April 28, 2022
Law360 reported that the prosecution of a former business partner of ex-Trump White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was found guilty of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, is entering a contentious legal phase after a Virginia federal judge threw out a jury verdict -- for the second time -- leading to an expected showdown at the Fourth Circuit. The decision follows the Fourth Circuit's order in 2021 that overturned a U.S. District Court judge's call for a new trial on the basis that his ruling did not sufficiently justify a new trial. Schlam Stone & Dolan's Bradley Simon believes that the circuit court will reverse the judge again. Simon, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, said that even if the government loses on appeal, that ruling would not have any deterrent impact on the agency's aggressive approach to FARA enforcement. "And this isn't just the DOJ deciding on its own to dust off the FARA statute," says Simon, "I think they will continue to bring these cases, and when we have instances after instances of foreign meddling in our domestic affairs, the DOJ has every reason to bring these cases."