FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2020
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Attorney General Steve Marshall Joins Coalition in Support of Justice Department’s Dismissal of Case Against Michael Flynn
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a 15-state coalition of Attorneys General urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to immediately grant the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss its case against General Michael Flynn.
“The only branch of government given constitutional authorization to prosecute is the executive,” Attorney General Marshall said. “The court’s assumption of the role of prosecutor in the Flynn case betrays a lack of regard for the separation of powers – a doctrine adopted with the express purpose of protecting the people against tyranny.”
On May 7, the Justice Department moved to drop its false-statements case against General Flynn, President Trump’s former national-security adviser. Rather than granting the DOJ’s motion to dismiss, the court delayed a ruling and solicited amicus briefs from third-party “individuals and
organizations.” The court then took the further step of appointing an amicus curiae “to present arguments in opposition to” dismissal.
The 15-state coalition of Attorneys General filed an amicus brief in support of dismissal, arguing that the court was acting outside the judicial power granted it by the U.S. Constitution.
“Just as the executive must respect the decisions the Constitution leaves to the judiciary,” conclude the Attorneys General, “so must the judiciary respect the decisions the Constitution leaves to the executive – that is what gives meaning to the ‘concept of a government of separate and coordinate powers.'”
The amicus brief, filed by the Attorney General of the State of Ohio, also includes the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
A copy of the amicus brief can be read here.
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