosecutors scrapped the idea of putting Flynn on the stand.
Powell has been openly critical of both the Mueller investigation and the federal judge overseeing the case, Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan, who notably admonished Flynn for betraying his country at a sentencing hearing gone south last December, will now be charged with deciding how much weight to give Powell's argument. Maybe choosing a lawyer who criticized the judge overseeing his case wasn't Flynn’s smartest move after all.