Judge Emmet Sullivan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

In 2014, years before she became a regular guest on Fox News ripping the Russia investigation, Sidney Powell took aim at prosecutors in a 456-page book titled “Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice.”

A former federal prosecutor, Powell said she wrote the book “after seeing a core group of federal prosecutors break all the rules, make up crimes, hide evidence, and send innocent people to prison.” She also named the judges who, as she put it in a synopsis of the book, “turned a blind eye” to prosecutorial misconduct.

But she had kind words for one judge, Emmet Sullivan, whom she would later call the “judicial hero” of her book. So she sent Sullivan a copy.

At a hearing Monday in Washington's federal trial court, Powell found herself before Sullivan as the new defense lawyer for Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser for President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI. At the hearing's outset, Sullivan disclosed in the spirit of “transparency that Powell said sent him the book, which included a “very complimentary” section about him, he said.

“If anyone has any problems with that, speak now,” Sullivan said. Nobody spoke up.

On the bench since 1994, Sullivan rose to national prominence for his role presiding over the Justice Department's botched case against Ted Stevens, the late Republican senator from Alaska who was accused of filing false financial disclosure forms in the U.S. Senate. The case imploded on prosecutors over claims of misconduct, and Sullivan's orders—at one time holding government lawyers in contempt—would spur a broader dialogue on government ethics and lead to increased training for all federal prosecutors.

In the book, Powell praised Sullivan, and she would later write blog posts describing him as “a federal judge who has the integrity and fortitude to seek justice.”

“An experienced trial judge, Sullivan was a distinguished man and widely held in high regard. He was no ordinary federal judge; he had worked hard all his life on several different courts and had been appointed by three presidents representing both political parties. … He had great respect for the rule of law and strived to apply it equally and fairly in all cases in his courtroom,” Powell wrote in her book.

The late Ted Stevens leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in 2008. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi / NLJ

Powell took up Flynn's case earlier this month after the former national security adviser, who'd previously served as an Army general, fired his defense team at Covington & Burling. In a court filing to formally withdraw from the case, Covington partner Robert Kelner gave no indication of why Flynn had terminated the firm.

Flynn appeared at Monday's hearing wearing a blue shirt and red tie. Early in the hearing, when Sullivan asked him how he was doing, Flynn responded, “Great.”

In December, Flynn appeared in court for sentencing, with prosecutors backing his request for leniency. But the hearing was delayed after Sullivan raised the specter of a prison sentence, expressing his “disgust” and “disdain” for Flynn's actions. At one point, Sullivan would even question whether Flynn had committed “treason.” (The judge later walked back those remarks.)

In one subsequent tweet, Powell said Sullivan was “way off.”

Sidney Powell. Courtesy photo

“He had the 'facts' completely wrong. Completely. It was horrible. He effectively apologized after break but too late and not enough,” she tweeted.

In December, Flynn's defense lawyers requested the delay in sentencing to allow Flynn to “eke out the last modicum of cooperation,” Kelner said. Flynn is expected to testify next month in Virginia federal court in a criminal case against a past business associate, Bijan Kian. Prosecutors charged Kian with acting as an agent of Turkey without disclosing the work to the U.S. Justice Department, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Powell on Monday affirmed that Flynn still plans to testify in that case. “That cooperation is fully ongoing,” she said.

Brandon Van Grack, the head of the Justice Department tasked with enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act, appeared on behalf of the government at Monday's court hearing in Washington. Van Grack previously served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team and played a leading role in the prosecution of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on financial fraud charges.

With Kian's trial approaching, Flynn could soon complete his cooperation with prosecutors and proceed to sentencing. It is unclear how soon any sentencing would come. Also, Flynn's hiring of Powell has sparked speculation that he might attempt to revoke his guilty plea and contest the charges, with the hope of receiving a pardon from Trump.

In Sullivan, Powell has seen a model for holding prosecutors accountable. But any sentencing of Flynn in coming months could test that longstanding adulation, potentially forcing her to square the judge she praised in her book with the judge holding her client's fate in his hands.

On Monday, Sullivan thanked her for sending the book in 2014. But his acknowledgement of the gift came with an admission.

“I'm embarrassed to say I didn't read the entire book,” he said. “I did read the chapters about me.”

Read more:

'Turn That Plane Around' and Other Times Judge Emmet Sullivan Was Outraged

Michael Flynn Hires Mueller-Critic Sidney Powell After Dumping Covington Team

Flynn Fires Covington Team as Sentencing Looms

Judge Sullivan Won't Press Prosecutors to Release Flynn Transcripts

Judge Emmet Sullivan Delays Flynn Sentencing After Threatening Prison