The Long List of Flynn’s Unsavory Behavior
The right wing media has gone into full disinformation mode regarding Mike Flynn. To counter this, the media must remind the public about his long list of his unsavory behavior. Here is a truncated list:
1. Flynn secretly was lobbying on behalf of Erdogan-Connected Turkish interests during at least the Trump transition in 2016 and after he was named National Security Advisor of the incoming Trump Administration. www.nytimes.com/... www.justsecurity.org/… www.vox.com/...
2. Flynn and his associates met with Turkish government officials in September of 2016 who were attempting to get an American citizen returned to Turkey.
3. Flynn’s firm got a contract drawn up for $600,000 for Flynn Intel Group to “deliver findings and resulting including but not limited to making criminal referrals” against the same American citizen. www.newyorker.com/… www.nytimes.com/...
4. Flynn was paid by a Turkish organization in November 2016 to publish, without acknowledgement that he was being paid, an article attacking the American citizen and a call for the citizen to be sent to Turkey. Four months after the article was published, an editor’s note was added acknowledging that Flynn had admitted he was acting as a foreign agent. thehill.com/...
5. Flynn is alleged to have been part of a conspiracy in 2016 to kidnap the American citizen and give the citizen over to the Turkish government in exchange for $15 million. www.wsj.com/… www.wsj.com/...
6. “In 2013, Flynn arranged a trip to Moscow to speak to a group of officers from the G.R.U., Russia’s intelligence agency, about leadership development. His decision to go was a controversial one. Flynn believed that there were opportunities to find common ground with Russia. But Steven Hall, the C.I.A.’s chief of Russia operations at the time, was skeptical. ‘He wanted to build a relationship with his counterparts in the G.R.U., which seemed, at best, quaint and naïve,’ Hall told me. ‘Every time we have tried to have some sort of meaningful coöperation with the Russians, it’s almost always been manipulated and turned back against us.’” www.newyorker.com/...
7. Flynn raised the eyebrows of the U.S. Intelligence community when he was an honored guest of Putin in Russia in 2015. Flynn spoke at the Russian Today TV conference in Moscow — Russia’s state-owned TV in 2015 and, on foreign soil, was critical of the Obama administration’s policies and supportive of working with Russia. Flynn sat with Putin at the dinner and photos of this and Flynn’s speech were used as Russian propaganda against U.S. policies. Flynn was paid $45,000 plus perks for this by Russia Today television. www.politico.com/… As a retired military officer, Flynn is barred by the Emoluments Clause from receiving payments by a foreign government without express Congressional approval. Flynn never requested approval for the payment by Russian state-owned TV, RT. www.lawfareblog.com/...
8. Flynn worked as a lobbyist for several Russian companies in 2015. www.wsj.com/…
9. Flynn also failed to report in his security clearance application that he worked on a U.S.- Russian venture in the Middle East in 2015. abcnews.go.com/...
10. In 2016, Flynn became a Trump advisor on foreign policy and national security. Flynn admitted to a secret meeting with the Russian Ambassador at Trump Tower in December of 2016 during the Trump transition. www.nytimes.com/… During that secret meeting, which Jared Kushner also attended, they discussed setting up a secret back channel of communications with Russia. www.washingtonpost.com/...
11. In response to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the Obama administration issued sanctions against Russia.
12. Flynn secretly called the Russian Ambassador after Obama issued the sanctions and discussed the sanctions and then repeatedly lied about it to everyone including the F.B.I. Flynn also lied to the F.B.I. about conversations he had with the Russian Ambassador about Israel and what Russia’s response should be. www.nytimes.com/...
13. In 2017, Flynn admitted that he worked as an undisclosed foreign agent for Turkey. www.vox.com/…
As the Associated Press reports, Flynn’s lawyer filed paperwork with the Justice Department Tuesday disclosing that the retired Army general had done lobbying work between August and November 2016 that “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.” According to the filing, Flynn’s company, Flynn Intel Group Inc., was paid at least $530,000 for the work.
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11. In December of 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. www.nytimes.com/...
Remember Trump Fired Flynn And Wished He Would Have Been Warned Earlier About Flynn
Funny how now Flynn is the victim when Trump not only said that he wished that he would have been warned earlier about Flynn, but in fact fired Flynn for lying to everyone, including Mike Pence. “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI.” Trump Tweet. Sean Spicer underscored at the time that it was not a "legal issue, but a trust issue" that led to Flynn's dismissal. "’The president must have complete and unwavering trust for the person in that position,’ the press secretary said.’ ‘The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation in a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for Gen. Flynn's resignation.’” www.npr.org/… Pence also said that “’he was unaware of Flynn’s foreign agent work until this week, but called the disclosure ‘an affirmation of the president’s decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign.’” www.courthousenews.com/…
Republican Are Going Down a Dangerous Road Here
Now Donald Trump and Mike Pence are saying that they would like to have Mike Flynn back working for them. So, lying to the Vice President and F.B.I. no longer matter? Remember, it wasn’t that they thought that Mike Flynn did anything illegal, Trump fired him because he was a liar. And I guess working as an undisclosed foreign agent no longer matters either? The Republican party has gone off the rails. Rule of law no longer matters. The Republican party is undermining trust in our Department of Justice, F.B.I., and media to what end? Why are they seeking to elevate people who work for our enemies? The Republican party has lost sight of who are real enemies are and are either witting or unwitting tools of our real enemies.
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