Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty last December to one felony count of making false statements to the FBI. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Judge sets hearing in Flynn case The hearing would be the former Trump national security adviser's first court appearance since pleading guilty more than seven months ago.

A pair of legal filings suggesting that special counsel Robert Mueller's office is almost-but-not-quite ready to set a sentencing date for former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn have prompted a federal judge to order Flynn and lawyers for both sides to make an unexpected trip to court next week.

The hearing set for next Tuesday would be the first court appearance for Flynn since last December, when the former Defense Intelligence Agency chief appeared in a packed courtroom to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., about his lobbying during the presidential transition on a United Nations resolution critical of Israel, and about his lobbying work favorable to the Turkish government.


It would also be the first hearing before the judge currently assigned to Flynn's case, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan. A few days after Flynn's high-profile plea last year, the judge who accepted it — Rudolph Contreras — recused himself.

No official reason has ever been given by the court, but Contreras reportedly approved a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant related to the Trump-Russia investigation. In addition, text messages exchanged between a top FBI agent later removed from that investigation, Peter Strzok, indicate that he was friendly with Contreras.

Sullivan's order Monday setting the hearing followed a back and forth between lawyers in the case and the judge over scheduling the next steps for Flynn.

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In a required, written status report last Friday, both sides in the case said: "Due to the status of the special counsel’s investigation, the parties do not believe that this matter is ready to be scheduled for a sentencing hearing at this time."

However, the prosecution and the defense said they wanted the court to begin preparation of a pre-sentencing report that a probation officer readies before any sentencing hearing.

That request led Sullivan to ask both sides to file a new statement about why the report should be ordered up without the usual procedure of setting a sentencing hearing at the same time.

The repeated delays in Flynn's sentencing have led to speculation that prosecutors believe his testimony could be useful at some future trial, or that the sentencing process might disclose some aspect of the investigation that Mueller still wishes to keep secret. Some Flynn allies have even suggested he might seek to withdraw his plea, although his lawyers have given no indication of that.

The new submission Monday morning didn't shed much light on Flynn's role in Mueller's investigation or why sentencing the retired Army general now would be problematic.

"Although this matter is not ready for sentencing, the parties intend to request that a sentencing hearing be scheduled promptly once the matter becomes ready for sentencing," prosecutors and defense attorneys wrote in their joint filing. "The parties believed this approach would put the Court in a position to schedule a sentencing hearing, if the Court were to so choose, on a more expedited schedule at such time as the matter becomes ready for sentencing."

Something about that language seems to have irked Sullivan, prompting him to call in lawyers for both sides, plus the defendant. "Mr. Flynn is directed to attend," the judge's brief order said.

Both sides filed similar reports in late January and early May, providing few details and asking to hold off further proceedings. Sullivan issued routine orders accepting those two requests.

Flynn's lead attorney Robert Kelner did not respond to a request for comment on the developments. A spokesman for Mueller's office declined comment.

While the charge that Flynn admitted to carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, defendants usually get far less than the maximum, particularly when they cooperate with prosecutors. The plea agreement contemplates a sentence of zero to six months in custody for Flynn, although Sullivan is not bound by the two sides’ agreement that a sentence in that range would be “reasonable.”