Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (center) arrives for sentencing at federal court in Washington, with attorney Robert Kelner (right)  on Dec. 18, 2018. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM)

Michael Flynn, the former Trump administration national security adviser, on Monday bolstered his criminal defense legal team in Washington, where he is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI amid the special counsel's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Flynn recently fired his Covington & Burling defense lawyers and hired Dallas-based attorney Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor and conservative commentator who has assailed the special counsel's prosecution team.

Powell, who has made regular appearances on conservative TV and radio shows over the past two years, formally entered her appearance Monday afternoon in Washington's federal trial court. Appearing with Powell as co-counsel in the Washington case is Jesse Binnall, a name partner at the litigation boutique Harvey & Binnall in Alexandria, Virginia.

Binnall filed papers Monday asking the Washington trial court to let Powell appear in Flynn's case. Powell isn't admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, so Binnall's motion was required as a sponsoring member of the bar of the D.C. federal court.

Monday's filings came after Powell's name and signature appeared on a court document last week as Flynn's lawyer but before she had filed a notice of appearance. Sullivan subsequently gave Powell until 5 p.m. Monday to file her appearance notice.

Flynn is due in court with his new legal team on June 24 for what U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has scheduled as a status conference. Sullivan was prepared to sentence Flynn last December but continued the hearing after raising the possibility he might sentence Flynn to prison.

Flynn, then represented by Covington & Burling partner Robert Kelner, was given more time to show the scope of his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and his prosecution team. Prosecutors were backing Flynn's push for a non-prison term. Sullivan has not set a new sentencing date.

Sidney Powell. (Courtesy photo)

It's unclear whether Powell will try to undo Flynn's plea deal, or otherwise mount any new confrontation against Mueller, who recently closed the special counsel's office following the culmination of an investigation that showed connections between the Trump administration and Russian figures, and the president's purported efforts to interfere with the probe.

Powell's arrival in Flynn's case drew praise from Trump on Twitter, where he called Powell a “great lawyer” and said “best wishes and good luck to them both.”

Flynn's new legal team will have to come up to speed with what Powell last week called “voluminous” records. Those records have been in the possession of Flynn's lawyers at Covington, the Washington-based Big Law firm. Kelner leads the firm's political and election law practice, and several other lawyers were on the Flynn defense with him. Kelner has not commented on Flynn terminating Covington.

In a Virginia federal case where Flynn is a potential witness, Flynn hired Powell and Florida-based solo attorney W. William Hodes. The team additionally includes Binnall, Paris Sorrell and Philip Harvey of the Alexandria, Virginia, litigation boutique Harvey & Binnall.

Hodes formerly clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the 1996-1997 term. His fellow clerks that term were Laura Brill, David Codell and Elizabeth Magill, who teaches at Stanford Law School. Codell is a solo practitioner in Los Angeles, and Brill is a partner at Los Angeles-based Kendall Brill Kelly. Hodes is a professor emeritus at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Flynn is expected to testify against former business associate Bijan Kian, also known as Bijan Rafiekian, during a trial in Virginia that is currently scheduled to start July 15. Kian is represented by lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, in addition to Robert Trout of the Washington-based firm Trout Cacheris & Solomon.

Kian was charged in 2018 with conspiracy, acting as an illegal agent of Turkey and lying to the FBI. Kian is accused of trying to influence U.S. politicians to extradite exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing a failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Read more:

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