The lawyer representing Michael Flynn in the case against the former national security adviser demanded federal prosecutors turn over two cellphones used by a shadowy professor whose role in the Trump-Russia investigation has long been shrouded in mystery.
Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell, filed a motion on Tuesday seeking the devices that belonged to Maltese Professor Joseph Mifsud, claiming that they contained imperative information to the defense of her client.
“This information is material, exculpatory, and relevant to the defense of Mr. Flynn,” Powell wrote in the court filing.
She claimed the phones could contain specific information related to Western intelligence being “tasked against [Flynn] likely as early as 2014 to arrange – unbeknownst to him – ‘connections’ with certain Russians that they would then use against him in their false claims.”
She added: “The phones were used by Mr. Joseph Mifsud.”
The filing amounted to the latest salvo in an escalating battle between his defense and the government, with Flynn’s sentencing still up in the air for his guilty plea over making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The government said in late August that the case was ready for sentencing, after months of delays. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has set a Dec. 18 sentencing date, though it's unclear whether it could be pushed off again.
Powell told Fox News on Wednesday that the Justice Department is currently in possession of Mifsud's phones.
When asked whether she thought federal prosecutors would comply with her request, she said: "I think the prosecutors in our case will look for them, but given their prior responses, I expect them to continue to say they are not relevant."
Powell has said that Flynn's case is “not ready for sentencing,” citing their timeline of receiving necessary files and documents that would be critical to the defense of her client. Powell also claimed in an earlier filing that the government “continues to deny our request for security clearances” needed to review classified material pertaining to Flynn, including transcripts and recordings of phone calls that “supposedly underpin the charges against” him.
The DOJ attorneys have argued, though, that Powell’s requests “seek access to classified information that may or may not exist.”
Powell, however, told Fox News Wednesday that Emmett G. Sullivan, the judge presiding over the case, would not rule on the motion until their hearing on Nov. 7.
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Flynn lawyer wants prosecutors to turn over cellphones from mysterious professor linked to Russia probe
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