Michael Flynn case takes another unexpected turn as full appeals court agrees to reconsider ruling

Attorney General William Barr has denied dropping charges against Mr Flynn at the request of President Trump

A federal appeals court will review a judge's attempt to examine the Justice Department's decision to drop its criminal case against Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

The long-unusual saga got even more unusual on Thursday when the full US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit agreed to examine US District Judge Emmet Sullivan's appointment of a retired federal judge to look at how DOJ handled its case.

Oral arguments are slated for 11 August.

Mr Sullivan and Flynn's legal counsel have for months been involved in a complicated legal back-and-forth.

Mr Trump had called for his former aide and friends to be cleared of all charges of lying about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign and Mr Trump's transition period in 2016 and early 2017.

Attorney General William Barr ordered a review of the case in January before dropping the charges, saying the criminal case lacked "any legitimate investigative basis."

Legal experts said that meant the AG determined even if Mr Flynn lied, those false statements did not amount to a crime.

Mr Barr was accused during a contentious Tuesday hearing by Democratic House Judiciary Committee members of using his office to help Mr Trump's friends. He spent hours denying those allegations.

The president has not resisted weighing in on his friend's case, long contending federal officials under former President Barack Obama came after Mr Flynn to punish him.

He has said Mr Flynn was treated "unfairly," and never ruled out a pardon. In late April, he called the retired Army three-star general a "fine man."

"I'm very happy about General Flynn. He was treated horribly," Mr Trump told reporters on 24 June after DOJ dropped the case. "He was treated very, very horribly by a group of very bad people, and I think you'll see things are going to start to come out. "But what happened to General Flynn should never happen again in our country. He was persecuted, and many other people were persecuted."

Obama administration officials say they did not spy on the 2016 Trump campaign, and did not wrongfully investigate Mr Flynn.

He's been exonerated, and I want to congratulate him. He's been through a lot.