LDAD Motion For Leave Amicus Brief
LDAD Motion For Leave Amicus Brief
LDAD Motion For Leave Amicus Brief
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No. 20-5143
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moves for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae in opposition to the petition for a
writ of mandamus. The certificate of parties and amici and disclosure statement
required by Circuit Rule 27(a)(4) are provided in the addendum to this motion.
adherence to the rule of law. Since its founding in January 2019, LDAD has issued
Open Letters and statements calling for adherence by public officials to the rule of
law and encouraging our fellow lawyers, the leaders of national, state, and local bar
associations, and the legal academy to join us in speaking out against threats to the
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rule of law. LDAD’s Open Letters have been signed by over 1500 lawyers, including
former federal and state judges, former United States Attorneys, law deans and
professors from around the country. Our Open Letters and statements are available
leave to file a brief as amicus curiae in opposition to the Government’s Fed. R. Crim.
P. 48(a) motion in the District Court. The District Court has not yet ruled on LDAD’s
motion.
remedy of an order directing the district judge to grant a pending Government motion
to dismiss with prejudice a serious charge to which a former senior federal official
has twice pled guilty. The Government’s stated reasons for do not withstand scrutiny
and the motion itself directly implicates the rule of law and constitutes a substantial
does not satisfy the exacting standard for issuance of such a writ, for the reasons set
3. Because Petitioner and the Government are aligned with respect to the
petition, the normal adversary process is not functioning. The views of amici that –
like LDAD – are associated with neither side are therefore necessary and appropriate
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For the foregoing reasons, LDAD respectfully moves for leave to file the brief
Respectfully submitted,
Certificate of Service
I certify that I have, this 27th day of May, 2020, filed the foregoing motion
via the Court’s CM/ECF system, which will send notice thereof to all counsel of
record.
Eugene R. Fidell
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ADDENDUM
Except for LDAD and the other amici who have filed in this Court, all parties
and amici appearing before the District Court and in this Court are listed in the
petition. The District Court has not yet ruled on LDAD’s motion below for leave to
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Nor does it own or control any other entity. Its purpose is to foster adherence to the
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No. 20-5143
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DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
other entity. Nor does it own or control any other entity. Its purpose is to foster ad-
A. Parties and amici. Except for LDAD and the other amici who have filed in this
Court, all parties and amici appearing before the District Court and in this Court are
listed in the petition. The District Court has not yet ruled on LDAD’s motion below
amicus curiae, ECF No. 205, and a minute order allowing that amicus to appear pro
hac vice and setting a briefing schedule. He also seeks an order requiring the District
Court to grant a pending Government motion to dismiss the information with preju-
dice under Fed. R. Crim. P. 48(a), ECF No. 198, and assigning the case to another
C. Related cases. LDAD is unaware of any related cases other than the proceed-
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Table of Contents
Facts .......................................................................................................................... 2
Argument .................................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 11
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Table of Authorities*
Cases:
Statutes:
*
Cases and authorities chiefly relied on are marked with an asterisk.
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Rules of Court:
Miscellaneous:
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501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its purpose is to foster adherence to the rule
The petition seeks, among other things, an order directing the District Court
to grant a Government motion under Rule 48(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure to dismiss with prejudice charges under 18 U.S.C. §1001 for material
false statements in the course of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in
the 2016 presidential election. Petitioner pled guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
The petition raises grave rule of law issues. Granting it would the threaten
public confidence in the administration of justice that this and other Article III courts
have sought to foster for more than two centuries. To order the District Court to grant
the Government’s motion before it has had an opportunity to develop a proper rec-
ord, hear from counsel, and render a considered decision would needlessly depart
from the normal course of proceedings and, on the merits, would effectively nullify
the requirement that such a motion be granted only with leave of court. Whether the
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suited. Dueling briefs are not a substitute for the normal course of record-develop-
ment.
counsel for any party authored this brief in whole or in part or contributed funding
to it or in connection with its preparation. No person other than LDAD and its coun-
Questions Presented
Facts
Petitioner was charged in 2017 under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 with making a false
statement to the Government. The District Court accepted his guilty plea in both
the charges with prejudice. This motion was based on pages of alleged factual asser-
tions, none of which had been previously presented to the District Court. At the same
time, the Government’s motion came against the backdrop of dozens of Tweets and
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Petitioner is a priority for the President. For example, in spite of evidence of wrong-
doing by Petitioner and his two guilty pleas, the President has called the prosecution
a “witch hunt” and said that the officials who investigated Petitioner were them-
selves guilty of treason. He has further stated that he didn’t think Petitioner had done
anything wrong, and that he was charged in order to “take down a president.”
(a) The Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress
may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective
jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.
Summary of Argument
The petition should be dismissed because Petitioner does not have the requi-
site clear and indisputable right to relief. There is no reason to interfere with the
District Court’s ongoing consideration of the Government’s Rule 48(a) motion. Al-
lowing the District Court to develop a record, hear from counsel, and prepare a rea-
soned decision will afford both Petitioner and the Government a better basis for
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deciding on their future course of action, and will, importantly, provide this Court
and, should it come to that, the Supreme Court, a firmer basis on which to conduct
appellate review.
Argument
ceed with the prosecution of a case against a defendant, under the principle of nolle
prosequi. In 1944, with the adoption of Rule 48(a), the Supreme Court fundamen-
tally altered that practice by requiring leave of court for any such dismissal in federal
court.1 Numerous cases since the adoption of Rule 48(a) make clear that the role of
the courts in granting leave for any such dismissal is to ensure that the dismissal is
consistent with the law and reflects good faith decision-making by the Government.2
1
Advisory Comm. Note to Fed. R. Crim. P. 48 (1944).
2
United States v. James, 861 F. Supp. 151, 155 (D.D.C. 1994) (under Rule 48(a),
“as considerable precedent has emphasized, the only protection against the abuse of
prosecutorial discretion lies with the court”).
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The rule is “intended to allow the courts to consider the ‘public interest, fair
these broader goals, a district court may act where a prosecutor acts in bad faith, or
the public interest.’”3 Among the uses that are seen as contrary to the public interest
is the strategic use of Rule 48(a) to correct what the government perceives to be
Rule 48(a) does not “confer on the Judiciary the power and authority to usurp
or interfere with the good faith exercise of the Executive power to take care that the
laws are faithfully executed. . . . The exercise of its discretion with respect to the
contrary to manifest public interest.”5 However, when it makes a Rule 48(a) motion,
the government “is under an obligation to supply sufficient reasons — reasons that
3
Id. at 155-56 (quoting United States v. Strayer, 846 F.2d 1262, 1265 (10th Cir.
1988)).
4
United States v. Pitts, 331 F.R.D. 199, 205 (D.D.C. 2019) (noting that strategic use
of Rule 48(a) is not permitted “simply because the government seeks to cure its self-
inflicted defects in this case”).
5
United States v. Cowan, 524 F.2d 504, 513 (5th Cir. 1975).
6
United States v. Salinas, 693 F.2d 348, 352 (5th Cir. 1982) (quoting United States
v. Hamm, 659 F.2d 624, 631 n.23 (5th Cir. 1981)).
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presumption of good faith when the government seeks dismissal under Rule 48(a),
that presumption is rebutted when evidence is presented that the motion is not made
in good faith. “In such a case, Rule 48(a) mandates that the court deny the Govern-
ment’s motion to dismiss the indictment: ‘under the discretion yielded to [the court]
by [Rule] 48(a) to “check [an] abuse of Executive prerogative,” the court can and
must deny the motion to dismiss.’”7 While the government enjoys significant dis-
cretion in deciding whether to make a Rule 48(a) motion, the Court should not “serve
Petitioner cites United States v. Fokker Services B.V., 818 F.3d 733 (D.C. Cir.
2016), for the proposition that courts “generally” do not second guess decisions by
and in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, courts presume that [prosecu-
tors] have properly discharged their official duties.’”9 Given the substantial evidence
of a lack of good faith on the part of the Government in deciding to dismiss this case,
7
Salinas, 693 F.2d at 352 (quoting In re Washington, 544 F.2d 203, 209 (5th Cir.
1976) (en banc), rev’d on other grounds sub nom. Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S.
22 (1977) (citation omitted)).
8
United States v. Ammidown, 497 F.2d 615, 622 (D.C. Cir. 1973).
9
Fokker, 813 F.3d at 741-42 (quoting United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464
(1996)) (internal quotation marks, quotation and alterations omitted).
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the district court must have the opportunity to determine whether this constitutes
“clear evidence” that the Government did not properly discharge its official duties.
More importantly, unlike Fokker, this case does not involve any already-made
and, thus, reviewable decision on the Government’s motion to drop the charges. The
District Court has yet to rule on the Rule 48(a) motion. In theory, it could go either
way. Thus far, all the District Court has done is announce its determination to care-
fully examine the facts and circumstances pertinent to the decision it must eventually
It is obviously premature for this Court to inquire into the basis of a decision
the District Court has yet to make. A fortiori, it is inappropriate to order it to rule
one way or the other. After all, Rule 48(a) is addressed to the discretion of the Dis-
trict Court; this Court’s function is one of appellate review applying the conventional
standard for matters that are reviewable for abuse of discretion. To grant a manda-
mus would be inconsistent with Rule 48(a)’s requirement that the court exercise dis-
cretion when it decides whether to grant such a motion. If this Court were to grant a
ment would be meaningless. It would be odd indeed to preempt a decision that the
law thus entrusts in the first instance to the trial court. If such a case exists in the
context of Rule 48(a), we have not found it and Petitioner has not cited it.
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Perhaps most disturbing about Petitioner’s demand that this Court decide the
Rule 48(a) issue in the first instance is that this Court would have to evaluate the
host of factual matters he asserts as grounds for granting the Government’s motion.
This Court would be determining the truth of those multifarious allegations and eval-
uating their relevance and probative value, without being able to take sworn testi-
mony under oath in open court, evaluate witnesses’ demeanor, and consider the ev-
The District Court is the proper forum for making this decision in the first
instance. If it denies the Rule 48(a) motion, an appeal will lie as of right and the
normal standards for appellate review would apply. Proceeding in the usual manner
preserves the proper allocation of responsibilities between trial and appellate courts
and avoids the egregious misuse of the writ of mandamus Petitioner seeks. Manda-
mus is certainly not appropriate when it is transparently used as a substitute for the
A court that is asked to grant a writ of mandamus must be satisfied that the
petitioner has demonstrated “that his right to issuance of the writ is clear and indis-
putable, the party seeking issuance of the writ must have no other adequate means
to attain the relief he desires, and the issuing court, in the exercise of its discretion,
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must be satisfied that the writ is appropriate under the circumstances.”10 “Mandamus
The mere fact that a case has generated a great deal of public attention, that the de-
fendant was previously a high public official, or that the moving papers claim that
the circumstances constitute an emergency, does not turn the case into an extraordi-
A petitioner whose case in still before a district court on a motion that has not
yet been decided because of unresolved factual and legal issues cannot reasonably
mandamus. A petitioner who has the right to appeal a decision on a motion to dis-
miss if the decision is adverse clearly has an adequate means to attain the relief he
desires. Far from presenting a compelling “clear and indisputable” case for appellate
which the District Court has not even ruled is manifestly premature.
10
In re Al-Nashiri, 921 F.3d 224, 233 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks
and brackets omitted) (quoting Cheney v. United States Dist. Ct., 542 U.S. 367, 380
(2004)).
11
In re Al Hawsawi¸ 955 F. 3d 152, 157 (quoting In re Khadr, 823 F. 3d 92, 97
(D.C. Cir. 2016) (quoting Cheney v. United States Dist. Ct., 542 U.S. at 380)).
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The deficient basis for Petitioner’s claim on the merits aside, three additional
factors indicate that he does not have the requisite clear and indisputable right to a
First, the equitable doctrine of clean hands applies to the writ of mandamus.
United States ex rel. Turner v. Fisher, 222 U.S. 204, 209 (1911) (mem.); e.g., Jack-
son v. McCall, 509 F. Supp. 504, 506-07 (D.D.C. 1981). Given the District Court’s
stated concern that Petitioner may have committed perjury in the course of the pro-
ceedings below, this Court should be especially loath to grant a writ of mandamus
on him to show not only that he had a clear and indisputable right to dismissal of the
information, he would also need to show that that he had a clear and indisputable
right to a dismissal with prejudice. This is plainly an extremely tall order on manda-
mus, and he has not even come close to making such a showing so as to bind the
Finally, the structure and text of Rule 48(a) suggest that it does not apply after
pleas have been accepted. In United States v. Smith, 467 F.3d 785, 789 (D.C. Cir.
2006), which Petitioner nowhere cites, this Court expressly did not reach the
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question “whether Rule 48 alone can properly be used to vacate a final conviction.”
Whether or not the advanced posture of the case alone is fatal, nothing in Smith
suggests that timing either cannot or should not be taken into account in deciding
whether to grant a Rule 48(a) motion. Here again, Petitioner has failed to make out
a clear and indisputable right. Quite the contrary, Smith suggests that a major inter-
pretive issue that is directly pertinent to the disposition of the Government’s motion
and Petitioner’s right to a writ of mandamus is unresolved. That issue too ought to
For these additional reasons, by definition, Petitioner does not have a clear
Conclusion
Because compelling the District Court to grant the Government’s Rule 48(a)
responsibilities as between this Court and the District Court, and because Petitioner
has fallen far short of demonstrating a clear and indisputable right to relief, the peti-
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Respectfully submitted,
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Certificate of Service
I certify that I have, this 27th day of May, 2020, filed the foregoing brief via
the Court’s CM/ECF system, which will send notice thereof to all counsel of record.
Eugene R. Fidell
Certificate of Compliance
29(a)(3) because it contains 2548 words, excluding the parts exempted by Fed. R.
32(a)(5) and the type style requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(6) because it has
Eugene R. Fidell
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