Washington, June 26 (RHC)-- A U.S. federal appeals court has ordered a lower court to dismiss the criminal case against Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, even though Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador.

The ruling is a major victory for the Justice Department, which has sought to drop the case against Flynn.  The ruling came as the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the politicization of the Justice Department.  Former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer, who served under George H.W. Bush, said William Barr poses “the greatest threat in my lifetime to our rule of law.”

Donald Ayer told reporters: “I think we’re on the way to something far worse than Watergate, where you had a problem of public distrust, because it’s becoming very transparent that many things are being done, essentially, for reasons that are completely unrelated to the merits of the case.