MAY 18, 2020
(COLUMBIA, S.C) – May 18, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson today joined 14 other state attorneys general in filing a brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the Michael Flynn case. The U.S. Department of Justice has decided to dismiss charges against General Flynn yet the Court has requested “friend of the court” briefs “to present arguments in opposition to the government’s Motion to Dismiss.”
Attorney General Wilson said, “The important point in this case is not General Flynn specifically but it’s about upholding the Constitutional separation of powers. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch executes the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws or decides any disputes. The courts don’t have the power to decide who is and is not prosecuted; that’s up to the executive branch.”
In this case, the Trump administration has decided to dismiss charges against Michael Flynn. The brief filed today by 15 state attorneys general argues that the Constitution gives executive power to the President of the United States. “That power includes the power to prosecute. But, just as important, it includes the power not to prosecute.”
The attorneys general go on to say that, “This Court may not order the commencement of any prosecution, and therefore may not order the continuation of what it could not initiate.” In other words, a court cannot require someone to be prosecuted in the first place so it cannot require a case that’s been dismissed to continue.
The attorneys general ask the Court to grant the United States’ motion to dismiss the charges against Flynn.
Joining Attorney General Wilson in the brief were the attorneys general of Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
You can read the brief here.
For media inquiries please contact Robert Kittle, rkittle@scag.gov or 803-734-3670
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