The judge who took a guilty plea from President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn last week has recused himself ahead of a sentencing hearing.
A court spokeswoman confirmed to Politico and other outlets that the case was reassigned after Judge Rudolph Contreras, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, recused himself.
Judge Emmet Sullivan, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, was randomly selected to take his place in the case.
The switch comes after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians in the month before Trump took office.
Flynn's guilty plea is the most dramatic development yet in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Trump campaign associates' ties to Russia.
I am seeing a lot of speculation on why this Judge is stepping down.
One is that there are public reports that Mueller and company hid exculpatory evidence from Flynn prior to the plea.
This obligates the Judge to report Mueller and company for possible bar violation or even illegal conduct.
So the Judge is getting the heck out now.
(I don't know if this is true and I haven't looked for these 'reports')
The other 'theory' is tied to the screen capture below.
(I'll let you guess on that one!)
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/363885-judge-in-flynn-cases-recuses-himself