Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 05:11, 25 March 2019

Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn in 2012
25th United States National Security Advisor
In office January 23, 2017 – February 13, 2017
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	K. T. McFarland
Preceded by	Susan Rice
Succeeded by	H. R. McMaster
Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
In office July 24, 2012 – August 7, 2014
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Ronald Burgess
Succeeded by	David Shedd (Acting)
Personal details
Born	Michael Thomas Flynn (1958-12-24) December 24, 1958 (age 66) Fort Meade, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lori Andrade
Children	2
Education	University of Rhode Island, Kingston (BS) Golden Gate University (MBA) United States Army Command and General Staff College (MMAS) Naval War College (MA)
Signature
Website	Official website
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1981–2014
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Defense Intelligence Agency Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Battles/wars	Operation Urgent Fury Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom
Awards	Defense Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal (4) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star Medal (4) Meritorious Service Medal (6) Joint Service Commendation Medal Army Commendation Medal (5)

Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General and convicted felon and he was, briefly, National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump.

Flynn's military career included a key role in shaping U.S. counterterrorism strategy and dismantling insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he was given numerous combat arms, conventional, and special operations senior intelligence assignments. He served as the 18th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, serving from July 2012 until his forced retirement from the military in August 2014. After leaving the military, he established Flynn Intel Group, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments, including ones in Turkey. He became a senior advisor to Trump during his presidential campaign and served as the National Security Advisor from January 23 to February 13, 2017. He resigned after information surfaced that he had misled the FBI and Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn's tenure of just 24 days is the shortest in the office's history.

On April 27, 2017, the Pentagon inspector general announced an investigation into whether Flynn had accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval. The New York Times reported on May 18, 2018, that a longtime FBI/CIA informant had met Flynn at an intelligence seminar in Britain six months earlier and became alarmed by Flynn's closeness to a Russian woman there; this concern prompted another individual to alert American authorities that Flynn may have been compromised by Russian intelligence. Flynn initially refused to hand over subpoenaed documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee, pleading the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, but a compromise with the committee was worked out. On December 1, 2017, Flynn appeared in federal court to formalize a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to a single felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI. He confirmed his intention to cooperate with the Special Counsel's investigation.

Early life

Michael Thomas Flynn was born and raised in Middletown, Rhode Island, one of nine siblings born to Helen Frances (née Andrews), who worked in real estate, and Charles Francis Flynn, a small-town banker, both Roman Catholics of Irish descent.

Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science degree in management science in 1981 and was a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He also earned a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications from Golden Gate University, a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. He is a graduate of the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and Naval War College.

Military career

U.S. Army

Flynn was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in military intelligence in 1981. His military assignments included multiple tours at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, and Joint Special Operations Command, where he deployed for the invasion of Grenada and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. He also served with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Flynn served as the assistant chief of staff, G2, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from June 2001 and the director of intelligence at the Joint Task Force 180 in Afghanistan until July 2002. He commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade from June 2002 to June 2004 and was the director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007, with service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom). He served as the director of intelligence of the United States Central Command from June 2007 to July 2008, as the director of intelligence of the Joint Staff from July 2008 to June 2009, then the director of intelligence of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from June 2009 to October 2010.

Defense Intelligence Agency

In September 2011, Flynn was promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned as assistant director of national intelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. On April 17, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Flynn to be the 18th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Flynn took command of the DIA in July 2012. He simultaneously became commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board.

In October 2012, Flynn announced plans to release his paper "VISION2020: Accelerating Change Through Integration", a look at changes he believes are necessary for the DIA in the future.

In June 2013, Michael Flynn became the first U.S. officer to be allowed inside the Russian military intelligence (GRU) headquarters in Moscow, where he arrived at the invitation of the GRU chief Gen Igor Sergun. His follow-up trip to visit the GRU HQ as Director of DIA was not allowed.

Retirement from the military

On April 30, 2014, Flynn announced his retirement effective later that year, about a year earlier than he had been scheduled to leave his position. He was reportedly effectively forced out of the DIA after clashing with superiors over his allegedly chaotic management style and vision for the agency. In a private e-mail that was leaked online, Colin Powell said that he had heard in the DIA (apparently from later DIA director Vincent R. Stewart) that Flynn was fired because he was "abusive with staff, didn't listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc." According to The New York Times, Flynn exhibited a loose relationship with the truth, leading his subordinates to refer to Flynn's repeated dubious assertions as "Flynn facts".

According to what Flynn had stated in one final interview as DIA director, he felt like a lone voice in thinking that the United States was less safe from the threat of Islamic terrorism in 2014 than it was prior to the 9/11 attacks; he went on to believe that he was pressed into retirement for questioning the Obama administration's public narrative that Al Qaeda was close to defeat. Journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that "Flynn confirmed that his agency had sent a constant stream of classified warnings ... about the dire consequences of toppling Assad." Flynn recounted that his agency was producing intelligence reports indicating that radical Islamists were the main force in the Syrian insurgency and "that Turkey was looking the other way when it came to the growth of the Islamic State inside Syria". According to Flynn, these reports "got enormous pushback from the Obama administration," who he felt "did not want to hear the truth". According to former DIA official W. Patrick Lang: "Flynn incurred the wrath of the White House by insisting on telling the truth about Syria ... they shoved him out. He wouldn't shut up." In an interview with Al Jazeera, Flynn criticized the Obama administration for its delay in supporting the opposition in Syria, thereby allowing for the growth of Al-Nusra and other extremist forces: "when you don't get in and help somebody, they're gonna find other means to achieve their goals" and that "we should have done more earlier on in this effort, you know, than we did."

Flynn retired from the U.S. Army with 33 years of service on August 7, 2014.

Post-retirement

Consulting firm

Flynn, with his son Michael G. Flynn, ran the Flynn Intel Group Inc, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments. The company was founded in the fall of 2014, restarted in June 2015 as a Delaware company, and closed in 2016.

Flynn was paid over $65,000 by companies connected to Russia in 2015, including $11,250 from both Volga-Dnepr Airlines and the U.S. subsidiary of Kaspersky Lab. Other clients included Palo Alto Networks, Francisco Partners, Brainwave Science and Adobe Systems.

While working as a consultant, Flynn served on the board of several organizations, including GreenZone Systems, Patriot Capital, Brainwave, Drone Aviation and OSY Technologies. Subsidiaries of the Flynn Intel Group included FIG Cyber Inc, headed by Timothy Newberry, and FIG Aviation.

In July 2018, the consulting firm Stonington Global LLC announced that Flynn was joining the firm as its director of global strategy, though Flynn's attorneys disputed that there had ever been a partnership several hours later.

Foreign agent

In July 2016, Flynn spoke at a meeting of ACT! for America at a point when the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was still underway. He spoke favorably of the coup participants, saying that Erdoğan had been moving Turkey away from secularism and towards Islamism and that participants in the coup wanted Turkey to be and to be seen as a secular nation—a goal "worth clapping for."

By the end of September 2016, Flynn's consulting company was hired by Inovo BV, a company owned by Kamil Ekim Alptekin, the Chair of the Turkish-American Business Council, which is an arm of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK).

On November 8 (election day in the United States), an op-ed written by Flynn was published by The Hill, calling for U.S. backing for Erdoğan's government and criticizing the regime's opponent, Fethullah Gülen, alleging that Gülen headed a "vast global network" that fitted "the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network". At the time, Flynn did not disclose that his consulting firm had received funds from a company with ties to the Turkish government. After Flynn's ties had been disclosed by The Daily Caller, Politico, and others, the editor of The Hill added a note to Flynn's op-ed, stating that Flynn had failed to disclose that he had been engaged at the time in "consulting work that might have aided the government of Turkey," that his firm had received payments from a company with close ties to the Turkish government, or that the company had reviewed the draft of the op-ed before it was submitted to The Hill.

On March 8, 2017, Flynn registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before election day. This work was done on behalf of a Dutch-based company that may have been working for the Turkish government.

On March 24, 2017, former Director of the CIA James Woolsey said that in September 2016 Flynn, while working for the Trump presidential campaign, had attended a meeting in a New York hotel with Turkish officials including foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and energy minister Berat Albayrak, son-in-law of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and had discussed abducting Fethullah Gülen and sending him to Turkey, bypassing the U.S. extradition legal process.

Flynn sat in on classified national security briefings with then-candidate Trump at the same time that Flynn was working for foreign clients, which raises ethical concerns and conflicts of interest. Flynn was paid at least $5,000 to serve as a consultant to a U.S.-Russian project to build 40 nuclear reactors across the Middle East, which Flynn's failure to disclose was flagged by Representatives Elijah Cummings and Eliot Engel as a possible violation of federal law.

Attendance at RT gala dinner

On December 10, 2015, Flynn attended a gala dinner in Moscow in honor of RT (formerly "Russia Today"), a Russian government-owned English-language media outlet, on which he made semi-regular appearances as an analyst after he retired from U.S. government service.

Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the dinner, leading journalist Michael Crowley of Politico to report that "at a moment of semi-hostility between the U.S. and Russia, the presence of such an important figure at Putin's table startled" U.S. officials. As part of the festivities, Flynn gave a talk on world affairs for which he was paid at least $45,000. Flynn defended the RT payment in an interview with Michael Isikoff.

On February 1, 2017, the ranking Democratic members on six House committees sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, requesting a Department of Defense investigation into Flynn's connection to RT. The legislators expressed concern that Flynn had violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution by accepting money from RT.

A 2017 report by the United States Intelligence Community characterized RT as "The Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet" and said that RT America is set up as an autonomous nonprofit organization "to avoid the Foreign Agents Registration Act".

As a retired military intelligence officer, Flynn was required to obtain prior permission from the Defense Department and the State Department before receiving any money from foreign governments. Flynn apparently did not seek that approval before the RT speech, and he did not report the payment when he applied for renewal of his security clearance two months later. Glenn A. Fine, the acting Defense Department Inspector General, has confirmed he is investigating Flynn.

2016 U.S. presidential election

Having already been consulted regarding national security by Carly Fiorina as well as other candidates, including Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump, Flynn was asked in February 2016 to serve as an adviser to the Trump campaign.

In July 2016, it was reported he was being considered as Trump's running mate; Flynn later confirmed that he had submitted vetting documents to the campaign and, although a registered Democrat, was willing to accept the Republican vice-presidential nomination if chosen. However, Trump instead selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

As one of the keynote speakers during the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Flynn gave what the Los Angeles Times described as a "fiery" speech, in which he stated: "We are tired of Obama's empty speeches and his misguided rhetoric. This, this has caused the world to have no respect for America's word, nor does it fear our might"; he accused Obama of choosing to conceal the actions of Osama bin Laden and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Flynn went on to criticize political correctness and joined the crowd in a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!". During the chants, he told those in the audience, "Get fired up! This is about our country."

During the speech, Flynn launched a blistering attack on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He led the crowd in chants of "Lock her up!"; during one of those chants, he encouraged the crowd to keep it up, saying, "Damn right! Exactly right! There is nothing wrong with that!" He called for Clinton to withdraw from the race, saying that "if I did a tenth of what she did, I'd be in jail today." He repeated in subsequent interviews that she should be "locked up". While campaigning for Trump, Flynn also referred to Clinton as the "enemy camp". Six days after the speech, Flynn stirred up a controversy by retweeting anti-Semitic remarks, which he later apologized for and claimed were unintentional. During the election campaign, Flynn used Twitter to post links to negative stories about Clinton, like the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

Flynn was once opposed to waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques that have now been banned; however, according to an August 2016 Washington Post article, he said at one point, in the context of Trump's apparent openness to reinstating such techniques, that "he would be reluctant to take options off the table." In May 2016, Flynn was asked by an Al Jazeera reporter if he would support Trump's stated plan to "take out families" of people suspected of being involved in terrorism. In response, Flynn stated, "I would have to see the circumstances of that situation." In an interview with Al Jazeera, Flynn criticized the U.S. reliance on drones as a "failed strategy", stating that "what we have is this continued investment in conflict. The more weapons we give, the more bombs we drop, that just ... fuels the conflict."

Advocacy of US-Russia technology transfer to Saudia Arabia

During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and subsequently, Flynn and Jared Kushner were engaged in promoting IP3 International's plan to transfer nuclear technology from the US to Saudi Arabia, for use in a proposed joint US-Russian project, in possible violation of the law.

National Security Advisor

On November 10, 2016, President Obama warned President-elect Trump against hiring Flynn. During their meeting in the Oval Office two days after the election, Obama expressed "profound concerns" about hiring Flynn to a sensitive, high-level national security post.

On November 18, 2016, Flynn accepted Trump's offer for the position of National Security Advisor. Prior to his appointment, media sources including The Washington Post and Associated Press had already criticized his close relations with Russia, and his promotion of anti-Clinton conspiracy theories and fake news during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In December 2016, Flynn met with Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPA), at Trump Tower in New York. The meeting attracted attention because the FPA was founded by ex-Nazis in the 1950s, and because Strache had recently signed a cooperation agreement with Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party. The Trump campaign refused to comment on the meeting.

On December 29, 2016, Flynn spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, the same day the Obama administration announced retaliatory measures in response to the interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign by the Russian government. The phone conversation was reportedly viewed by Obama advisers who had been briefed on its content by the F.B.I. with suspicion as possibly a secret deal between the incoming team and Moscow, which could have violated the dormant Logan Act that bars unauthorized U.S. citizens from negotiating with foreign powers in disputes with the United States. The day after reporting by David Ignatius, Trump's incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer said the conversation had occurred on December 28 and thus couldn't have touched on the retaliation measures or Russia's response; Spicer later had to correct himself on the date of the conversation.

On January 4, 2017, Flynn informed Don McGahn, soon to become the White House Counsel, that he was under investigation over his work for Turkey. Ten days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Flynn told then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice not to proceed with a planned invasion of Raqqa using Kurdish People's Protection Units. Flynn's decision would delay the campaign, which had taken seven months to plan, several more months, but was consistent with Turkish objections to working with Kurdish troops.

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, in May 8 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, said the FBI interviewed Flynn, on January 24, 2017. Based on the results of that interview, she made an "urgent" request to meet with McGahn. She met with him on January 26 and again on January 27. She informed McGahn that Flynn was "compromised" and possibly open to blackmail by the Russians. Yates told McGahn that Flynn had misled Pence and other administration officials about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador. She added that Flynn's "underlying conduct", which she could not describe due to classification, "was problematic in and of itself," saying "(i)t was a whole lot more than one White House official lying to another." Former United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called the possibility of Flynn being blackmailed "kind of a stretch," while acknowledging that his false statement was "a problem ... that I would tell the president about."

On January 22, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn was under investigation by U.S. counterintelligence agents for his communications with Russian officials. On February 8, 2017, Flynn flatly denied having spoken to Kislyak in December 2016 about the sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration; however, the next day, U.S. intelligence officials shared an account indicating that such discussions did in fact take place. Following this revelation, Flynn's spokesman released a statement that Flynn "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up".

Dismissal and investigation

On February 13, 2017, Flynn resigned as National Security Advisor, following news reports about his communications with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak and additional reports that he had misled the Vice President about them. Flynn's 24-day tenure as National Security Advisor was the shortest in the 63-year history of the office. Those communications he had with the Russian ambassador were subsequently leaked to the press.

Commenting on Flynn's resignation, on February 14 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated, "We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, where a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change ... The issue here was that the President got to the point where General Flynn's relationship – misleading the Vice President and others, or the possibility that he had forgotten critical details of this important conversation had created a critical mass and an unsustainable situation. That's why the President decided to ask for his resignation, and he got it."

That same day (February 14), President Trump met with FBI Director James Comey in the Oval Office and reportedly told him "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go" adding "he's a good guy." Comey subsequently testified that, "I had understood the President to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn in connection with false statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December ... I did not understand the president to be talking about the broader investigation into Russia or possible links to his campaign". The propriety, and even the legality, of these words that Trump reportedly said to Comey about Flynn have become a subject of considerable public debate. Several months after dismissing Flynn, Trump also dismissed Comey, which Comey attributed to the FBI's Russia investigation.

Flynn had offered to testify to the FBI or the Senate and House Intelligence committees relating to the Russia probe in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution. However, the Senate Intelligence Committee rejected Flynn's offer for testimony in exchange for immunity. Flynn initially declined to respond to a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but he and the committee later struck a compromise. The Pentagon inspector general is also investigating whether Flynn accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.

On November 5, 2017, NBC News reported that Robert Mueller had enough evidence for charges against Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn. On November 10, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn is under investigation by Mueller for allegedly planning a kidnapping and extrajudicial rendition of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen to Turkey. On November 22, NBC News reported that Michael T. Flynn's business partner Bijan Kian is a subject of the Mueller probe. NBC reported that a Turkish businessman named Reza Zarrab, who was picked up last year by U.S. authorities in Miami on Iranian sanctions violations and money laundering charges, is offering evidence against Flynn.

On November 23, 2017, it was reported that Flynn's lawyers have notified Trump's legal team they can no longer discuss anything regarding Mueller's investigation, suggesting that Flynn may be cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal.

Plea bargain and statement of offense

On December 1, 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller agreed to a plea bargain in which Flynn pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador. Specifically, Flynn falsely denied that he had asked Russia's ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak on December 29, 2016, "to refrain from escalating ... in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day." Flynn pleaded guilty the same day as such plea bargain and acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation by Mueller. Flynn stated;

It has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of "treason" and other outrageous acts....Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right.

Bloomberg reporter Eli Lake wrote in an opinion piece on December 1, 2017, that two former Trump transition team officials provided information indicating that Jared Kushner was the senior member of the team described in Flynn's plea documents as having directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, asking them to delay or vote against a United Nations resolution on the issue of Israeli settlements, contrary to the still-incumbent Obama administration's position of support for the resolution. This was also confirmed by other news outlets, who cited multiple sources.

Sentencing

Sentencing of Flynn has been deferred several times, most recently on December 18, 2018. As part of Flynn's plea negotiations, his son, Michael G. Flynn, is not expected to be charged.

In a sentencing memorandum released on December 4, 2018, the Mueller investigation stated Flynn "deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government" and should receive little or no jail time.

Flynn's attorneys submitted a sentencing memo on December 11, 2018, requesting leniency and suggesting FBI agents had tricked him into lying during the January 24, 2017, White House interview and did not advise him that lying to federal agents is a felony. The memo also asserted that Flynn's relaxed behavior during the interview indicated he was being truthful. Trump echoed this assertion two days later on Twitter and Fox News, asserting, “They convinced him he did lie, and he made some kind of a deal.”

Mueller's office rejected these assertions the next day, stating agents had told Flynn portions of what he had discussed with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak to jog his memory, but Flynn did not waver from his false statements. FBI agents concluded that Flynn's relaxed behavior during the interview was actually because he was fully committed to his lies and therefore could be compromised by the Kremlin. Mueller's office also documented instances when Flynn lied about the Kislyak conversation during the days before the FBI interview. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered documents related to the interview be provided to him prior to Flynn's December 18 sentencing. The New York Times reported that Flynn's “decision to attack the FBI in his own plea for probation appeared to be a gambit for a pardon from Mr. Trump, whose former lawyer had broached the prospect last year with a lawyer for Mr. Flynn.”

Sullivan rebuked Flynn at his December 18 sentencing hearing. Citing evidence not released to the public, the judge told him, "arguably you sold your country out", and warned, "I cannot assure that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration." He offered to delay the sentencing until Flynn's cooperation with investigators was complete. After conferring with his attorneys, Flynn accepted the delay. During the hearing, Sullivan indicated he was offended by the suggestion in the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorneys that the FBI had misled Flynn, as it created an appearance that Flynn wanted to both accept a generous plea deal from prosecutors while also contending he had been entrapped. He asked several questions of Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, to determine if the defense was maintaining that the FBI had acted improperly in its investigation of Flynn, including whether he had been entrapped. Kelner responded, "No, your honor" to each question. Flynn acknowledged to Sullivan that he was aware that lying to federal investigators was a crime at the time of his initial FBI interview in January 2017. Sullivan then delayed sentencing.

Political views

Flynn is a registered Democrat, having grown up in a "very strong Democratic family". However, he was a keynote speaker during the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, and he was a surrogate and top national security adviser for President Donald Trump.

During a July 10, 2016, interview on ABC News' This Week, when asked by host Martha Raddatz about the issue of abortion, Flynn stated, "women have to be able to choose." The next day, Flynn said on Fox News that he is a "pro-life Democrat".

Flynn is a supporter of current Israeli policies. He is also an opponent of the Iran nuclear deal. In February 2017, Flynn said that "the Obama administration failed to respond adequately to Tehran's malign actions – including weapons transfers, support for terrorism and other violations of international norms". Flynn accused Yemen's Houthi rebels of being one of Iran's "proxy terrorist groups" in February 2017. Flynn also criticized Obama's administration for arming Syrian rebels linked to Salafi jihadism. According to Flynn, the U.S. is "at war with a radical component of Islam". Flynn has been a board member of ACT! for America, and sees the Muslim faith as one of the root causes of Islamist terrorism.

Flynn has described Islam as a political ideology and a cancer. He once tweeted that "fear of Muslims is RATIONAL" and included a video link claiming that Islam wants "80% of people enslaved or exterminated". Initially supportive of Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, Flynn later told Al Jazeera that a blanket ban was unworkable and has called instead for "vetting" of entrants from countries like Syria. Flynn has stated the U.S. "should extradite Fethullah Gülen" to Turkey and "work constructively with Russia" in Syria. In 2016, he said that he had personally seen photos of signs in the Southwest border area that were in Arabic to help Muslims entering the United States illegally. An officer of the National Border Patrol Council responded that the organization was not aware of any such signs.

Writings

Flynn co-authored a report in January 2010 through the Center for a New American Security, entitled Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan. That report, which became influential, argued that U.S. intelligence agencies "must open their doors to anyone who is willing to exchange information, including Afghans and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as well as the US military and its allies".

Flynn is also an author of The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies, co-authored with Michael Ledeen, which was published by St. Martin's Press in 2016. In reviewing the book, Will McCants of the Brookings Institution described Flynn's worldview as a confused combination of neoconservatism (an insistence on destroying what he sees as an alliance of tyranny, dictatorships, and radical Islamist regimes) and realism (support for working with "friendly tyrants"), although he acknowledged that this could be due to the book having two authors.

Awards and decorations

Lieutenant General Flynn's decorations, medals and badges include:

Other U.S. agency decorations
	US Intelligence Community's Gold Seal Medallion
	National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal
	National Security Agency Director's Distinguished Service Medal
	US Coast Guard Distinguished Public Service Award

Other awards and recognitions

This section is in list format but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this section, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2017)

• The Ellis Island Medal of Honor
• The 2012 Association of Special Operations Professionals Man of the Year award
• Honorary doctorate from The Institute of World Politics
• The William J. Casey Medal of Honor from the Institute of World Politics
• The Director of Naval Intelligence's Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton Award for Leadership and Mentorship (first non-Navy recipient)
• Federal Law Enforcement Foundation's Service to America Award

References

1. "STATEMENT OF THE OFFENSE". United States Department of Justice. 12/01/2017. Retrieved 03/24/2019. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
2. Whitlock, Craig and Miller, Greg. "Trump’s national security adviser shared secrets without permission, files show", Washington Post (December 14, 2016).
3. ^ Abramson, Alana (July 18, 2016). "Michael Flynn: Everything You Need to Know". ABC News. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
4. Roulo, Claudette (August 7, 2014). "Rogers Lauds Retiring Defense Intelligence Agency Chief". DoD News, Defense Media Activity.
5. Miller, Greg; Goldman, Adam (April 30, 2014). "Head of Pentagon intelligence agency ousted, officials say". Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
6. "How Mike Flynn Became America's Angriest General". Politico. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
7. ^ "Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, USA: Director". Defense Intelligence Agency. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
8. ^ McBride, Jessica (July 10, 2016). "Michael Flynn: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
9. Baker, Peter and Rosenberg, Matthew. "Michael Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey’s Interests During Trump Campaign", The New York Times (March 10, 2017).
10. Farhi, Arden; Brennan, Margaret; Dufresne, Louis; Gross, Katherine; Watson, Kathryn; Alemany, Jacqueline (February 14, 2017). "A timeline of Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia, his ouster and guilty plea". CBS News. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
11. Haberman, Maggie; Rosenberg, Matthew; Apuzzo, Matt; Thrush, Glenn (February 13, 2017). "Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
12. Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima, National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say, Washington Post (February 9, 2017).
13. Pramuk, Jacob (February 16, 2016). "Trump: I fired Flynn because of what he told Pence". CNBC.
14. "On Michael Flynn's Tenure as National Security Advisor". The Quantitative Peace. February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
15. ^ Derek Hawkins, Flynn sets record with only 24 days as national security advisor. The average tenure is about 2.6 years., Washington Post (February 14, 2017).
16. ^ Landay, Jonathan (April 27, 2017). "Pentagon probes Trump's ex-adviser Flynn over foreign payments". Reuters.
17. "F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims". New York Times. May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
18. Naylor, Brian; Kelly, Mary Louise (May 22, 2017). "Flynn Takes The 5th, Refuses To Turn Over Documents To Senate Panel". NPR. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
19. ^ "Flynn turns over documents to Senate panel probing Russia, Trump", CBS News (June 7, 2017).
20. Herb, Jeremy; Polantz, Katelyn; Perez, Evan; Cohen, Marshall (December 1, 2017). "Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI, is cooperating with Mueller". CNN. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
21. John, Caroline (March 31, 2017). "Lori Flynn: 3 Facts to Know about Michael Flynn's Wife". Earn The Necklace.
22. Gornall, Jonathan; Jacobson, Seth (December 2, 2017). "Hubris: the fall of General Mike Flynn". The National.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
23. "Saluting A Family Legacy". Quadrangles Online. University of Rhode Island. August 13, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
24. Gillis, James J. (September 24, 2011). "Brothers in arms". The Newport Daily News. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
25. "Recent Losses in the REALTOR Family". statewidemls.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
26. "Miss Helen F. Andrews Weds Charles F. Flynn". Newport Mercury. May 10, 1946. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
27. Gal Perl Finkel, President-elect Trump – the 'West Wing' lesson, The Jerusalem Post, November 15, 2016.
28. Mardell, Mark (January 5, 2010). "A damning view of US intelligence in Afghanistan". BBC News.
29. "Flynn to head DIA; more general moves announced". Army Times. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
30. Ackerman, Spencer (April 17, 2012). "Military Intelligence Gadfly Will Lead All Military Intelligence". Wired.
31. "Panetta: Under Burgess, DIA Evolved Into Global Agency". Retrieved April 9, 2017.
32. Hoskinson, Charles (October 10, 2012). "DIA maps out new structure to address 'persistent conflict". Defense Systems. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
33. Government Executive, Intelligence community must adapt to era of vast data, study says (November 2012).
34. Peter Zwack. Death of the GRU Commander Defense One, 1 February 2016.
35. ^ Michael Flynn: new evidence spy chiefs had concerns about Russian ties: US and UK officials were troubled by Moscow contacts and encounter with woman linked to Russian spy agency records The Guardian, 31 March 2017.
36. "Top 2 Pentagon intelligence officials abruptly quit". Yahoo News. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
37. Miller, Greg; Goldman, Adam (April 30, 2014). "Head of Pentagon intelligence agency forced out, officials say". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
38. ^ "Michael Flynn, Trump's military adviser, says Colin Powell's emails include 'really mean things'". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
39. Devereaux, Ryan. "An Interview With Michael T. Flynn, the Ex-Pentagon Spy Who Supports Donald Trump". The Intercept. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
40. ^ Rosenberg, Matthew; Haberman, Maggie (November 17, 2016). "Trump Is Said to Offer National Security Post to Michael Flynn, Retired General". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
41. ^ James Kitfield, How Mike Flynn Became America's Angriest General, Politico Magazine (October 2016).
42. ^ Hersh, Seymour (January 7, 2016). "Military to Military". London Review of Books. Vol. 38, no. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
43. ^ "Transcript: Michael Flynn on ISIL". Al Jazeera. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
44. "Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn". CCJ Symposium.
45. ^ Confessore, Nicholas; Rosenberg, Matthew; Hakim, Danny (June 18, 2017). "How Michael Flynn's Disdain for Limits Led to a Legal Quagmire". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
46. ^ Mark Mazzetti; Matthew Rosenberg (May 23, 2017). "Michael Flynn Misled Pentagon About Russia Ties, Letter Says". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
47. ^ Braun, Stephen; Burns, Robert (February 14, 2017). "Michael Flynn, fired once by a president, now resigns to another". CTV News.
48. Kocieniwski, David; Robinson, Peter (December 23, 2016). "Trump Aide Partnered With Firm Run by Man With Alleged KGB Ties". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 18, 2017. Brainwave is seeking to develop a market for its innovative—but broadly disputed—technology called "brain fingerprinting" which tries to assess an interrogation subject's honesty through a brain scan. Flynn was brought onto the company's board of advisers to help sell the product to defense and law enforcement agencies, Brainwave President Krishna Ika said in an interview.
49. Gold, Matea (May 4, 2017). "The mystery behind a Flynn associate's quiet work for the Trump campaign". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
50. Bykowicz, Julie; Wilber, Del Quentin; Viswanatha, Aruna (July 10, 2018). "Mike Flynn's Lawyers Say He Is No Longer Joining Consulting Firm". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
51. Act! Cleveland Meeting: General Michael Flynn (video). July 15, 2016. Event occurs at 13:15. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
52. "Trump adviser linked to Turkish lobbying". Politico. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
53. Daragahi, Borzou (June 20, 2017). "The Man At The Center Of This Trump Scandal Wants To Clear His Name". BuzzFeed News.
54. "The "Hidden" That Never Was". Reflections Turkey. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
55. "Support for Muslim Brotherhood isolates Turkey". Die Weld. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
56. Ömer Taşpınar (April 1, 2012). "Islamist Politics in Turkey: The New Model?". The Brookings Institution. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
57. ^ Anonymous (November 8, 2016). "Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support". The Hill. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
58. Jessica Schulberg Foreign Affairs (November 21, 2016). "Trump's National Security Adviser Changed His Mind About Turkey Coup Attempt After His Firm Got Involved". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
59. 'You don't haul somebody overseas': Ex CIA director says Michael Flynn may have gone too far in a meeting with Turkish officials http://uk.businessinsider.com/mike-flynn-turkey-lobbyist-james-woolsey-gulen-2017-3?r=US&IR=T
60. "Michael Rubin: The Trump team's first ethics scandal". Newsweek. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
61. ^ "Former Trump aide Flynn says lobbying may have helped Turkey". The Big Story. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
62. Grimaldi, James V.; Nissenbaum, Dion; Coker, Margaret (March 24, 2017). "Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Erdogan Foe From U.S." Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
63. "Michael Flynn, Trump's reported pick for national security adviser, sat in on intel briefings – while advising foreign clients". Retrieved November 18, 2016.
64. "Mike Flynn attended intelligence briefings while a lobbyist for Turkey". NBC News. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
65. Landay, Jonathan; Strobel, Warren; Layne, Nathan (September 13, 2017). Walcott, John; Cooney, Peter (eds.). "Democrats investigating whether Flynn promoted reactor project as Trump aide". Reuters. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
66. House, Billy (September 13, 2017). "Flynn Omitted a Saudi Nuclear Project in Filing, Democrats Say". Bloomberg News.
67. "#RT10 anniversary event on shape-shifting powers in today's world". RT.
68. "Q&A with US frm. Director of Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn on MidEast crisis". RT's YouTube channel. December 28, 2015.
69. ^ Huetteman, Emmarie; Rosenberg, Matthew (April 27, 2017). "Pentagon Inquiry Seeks to Learn if Flynn Hid Foreign Payment". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
70. ^ Michael Crowley, The Kremlin's Candidate: In the 2016 election, Putin's propaganda network is picking sides, Politico Magazine (May/June 2016).
71. ^ Michael Isikoff, Top Trump adviser defends payment for Russian speaking engagement, Yahoo News (July 18, 2016).
72. ^
    • Harris, Shane (February 1, 2017). "Democratic Lawmakers Seek Pentagon Probe of Mike Flynn's Russia Today Ties: National security adviser's connections with Russian television network under fire". The Wall Street Journal.
    • "Democratic lawmakers want probe of Trump adviser's Russia payment". Reuters. February 1, 2017.
    • Cummings, Elijah E.; Conyers, John Jr.; Schiff, Adam; Smith, Adam; Thompson, Bennie G.; Engel, Eliot L. (February 1, 2017). "Letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis".
73. "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections" (PDF). United States Intelligence Community. January 6, 2017.
74. Phillip Ewing, 5 Things On Michael Flynn, Russia and Donald Trump, NPR (February 10, 2017).
75. ^ Priest, Dana (August 15, 2016). "Trump adviser Michael T. Flynn on his dinner with Putin and why Russia Today is just like CNN". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
76. Beauchamp, Zack (July 9, 2016). "Michael Flynn, the retired general on Donald Trump's VP shortlist, explained". Vox.
77. "A curveball in Trump's Veep search: He's seriously considering a retired general". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
78. "Trump Vetting Gen. Michael Flynn for Potential VP Pick". ABC News. July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
79. ^ Cloud, David S.; Mai-Duc, Christine (July 20, 2016). "Retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn delivers fiery speech to emptying convention hall". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
80. Regated. Reverse Redacted: Michael Flynn Speech Highlights Archived November 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
81. East, Kristen (July 17, 2016). "Republican National Convention 2016 schedule of speakers". Politico. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
82. ^ "He was one of the most respected intel officers of his generation. Now he's leading 'Lock her up' chants". The Washington Post. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
83. Dinan, Stephen (July 18, 2016). "Michael Flynn calls for Hillary Clinton to quit race, go to prison". The Washington Times.
84. "Flynn retweets anti-Semitic remark". Politico. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
85. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew (November 18, 2016). "On Twitter, Michael Flynn interacted with alt-right, made controversial comments on Muslims, shared fake news". CNN. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
86. "Trump on Beating ISIS: 'You Have to Take Out Their Families'". Fox News. December 2, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
87. Stein, Sam (March 9, 2016). "Trump Says He Never Pledged To Kill Family Members Of Terrorists". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
88. Hussain, Murtaza. "Retired General: Drones Create More Terrorists Than They Kill, Iraq War Helped Create ISIS". The Intercept. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
89. AM, Jeff Stein On 6/9/17 at 7:00 (June 9, 2017). "Michael Flynn, Russia and a grand scheme to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East". Newsweek.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
90. "Michael Flynn's role in Middle Eastern nuclear project could compound legal issues - The Washington Post". web.archive.org. November 27, 2017.
91. "Inside the White House, Michael Flynn pushed proposal from company he said he had advised - The Washington Post". web.archive.org. November 29, 2017.
92. "Why Trump might bend nuclear security rules to help Saudi Arabia build reactors in the desert - The Washington Post". web.archive.org. February 20, 2018.
93. "Whistleblowers: Flynn backed plan to transfer nuclear tech to Saudis". NBC News.
94. Dovere, Edward-Isaac; Nussbaum, Matthew (May 8, 2017). "Obama warned Trump about Flynn, officials say". Politico. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
95. Shear, Michael D. (May 8, 2017). "Obama Warned Trump About Hiring Flynn, Officials Say". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
96. Bradner, Eric; Murray, Sara; Browne, Ryan (November 18, 2016). "Trump offers Flynn job of national security advisor". CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
97. ^ Entous, Adam; Nakashima, Ellen; Rucker, Philip (February 13, 2017). "Justice Department warned White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail, officials say". The Washington Post.
98. "AP Source: Trump aide in frequent contact with Russia envoy". AP News. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
99. "Flynn under fire for fake news". Politico. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
100. ^ Smale, Alison (December 19, 2016). "Austria's Far Right Signs a Cooperation Pact With Putin's Party". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
101. Goldman, Peter Baker, Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman, Adam; Davis, Julie Hirschfeld (February 14, 2017). "Flynn's Downfall Sprang From 'Eroding Level of Trust'". The New York Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
102. Foran, Clare. "Did Michael Flynn Violate the Logan Act?". The Atlantic.
103. "Explaining the Logan Act that Dems say Mike Flynn may have violated". ABC News. February 16, 2017.
104. Keith, Tamara; Montanaro, Domenico (January 14, 2017). "Trump Team: Adviser Spoke to Russia Official The Day U.S. Sanctions Were Announced". NPR.
105. Matthew Rosenberg; Mark Mazzetti (May 18, 2017). "Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
106. Bergengruen, Vera (May 17, 2017). "Flynn stopped military plan Turkey opposed – after being paid as its agent". McClatchy DC. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
107. Entous, Adam; Jaffe, Greg; Ryan, Missy (February 2, 2017). "Obama's White House worked for months on a plan to seize Raqqa. Trump's team took a brief look and decided not to pull the trigger". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
108. ^ King, Michael (May 8, 2017). "Sally Yates warned White House Michael Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail". WXIA. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
109. ^ Borger, Julian (May 8, 2017). "Mike Flynn at risk of Russian blackmail, Sally Yates warned White House". The Guardian. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
110. Apuzzo, Matt; Huetteman, Emmarie (May 9, 2017). "Sally Yates Tells Senators She Warned Trump About Michael Flynn". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
111. "Yates says Flynn could have been 'blackmailed', Clapper knocks collusion narrative". Fox News. May 8, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
112. Watson, Kathryn (May 14, 2017). "Robert Gates says Flynn blackmail fears are "kind of a stretch"". CBS News. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
113. Lee, Carol E.; Barrett, Devlin; Harris, Shane (January 23, 2017). "U.S. Eyes Michael Flynn's Links to Russia". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 23, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
114. "National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say". The Washington Post.
115. Cilliza, Cliff. "Just how much trouble is Michael Flynn in?". The Washington Post.
116. Maggie Haberman; Matthew Rosenberg; Matt Apuzzo; Glenn Thrush (February 14, 2017). "Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
117. Crowley, Michael. “Susan Rice becomes the target of conservative attacks over Flynn unmasking”, Politico (April 4, 2017): "Flynn's name was reportedly among those unmasked, and later leaked to the media, revealing contacts he had with the Russian ambassador in December, which cost him his job after it became clear he had misrepresented them to fellow White House officials."
118. Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, 2/14/2017, #12 Archived February 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, February 14, 2017.
119. Schmidt, Michael S. (May 17, 2017). "Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
120. Dilanian, Ken. "Comey to Testify He Assured Trump He Was Not Personally Under Investigation", NBC News, June 7, 2017.
121. Farivar, Masood. "Can Trump Be Indicted for Obstruction of Justice?", VOA News (June 10, 2017).
122. Sampathkumar, Mythili (June 8, 2017). "Comey testimony: The five biggest things we learnt from his damning Senate hearing on Trump". The Independent. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
123. "Mike Flynn Offers to Testify in Exchange for Immunity". The Wall Street Journal. March 30, 2017.
124. "Michael Flynn's Immunity Request Rejected By Senate Intelligence Committee". NBC News. April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
125. "Mueller Has Enough Evidence to Bring Charges in Flynn Investigation". NBC News. November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
126. Grimaldi, James V.; Harris, Shane; Viswanatha, Aruna (November 10, 2017). "Mueller Probes Flynn's Role in Alleged Plan to Deliver Cleric to Turkey". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
127. Chiacu, Doina (November 10, 2017). Baum, Bernadette (ed.). "Mueller probing alleged Flynn plan to deliver cleric to Turkey: WSJ". Reuters. Retrieved November 10, 2017. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether U.S. President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was involved in an alleged plan to seize a Muslim cleric and deliver him to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
128. "Mueller eyes Mike Flynn business partner Bijan Kian". NBC News. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
129. Köksal, Nil. (20 November 2017). "ANALYSIS Who is Reza Zarrab? Turkish-Iranian gold trader may be working with Mueller investigation of Michael Flynn". CBC News website Retrieved 3 December 2017.
130. Lee, Carol E. & Ainsley, Julia. "Mueller Probing Possible Deal Between Turks, Flynn During Presidential Transition", November 10, 2017; retrieved December 3, 2017.
131. Schmidt, Michael S.; Apuzzo, Matt; Haberman, Maggie (November 23, 2017). "A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
132. CNN, Sophie Tatum and Evan Perez,. "Flynn's lawyers no longer sharing information with Trump's legal team". CNN. Retrieved November 24, 2017. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
133. "New sign Flynn may be planning to cooperate with Mueller". Axios. November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
134. Higgins, Tucker; Mangan, Dan (December 1, 2017). "Michael Flynn, Trump's ex-national security adviser, is expected to plead guilty Friday to lying to the FBI". CNBC. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
135. Sullivan, Eileen; Goldman, Adam; Shear, Michael D. (December 1, 2017). "Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to the F.B.I." The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
136. Ross, Brian et al. "Flynn has promised special counsel 'full cooperation' in Russia probe: Source", ABC News (December 1, 2017).
137. "Kushner Is Said to Have Ordered Flynn to Contact Russia". Bloomberg.com. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
138. Melissa Quinn | Washington Examiner, Jared Kushner directed Michael Flynn to contact Russian government in Dec. 2016: Report, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jared-kushner-directed-michael-flynn-to-contact-russian-government-in-dec-2016-report/article/2642306 , January 12, 2017
139. Santucci, John; Palmeri, Tara; Kelsey, Adam (December 1, 2017). "Jared Kushner is 'very senior' official who directed Flynn to contact Russia in court documents: Sources". ABC News.
140. "Kushner, McFarland talked to Flynn about Russia". CBS News. December 1, 2017.
141. Bowden, John. "Mueller, Flynn legal teams not ready to schedule a sentencing hearing". The Hill. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
142. Samuels, Brett (May 1, 2018). "Mueller requests Flynn's sentencing be delayed at least two more months". The Hill. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
143. "Michael Flynn's sentencing delayed after judge tells the ex-Trump adviser he might not avoid prison time". Washington Post. December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
144. Leonnig, Carol D.; Dawsey, Josh; Barrett, Devlin; Zapotosky, Matt (December 1, 2017). "Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
145. Goldman, Adam; Sullivan, Eileen (December 4, 2018). "Flynn Was a Key Cooperator and Deserves Little Prison Time, Mueller Team Says". Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
146. Goldman, Adam (December 11, 2018). "Michael Flynn Asks Judge for Leniency for Lying to F.B.I." Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
147. Goldman, Adam (December 14, 2018). "Mueller Rejects Flynn's Attempt to Portray Himself as Victim of the F.B.I." Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
148. "Judge excoriates Trump ex-adviser Flynn, delays Russia probe..." Reuters. December 19, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
149. Breuninger, Dan Mangan, Kevin (December 18, 2018). "Judge tells Michael Flynn 'You sold your country out'". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved January 2, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
150. LaFraniere, Sharon; Goldman, Adam (December 18, 2018). "Trump Wishes Michael Flynn Good Luck Before Sentencing". Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
151. Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (December 18, 2018). "'I can't hide my disgust, my disdain': judge lambasts Michael Flynn". Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via www.theguardian.com.
152. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/im-not-hiding-my-disgust-or-my-disdain-veteran-judge-upends-hopes-of-trump-allies-as-he-spotlights-flynns-misdeeds/2018/12/18/6fe78382-02f1-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html
153. "Flynn: "I was aware" that lying to FBI investigators was a crime". www.cnn.com. December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
154. ^ Diaz, Daniella (July 10, 2016). "Flynn voices abortion views at odds with Republican platform". CNN. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
155. Kelsey, Adam (July 10, 2016). "Possible Trump VP Pick Flynn Supports Abortion Rights: 'Women Have to Be Able to Choose'". ABC News. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
156. Griffin, Jennifer (July 11, 2016). "Trump VP short-lister Flynn clarifies abortion stance, says he's 'pro-life'". Fox News. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
157. "Jerusalem said to welcome Trump's 'pro-Israel' security picks". The Times of Israel. November 19, 2016.
158. "Trump's Transition Team Colluded With Israel. Why Isn't That News?". The Intercept. December 5, 2017.
159. "Trump administration: 'We are officially putting Iran on notice'". BBC News. February 2, 2017.
160. "Trump risks deeper entanglement in Yemen's murky war". Reuters. February 7, 2017.
161. ^ "Transcript: Michael Flynn on ISIL". Al-Jazeera. January 13, 2016.
162. ^ Khan, Mariam (November 18, 2016). "Trump's National Security Adviser Has Called Islam 'a Cancer'". ABC News. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
163. Mangla, Ismat Sarah. "Islam is a 'malignant cancer': The hateful rhetoric of Trump's new national security adviser". Quartz. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
164. "Donald Trump's national-security team takes shape: Jim Mattis would be a reassuring choice; Mike Flynn is an alarming one". The Economist. November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
165. Sanger, David E. (November 11, 2016). "Donald Trump Likely to End Aid for Rebels Fighting Syrian Government". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
166. Kaczynski, Andrew (December 10, 2016). "Michael Flynn once claimed Arabic signs on southern border guide 'radicalized Muslims' into US". CNN. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
167. Michael T. Flynn; Captain Matt Pottinger; Paul D. Batchelor (January 2010). "Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan" (PDF). Center for a New American Security. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
168. Landler, Mark and Perlez, Jane. "A Veteran and China Hand Advises Trump for Xi’s Visit", The New York Times (April 4, 2017).
169. Mitchell, Peter. "Top Trump adviser defends Aust dealings", Australian Associated Press (November 21, 2016).
170. Flynn, Michael T.; Ledeen, Michael (2016). The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1250106222. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
171. Will McCants (July 19, 2016). "Realist or neocon? Mixed messages in Trump advisor's foreign policy vision". Markaz: Middle East Politics & Policy (Brookings Institution blog).
172. ^ "Lt. Gen. Flynn retires from DIA, 33-year Army career". Defense Intelligence Agency. Washington, DC. DIA Public Affairs. August 7, 2014.
173. ^ Silva, Melissa (February 16, 2016). "Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, USA and Retired Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn Joins Brainwave Science's Advisory Board". Business Wire. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
174. "Defense Intelligence Director Honored at Ellis Island Ceremony". DIA Public Affairs. Defense Intelligence Agency. May 14, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
175. Cuningham, Henry (November 8, 2012). "Lt. Gen. Flynn named Association of Special Operations Professionals' Man of the Year". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
176. Suydam, Kellie (October 19, 2015). "IWP marks Silver Anniversary with gala celebration". The Institute of World Politics. Retrieved February 14, 2017.

Further reading

• Kitfield, James (October 16, 2016)."How Mike Flynn Became America's Angriest General". Politico Magazine.
• Priest, Dana (November 23, 2016). "The Disruptive Career of Michael Flynn, Trump’s National-Security Adviser". The New Yorker.
• Schmidle, Nicholas (February 27, 2017). "Michael Flynn, General Chaos". The New Yorker.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Interviews on Al Jazeera: 19 May 2016; 13 Jan 2016

v t e Assistants to the president for national security affairs
Cutler Anderson Jackson (acting) Cutler Gray Bundy Rostow Kissinger Scowcroft Brzezinski Allen Nance (acting) Clark McFarlane Poindexter Carlucci Powell Scowcroft Lake Berger C. Rice Hadley Jones Donilon S. Rice Flynn Kellogg (acting) McMaster Bolton Kupperman (acting) O'Brien Sullivan Waltz (designate)

v t e Directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency
Carroll Bennett de Poix Graham Wilson Tighe Williams Perroots Soyster Nagy (acting) Clapper Minihan Hughes Wilson Jacoby Maples Burgess Flynn Shedd (acting) Stewart Ashley Berrier

• 1958 births
• American people of Irish descent
• American conspiracy theorists
• Critics of Islam
• Directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency
• Golden Gate University alumni
• Living people
• Military intelligence
• People associated with Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
• People convicted of making false statements
• People from Middletown, Rhode Island
• Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal
• Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal
• Recipients of the Legion of Merit
• Trump administration personnel
• United States Army generals
• United States National Security Advisors
• University of Rhode Island alumni
• Virginia Democrats
• Virginia politicians convicted of crimes