You donât suppose there mighta been something in it for the Kush, do ya? Rumor has it that Westinghouseâs holding company secured a 99-year lease on 666 5th Ave, bailing out Jared et al. Thick as thieves, these folks.
Asked for a response, The White House replied :
âThe Law ?â
âWe donât care about no Lawâ
âWe donât care about no stinking LAW ! ! !â
Whatâs that phrase the Trumpsters love to use so much? Oh, yeah!
Lock 'em up!
Lock 'em up!
Lock 'em up!
When confronted about trying to sell nuclear secrets to Saudi Arabia, President Trump replied, âWell, Obama did it and 15 seconds later they gave him a Nobel Prize!â
HmmmmmmâŚyeah⌠
For tRump, that it violated the law only made it more appealing.
It Trump World âItâs not a feature, itâs a bugâ. Splat!
Bail out Kushner at 666 Fifth Avenue, and get to sell nuclear technology to the Saudis. It is amazing how little this administration charges for its policy positions!
The White House should have a âFire Saleâ sign posted on it.
This is very surprising.
I have more trust in the freshman members of congress and the yeoman work of chairs Cummings to oversee foreign policy than Trump and Jarad.
yes - and for multiple reasons
(a) because it made him feel roguish
(b) because the more âlawsâ he can break - and get away with breaking - the more he erodes the rule of law - the more he breaks down the mechanisms that can hold him accountable - and validates his old claim that he could shoot some one on 5th Avenue and get away with it âŚ
Ruh-roh, Flynn. This lawâs got teeth (itâs the one DOE uses to throw their scientists in jail). Transferring nuclear technology to a person or entity from Saudi Arabia without applying for and receiving prior specific authorization from Sec. Energy is the crime. Whatâs the sanction, you ask?
â[W]hoever willfully violates, attempts to violate, or conspires to violate any provision of section 57 of the Atomic Energy Act may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned up to 10 years, or both.â
But wait, it gets better:
âIf the offense is committed with intent to injure the United States or to aid any foreign nation, the penalty could be up to life imprisonment or a $20,000 fine, or both.â
The Trump Administration in a nutshell: thieves, grifters, and traitors.
Admittedly, the rot starts at the top.
âare limited to the beginning of the Trump Administration, and many questions remain unansweredâincluding whether and how the Trump Administration is moving forward with these efforts today.
So probably by now all the pertinent documentation and software has already been delivered.
Thank God the Democrats won the House.
Although really, whatâs the big deal if we add a few nukes to the Middle East, under the tender care of a murderous dictatorship?
Elijah Cummings has been on to Flynn from the beginning. This is part of that darker, Gulf Arab chapter of the #trumprussia scandal: a plan to profit off of nuclear proliferation and shift the balance of power in the Middle East and Eastern Europe to Russia and Saudi Arabia. This is a major geopolitical cost of Trump being a Russian and Saudi asset.
Putin has informed Trump that Saudi Arabia wonât use the nuclear technology for nefarious purposes. So itâs all good.
I understand that while this is illegal there is a precedent that even the President might understandâŚ
Reposting this TPM Forums piece I put together after the Flynn sentencing hearing in December (just before the shutdown). Itâs particularly relevant in light of what Cummings has revealed today:
Following the explosive Flynn sentencing hearing on 12/18/18, the question I saw frequently asked among legal and political observers alike was âWhy did Mike Flynn lie?â Specifically, these observers questioned why Flynn lied about two issues:
⢠Talking to Russian Ambassador Kislyak about Obamaâs sanctions on Russia (12/29/16); and
⢠Talking to Ambassador Kislyak requesting Russia to vote against or delay a measure at the UN Security Council condemning Israelâs settlements policy(12/22/16).
The point raised is that these underlying acts by themselves might not have been prosecutable as crimes. In both cases, the closest underlying crime is the Logan Act, which had never been used before, and therefore his legal and career risk had he told the truth was low. It was the lying about these conversations that created the criminal liability exposure for Flynn, so why not tell the truth and rely on Trump to provide the cover to enable Flynn to take the political heat?
In my view there are two basic factors that go into making consequential lies (i.e., lies that have legal or fateful impact): (1) a character mindset to lie, and (2) the perception of a tangible benefit or tangible avoidance of risk from lying as opposed to telling the truth. Flynn possessed both.
Flynnâs Character Mindset
Once I re-read a number of articles about Flynnâs temperament, beliefs, and his journey from upwardly mobile military officer to Trumper to outright traitor, it was pretty clear to me that he always had the mindset to tell the big lies where few (if any) of his other fellow officers would have done so. The dark side was always strong in him and grew stronger as his ambition and responsibilities grew to exceed his actual ability (sounds familiar eh?!âŚgot a lot of that in the Trumper circle).
Flynn, while seemingly affable, intellectually capable and presentable, was prone to delusion, self-absorption and certainty of his own beliefs, which belied an imbalanced and insecure intellect. Flynn had the ability to absorb data and could execute in a tactical setting, but had little capacity for strategic thought, analytical skill, management capability, or the ability to improve in areas he was weak or deficient. If you imagine Flynn as a woodworker, youâd hire him if you needed a carpenter to knock down a kitchen and rebuild and install new cabinets, but youâd never want him to run an entire carpentry shop or to make strategic business decisions. He often dealt with his own insecurities around people who were better rounded and more capable by demonstrating impudence and insubordination to superior officers and by indulging in fanciful conspiracy theories which disguised his analytical flaws and demonstrated his willingness to simply misrepresent or lie about data.
In short, Flynn became an anti-Muslim and anti-Iranian conspiracy nut and left many among his peers and those below his military rank scratching their heads as to his leaps of logic and his virulence. This transition happened while he was in the military. As Flynn connected with right wing conspiracy theorist Michael Ledeen, he found power in delusion, conspiracy theories, and in anti-Obama/anti-Muslim racism, because Ledeen showed Flynn how to sell it to people less informed than his military and intelligence colleagues and how to exploit it to damage oneâs opponents and go around or break hierarchies.
Flynn had become convinced that Al-Qaeda and Iran were joined at the hip and therefore the US should seek to push for regime change in Iran. He also developed a deep distrust and hatred of Islam, calling it a political ideology, not a religion. Both of these views aligned with Ledeenâs and demonstrated analytical failings. First, those who study Middle East/South Asian politics know that the big battle in the region is the proxy war between Saudi Arabia (promoting radical Sunni ideologies) and Iran (promoting radical Shiite ideology). Therefore, KSA/Al Qaeda and Iran are not allies. Second, militant Islamic fundamentalism is not Islam. Thatâs sort of fundamental (pardon the pun) to an understanding of the region.
The other reason why Flynn lied is he thought he could get away with it, because frankly, he had gotten away with it for a good portion of his career. He once leaked to the press a critical report on the capabilities of our intel in Afghanistan, which angered his superior officers. He could have been fired but got away with it. When Gen. Stanley McCrystahl made public comments critical of Obama and most of the upper brass and was removed for it, Flynn was known as his guy and couldâve been removed as well. He was spared.
On several occasions, other officers and soldiers jokingly mocked Flynn for his serial exaggerations and outright falsehoods regarding the threats that faced the US. They referred to them as âFlynn Factsâ. When you step back and consider that his colleagues knew about his limitations and failings in real time, itâs quite possible that his rise in the ranks couldâve and shouldâve been stopped earlier. That he kept getting promoted despite these flaws probably encouraged him to think that excessive self-confidence and persistence and doubling down in far right ideologies and approaches could help him get away with it.
Perhaps the worst thing the US military did was to promote him to head the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was almost fully radicalized by this time. It was during this period that he made outreach to Russia and visited there. Russian intelligence quite likely did a profile on him and probably knew he was malleable. He also drove the DIA into the ground, with many of those who worked under him frustrated with his contradictory and inscrutable orders and demands, and continued reliance on conspiracy theories to drive the agencyâs work. Eventually, he got fired.
Tangible Benefits of Lying for Flynn
What follows is a working theory of mine, which will necessarily change or be updated with new data. I suspect that the reasons why Flynn lied are also why he has received a good deal from the Office of the Special Counsel. At some point, Flynn recognized that he had a wealth of information about different, intersecting storylines in the #trumprussia conspiracy. He initially believed that made him indispensable and protected. He also thought his unique nexus to these different conspiracy tracks gave him an opportunity to exploit them for profit and power. Later, when he was brusquely shoved aside by Mike Pence with the acquiescence of Donald Trump, Flynn quickly saw a new opportunity: to use the information he gained from his unique position in the Trump-Russia vortex to work with Mueller and cut a deal to stay out of jail, avoid financial ruin, while preserving his standing with the far right and the ability to make a buck afterwards.
Flynn began working for himself and against US interests from the day he left the military. The problem is that some of those positions became adopted and advocated by the GOP and its candidate Donald Trump. Russian propaganda pumped through the Trump campaign and conservative media have tried to pass off a surrender of American power and American interests as part of a nationalist or isolationist reset of Americaâs role in the world, when at the end of the day itâs all about selling out the US to make a buck and working for a different master than the one youâre supposed to be working for and concealing itâŚ.what we may call âtreasonâ in the operational, lay person sense.
So to answer the question of why Flynn lied, my view is that one must look at what Flynn knows. The question then tends to answer itself.
⢠1. Sharing Classified Intelligence.
Flynn had a history of sharing classified materials without permission. In 2009/10, he shared info with Pakistani sources who then used the info to protect and shield the very target that Flynn wanted to go after (again, another example of a guy who doesnât grasp the political complexities very well). He also exposed info to other allies, but again without the approval of superior officers. In each of these incidents, Flynn saw the tactical use of Intel as a way to gain power and influence people. His brazen disregard for rules also underscored his self-confidence in how to obtain sensitive intel and how to use it.
This is entirely speculation on my part, but itâs possible that he offered classified intelligence or showed others in Trumpland how such information might be obtained and leveraged for political benefit. Is that what he was doing in those meetings with Jared Kushner in December 2016 with the Russians and the Emiratis? Did he coach Kushner on what intel he might be able to share with the Chinese, Qataris, Emiratis, Saudis or Russians that might be enticing for them to extend financing to address Kushnerâs debt problem? It was, after all, Javanka who overruled Chris Christie and put Flynn on the fast track to become NSA.
There is an unstated assumption in discussions of what it means to be compromised that it requires a massive financial bribe or incentive. I think itâs more mundane than that. Once youâre owned, youâre owned, period. You can never go back. Flynnâs very position in government and his post-military career were made possible in part through his willingness to cooperate with rivals or enemies of the United States (Turkey is not an enemy but its interests in Syria align with Russiaâs and conflict with those of the US, particularly with respect to the matter of the Kurds). Each nationâs knowledge of what Flynn did is leverage in and of itself for Putin and Erdogan. It didnât matter if Flynn got paid $50 or $5 million, once Flynn agreed to do the bidding of Turkey and Russia for money against the laws and interests of the United States (and without US govât knowledge), they owned him. Thereâs no personal penalty for either Putin or Erdogan if their role in inducing Flynn to betray his nation became public. Flynn, on the other hand, owned 100% of the risk, which provided even more incentive to lie to protect himself.
Why did Flynn Lie? Because he had developed several relationships with powerful individuals and had proven his worth to them with his unique skill set and wanted to preserve that value. He also believed he would be protected because of these connections to powerful figures like Kushner/Ivanka Trump, the Turks and the Russians. Moreover, Flynn also calculated that telling the truth would open up more inquiries that would unravel the entire conspiracy. He took the risk that other conspirators would see it that way and protect him. He was wrong. He was a modular and disposable player in the grand scheme.
Why did Flynn Cooperate? After Flynn got caught and was run out of town by Mike Pence with no protection coming, he faced criminal liability and legal fees that would crush him financially with only faint hopes for a pardon from a compromised and unpopular POTUS. Flynn realized that the knowledge of what he did with foreign rivals and enemies of the United States could now be used as currency to obtain a good deal with the Office of Special Counsel. Flynnâs financial and personal future were now aligned with Muellerâs probe, on the expectation that he would be able to avoid jail, financial ruin, and have a chance to rebuild his career as a far right ideologue. For this particular track, I speculate that itâs quite possible that Flynn has informed Mueller of the different ways that foreign powers tried to infiltrate and gain leverage over members of the Trump campaign and Administration and what he might have done to aid that effort.
⢠2. Russia-Middle East Power Plant Deal.
Flynn retired from the military on August 7, 2014. Within a year, Flynn had set up the Flynn Intel Group and had carved out a niche as an intel/anti-terrorism specialist but with a hard edged anti-Islam and anti-Iran bent. However, there was a commercial angle that shaped Flynnâs post military career, and this I would posit was more significant than his anti-Islam ideological leanings in defining his path from decorated solider to traitor. Itâs through the commercial transactions lens that we see Flynn make 180 degree changes from previously stated views if offered the promise of a big score.
The clearest indication of that is the Russia-Middle East nuclear power deal. Flynn worked with a US company called ACU Strategic Partners (ACU), a shadowy entity whose ownership has not been fully understood to my knowledge. ACU proposed a partnership with Russian interests to build a number of nuclear power plants across the Middle East. Flynn took a trip to Egypt and Israel in June 2015 for this purpose and failed to disclose it to the US government. He pushed the plan from 2015 through the end of 2016, and was in a position to advise Trump on a matter in which he had a personal financial interest. ACUâs corporate ownership remains a mystery, but a major Russian entity was its stated indispensable business partner. It would be fair for investigators to suspect that ACU was compromised by the Russian government at some point.
In 2016, with the ACU track seemingly hitting a dead end, Flynn pursued a similar deal with IP3/Ironbridge which leveraged Chinese partners to support the deal. After Trump was elected and Flynn was named national security adviser, he immediately revived the nuclear deal. He pushed it to Tom Barrack and encouraged him to pursue a similar plan and even had him meet IP3 officials. [Btw, Rick Gates was essentially working for Tom Barrack by this point on the Inaugural Committee and was involved in these discussions as well].
After Trump won election, Flynn dealt ACU and his close friend Alex Copson (ACUâs CEO) back into the game and made the Middle East Nuclear Deal a big priority. Copson made several efforts at Flynnâs behest to get in contact with Transition team members to promote the plan. On the day of the inauguration, Copson claimed that Flynn sent him a text while President Trump was delivering his inaugural address indicating that the nuclear project was now âgood to goâ and directing his business colleagues to move forward. Copson reportedly stated that âMike has been putting everything in place for usâ and that âThis is going to make a lot of very wealthy people.â He added that Flynn was making sure that sanctions would be âripped upâ as one of his first orders of business and that this would allow money to start flowing into the project.
Why did Flynn Lie? Itâs partly because he wanted a part of this big score. Had this plan gone through, Flynn wouldâve become one of the most powerful figures in Washington. He held one of the most important positions in the government, and had contact with some of the most wealthy and best connected powerbrokers in the world. If you think in terms of the way Frank Underwood (from the TV show House of Cards) would, itâs easier to see. Power is more important than money. Power is a reward in and of itself. Of course, Flynn had probably arranged to get a lot of payments on the back end for his trouble. The consensus view within the United States government is that the plan was not in the US national interests, as it would put nuclear fuel within the access or reach of several less than stable Middle Eastern nations. However, Flynnâs continued pursuit of this idea in his willingness to leverage his political rise to push for the deal indicates that he was willing to go against US national interests signed with the interests of Americaâs rivals so long as he got paid.
Why did Flynn Cooperate? Once Flynn got caught, his knowledge of all the angles he played to get this nuclear deal on the map, and how it potentially could have become the consensus building catalyst to repeal sanctions against Russia would be very relevant for Robert Muellerâs investigation. One can see how both the Russian government and Russian oligarchs would have benefited had Flynn been able to carry out his plan, convince the Trump administration to move forward, and convince Congress to move forward. Flynn saw the opportunity to make the once crazy and unthinkable, possible. The Russians saw it too. Flynn thought that his approach was the most effective. What Flynn failed to understand is that the Russians thought of Flynn as one of many dangles to discard once used or exposed. He only realized that after Mueller got on the scene. He then recognized his value would be to tell Mueller the entire story of how he was a catalyst for a Russian sponsored plan to lift sanctions through a somewhat mythical âMiddle East Marshall Planâ.
⢠3. Russian Contacts During Campaign & Transition
We know Flynn had multiple contacts with Russia dating back to 2013, which accelerated after he went into business for himself. He was on a first name basis with Ambassador Kislyak. He stated in an interview that Trump was his preferred candidate after he met him in August 2015. He attended the RT Gala in December 2015 and then joined the campaign around March 2016. He was considered for vice president, and delivered perhaps the best remembered speech of the convention with his invocation of âlock her upâ. Some additional contacts:
⢠Flynn appeared for a speaking engagement with Volga-Dnepr Airlines, a Russian charter cargo airline that has been blacklisted by the Pentagon in August 2015. He failed to disclose this relationship multiple times. One can assume the reason he didnât do so is that he wanted to profit from the relationship even while he was in government.
⢠Flynn appeared at a speaking engagement for Kaspersky Government Security Solutions, Inc. in Oct. 2015. Kasperskyâs software is now banned from US govât systems because they manipulate the software to hack materials from the computers, networks and systems in which it is installed. Again, Flynn did not make reference to the speaking engagement on security clearance apps or background check interviews.
Why did Flynn lie? He had a habit of doing so in order to preserve options and opportunities to raise his profile and profit. He thought he was so indispensable to the sanctions discussion that he felt he would be protected.
Why did Flynn Cooperate? Left at the altar, facing criminal liability and financial ruin, Flynn saw cooperation with Robert Mueller as his way to carve out a future for himself. His knowledge of Russian contacts would be very relevant in central for the investigation. Anyone could see that.
⢠4. Peter Smith
Peter Smith, as youâll recall, is the longtime GOP operative who used a lifetime of contacts and a lot of money to put together an operation of Russian backed hackers, US financiers and other figures to find the holy grail of Hillary Clintonâs âmissing 30,000 emails.â Smith was convinced that either of these emails were somewhere in the dark web in control of the Russians, or that this team of Russian backed hackers could actually hack into the Clinton server or State Department servers and find this information. Smith claimed he had a number of contacts in the campaign and told the Wall Street Journal that Michael Flynn was a key contact. It would make sense for Flynn to be this contact person, as his background in military intelligence made him a good fit for the subject matter. After all, it was Russiaâs military intelligence organization (GRU) that undertook the hack in the first place. Flynn as a former head of the DIA was the perfect complement to talk hack and release. In addition, Peter Smith said that the ultimate release point for any materials found would be WikiLeaks, the same entity that the Russians used to release the emails that they hacked from the DNC and Clinton campaign officials.
⢠Why did Flynn Lie?
Because he had a much larger and darker story to tell and didnât want to be in a position to do so. Flynn perhaps calculated that a Logan act violation would be treated with a slap on the wrist and he would be able to move on, while preserving his role in and his opportunities. Had Flynn told the truth about his knowledge of or even involvement in Russiaâs hack and release campaign during the same period that he was receiving classified security briefings, legal scholars wouldâve clamored to liberalize the bases to investigate, try and convict someone for treason. Had he told the truth about those 2 conversations, the sharp attorneys at the OSC and DOJ mightâve then also forced Flynn to tell the truth about his knowledge of what the Russians were doing which would have essentially proved âcollusionâ. We donât yet have any proof that Flynn directed Peter Smithâs activities, but it remains a very important thread in this story that is unsolved. If Flynn did know what Peter Smith was up to, then he clearly had risk to cover.
⢠Why did Flynn Cooperate?
It should be apparent by now that Flynn was amassing a rap sheet worthy of Benedict Arnold. Arguably, had Flynn been successful he wouldâve easily replaced Benedict Arnold is the nationâs biggest traitor given his prior background in the military. After being caught, it seems clear that Flynnâs knowledge of the extent of his contacts with Russians at all levels, from the diplomats, to the oligarchs, to the spies to the corporations that have a symbiotic relationship with the Kremlin would be highly valuable. The depth of Flynnâs Russian contacts span many of the spokes of this conspiracy wheel, from Russian hacking, to social media campaigns to the sanctions removal campaign, to Syria/Middle East. Flynnâs name comes up in all of them. Cooperating with Mueller to earn the deal of a lifetime seems much easier to understand when you consider the weight of what he was involved with in context.
⢠5. Syria
So Mike Flynn, the anti-Iran/anti-Islamic militant crusader and the entering national security advisor tells Susan Rice not to implement an Obama approved plan to arm the Syrian Kurds (the YPG - i.e., the population of Kurds residing within the borders of Syria and who are anti-ISIS and anti-Assad). What gives? Answer: Turkey. From a 2017 NBC article:
âFlynn had blocked the plan to arm the Syrian Kurds for an attack on Raqqa, the ISIS capital in Syria, a move that was opposed by the Turkish government, which Flynn had been paid $500,000 to represent.â
Flynn hadnât disclosed his Turkey contacts at the time he was pushing for a policy that the US favored but Turkey opposed. The Flynn decision delayed the assault on Raqqa, the ISIS capital. Had Flynn not quit the Administration, it wouldâve been delayed indefinitely. Keep in mind that Trump emissaries met with Russians during the campaign to talk about Syria. It was a very high priority for Russia, and this has been overlooked by most #trumprussia observers. Russia was playing a two-faced game with the Obama government on Syria during the fall of 2016. While the US was executing an operation with a multi-national coalition to weaken ISIS, Secretary Kerry had been moving the parties towards a diplomatic solution which would have diminished Assadâs control over Syria. Russia played along and delayed as needed while simultaneously securing promises from Trump to support a pro-Syria position if elected and then actively interfered in the US elections to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. Russia waited things out, and as soon as their strategy to elect Trump proved successful, the first thing Russia did was to help Assad squash Aleppo like squashing a grape. Flynn was quite likely a part of those discussions and was a key advisor to the Trumpers on changing the US policy in Syria to favor Russian and Turkish interests. This, I would submit, is treasonous in and of itself.
Why did Flynn Lie? To preserve his opportunity to achieve great power by aligning himself with Russian and Turkish interests and to also benefit financially down the road, or perhaps concurrently through various financial entanglements. He also needed to cover up the Trump campaignâs unholy and treasonous relationship with Russia to undermine US policy for their own political benefit (you do what I want in Syria, and Iâll continue to help throw the 2016 election to you).
What we see in Flynnâs behavior towards Turkey is a very clear example of how money and the lure of power quickly shift a personâs loyalties. In the world of nation-states, thatâs deadly. Once Turkey and Russia made Flynn their guy and compromised him, there was no going back. He owed his Phoenix like rise to them. He made money from them and built a post-military career. He met powerful, connected and wealthy people.
Why did Flynn Cooperate? After being caught, Flynn could tell the story of how Turkish and Russian officials had an open line of communication to him, and he could advocate for them from within the government. Thatâs partly why laws like FARA exist. Flynn kept his business relationships secret in order to preserve the ability to use his power within the govât to help those clients and personally profit (both in terms of power and money). Flynn would also be able to talk about the interactions the campaign had with Russia on Syria policy. When people say that Trumpâs abrupt decision to withdraw from Syria was connected to Flynnâs disastrous sentencing hearing, theyâre more right than they realize. Had Flynn failed to cooperate, he wouldâve been named in that indictment of Kian and Alptekin and I suspect the charges wouldâve expanded to cover matters relating to Syria as well as the discussions on the potential kidnapping of Gulen. Scene in that light, his decision to cooperate is easier to understand.
⢠6. Saudi Arabia
Although we do not have nearly as much detail on the Gulf Arab-Israeli leg of this conspiracy, we keep seeing some very big names pop up which tell us that something is there behind the shadows that Robert Mueller knows a lot more about than we do. Names like MBS, MBZ, Jared Kushner, Erik Prince, George Nader, Tom Barrack, Qatar, UAE, Psy Ops keep appearing. Connections to Russia by way of intermediaries like Kirill Dmitriev, Qatar Investment Authority and the Russian entities that each are connected to (Russian Direct Investment Fund, Rosneft, Rosatam, Rusal) keep showing up.
Enter Mike Flynn. It might surprise folks to know that during and before the Transition, Flynn interacted with the Saudis, Emiratis and Israelis nearly as much as he did with the Russians and Turks. Much of this is tied to the nuclear deal, but some of the interactions suggest that the nuclear deal may have also become a bit of a euphemism or beard/cover/cut-out (choose your term) for discussing other, and perhaps larger, matters of strategic importance.
In short, while the nuclear deal was conceived as a big project, it feels more like grease on the wheels with a larger objective of changing the balance of power and alliances in the region to favor a policy that aligned to Saudi Arabiaâs interests. Those interests include isolating Iran, giving Russia some benefits so that they did not go to the mat for their traditional ally, allowing the Russians and Turks to control Syria, isolating Qatar, wiping out the Houthis in Yemen and some promise of something to Netanyahu on the Palestinian issue, and above all, grift for everyone.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (i.e., Elijah Cummingsâ committee) summarized Flynnâs interactions with Middle East interests. From that list, I have excerpted the following and have added some comments:
⢠Later June 2015: Flynn took another ACU sponsored trip to Egypt to push the nuclear deal. He was paid $25,000 for travel expenses and loss of income and claimed he never cashed it. Flynn failed to report this on his security clearance renewal application in January 2016 and concealed it from background check investigators. This, again, indicates to me that Flynn was scamming everyone into thinking he had an impartial assessment of the situation, when he was actually being paid to represent and push views favored by Russia. It rings quite similar to the sham Orwellian titled groups that Manafort set up as pro-EU Ukrainian lobbying groups when they were really fronts for Russian intelligence.
⢠October 2015: This one is worth quoting in its entirety:
âFlynn traveled to Saudi Arabia, according to information he included on his security clearance application in 2016. He claimed he went there with a friend for six days to speak at a conference and stayed at the King Khaled International Hotel. However, none of Flynnâs three speakers bureaus had any information about this trip, there was no public record of this conference, and there is no record of a King Khaled International Hotel in Saudi Arabia.â
How odd is it that Flynn concealed all of his meaningful trips to the Middle East but then put this garbage entry which appears to me to have been made up out of whole cloth? This looks like an intent to lie, deceive and mislead FBI and Congressional investigators.
⢠September 20, 2016: Flynn met with Dana Rohrabacher, Flynnâs son, and Flynnâs business partners Bijan Kian and Brian McCauley to discuss the nuclear plan. This happens to be exactly 1 day after Flynn met with Kian, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and top Turkish government ministers to talk about kidnapping Erdoganâs target, Fethullah Gulen. To put this in perspective over September 19/20, 2016, Flynn represented the Trump campaign, the Turkish government, and in effect the Russian government on various matters, and Flynn kept his Russian and Turkish contacts secret from the US government (but Iâll bet that Trump did know of his outreach). To think that the Turks and Russians didnât know that they had compromised a guy who could be in the inner circle of the next government strains credulity.
⢠Transition: Flynn stepped up his pursuit of the nuclear deal in November 2016 and played ACU/Alex Copson back into the game following Trumpâs win. At one point, Flynn passed along a memo and proposal (originally circulated by former NSA and convicted Iran-Contra felon, Bud McFarlane) to authorize support for the nuclear deal and instructed NSC staff to prepare a package for Trumpâs approval, which memo proposed working with Russia on a nuclear reactor. Concerns had begun to be raised within the NSC about potential conflicts of interests on Flynnâs part. Shortly thereafter, however, Flynn was fired as NSA. Nonetheless, Flynn efforts, along with the Kushner-Barrack links to the Gulf Arab states, pushed Saudi Arabia to the forefront of Trumpâs foreign policy focus.
Why did Flynn Lie? He had a lot of sticks in the fire, thought he was indispensable and therefore protected, feared the consequences of follow-up questions which could unravel the entire conspiracy, and wanted to preserve the option to cash in.
Why did Flynn Cooperate? Once left at the altar and later facing a mountain of debt and criminal liability, Flynn realized he was just a pawn in other peopleâs games and played another angle to align with Mueller.
⢠7. The Turkey Leg
The âTurkey Legâ portion of the Flynn scandal is well documented in the indictment of Flynnâs business partners, Bijan Kian and Turkish cohort Emin Alptekin. Flynn saw value in concealing his role to the US government in order to preserve the ability to do favors for Turkey from his perch inside the government. What he ended up doing is taking on too much risk and he became too hot to handle. There was enough in the Turkey leg alone to put Flynn away for many years and a lot of it did not connect directly to Trump or the Trump campaign. He made himself expendable and could only make himself valuable again by cooperating with Mueller.