WASHINGTON—An attorney for former national security adviser Michael Flynn told a U.S. District Court judge Tuesday that she had recently spoken with President Trump about the case and briefed Jenna Ellis, who serves as a legal adviser to Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign. The attorney, Sidney Powell, said she asked the president “not to issue a pardon and gave him a general update on the status of the litigation.”A pardon would end Mr. Flynn’s legal jeopardy, although he appears on the precipice of winning outright dismissal of his case after the Justice Department earlier this year reversed course and asked the court to drop the case. Tuesday’s hearing is on the question of whether the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, would sign off on that effort. Judge Sullivan said he would make a ruling in the near future, a decision that could resolve one of the most controversial criminal cases in recent memory. In a testy exchange with Judge Sullivan, Ms. Powell attempted to cite executive privilege to avoid discussing the substance of her conversation with the president, a legal principle aimed at shielding some conversations from public scrutiny that has generally been recognized as applying only to close presidential advisers within the government.

Source: Wall Street Journal September 29, 2020 19:13 UTC