The case made by the amicus counsel was thoroughly and resoundingly destroyed by a DOJ attorney Hassim Mooppan who was, in my opinion, far and away the best advocate in the proceeding. But he was backed up quite nicely by Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth Kohl, who has the distinction of being the longest serving AUSA in the Distict of Columbia US Attorney’s Office, and his words are going to carry special weight with Judge Sullivan as a result. There is simply no honest way to discount Kohl as making an appearance in the case and arguing for dismissal of the action as a political move. AUSA Kohl laid out his active role in the leadership of the office in reaching the conclusion that the case should be dismissed based on evidence uncovered in the investigation being conducted by US Attorney Jensen, which AUSA Kohl called — on the record — “FBI misconduct.” //

you need to understand the “equities” of Judge Sullivan in this dispute. He’s fighting against the idea that a district court judge like himself does not have the authority to “check” what he might see as “abuses” in the decision-making process of the Executive branch AFTER they bring matters into his court. On this issue, I suspect he’d have broad support from district court judges all over the country. They are the gatekeepers to the federal court system. By asserting a strong role for the trial judge under Rule 48, Judge Sullivan — aided by Judge Gleeson — is saying to DOJ:

“You brought this case, you occupied my time, you made representations and arguments on the record to me and asked me to do certain things in my role as a district court judge, and you don’t get to just walk away from all that without an explanation that is to my satisfaction.”