A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the conviction of a business associate of the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, saying prosecutors had failed to offer enough evidence to sustain their charges that he had secretly lobbied on behalf of Turkey.
Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia wrote in a lengthy opinion that there was no evidence of “any actual or implied agreement” between Mr. Flynn’s partner, Bijan Kian, and the government of Turkey. “The government has failed to offer substantial evidence from which any rational juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt” that Mr. Kian had acted as an agent of a foreign power without notifying the Justice Department as required by law, Judge Trenga said.