As the furor rages unabated after the testimony
of James Comey, both sides are coming to the realization that it settled nothing.
Comey said just enough to allow both sides to reinforce their preconceived notions
and declare a victory. Comey’s testimony is not the end, but is more like
pulling a thread that causes other threads to unravel. Even though Comey did
not present irrefutable evidence of criminal activity by the president, he did
make a blatant accusation that the president is corrupt. The investigations
will continue and, at this point, it seems that the trails all point toward
Michael Flynn.
The investigation of Michael Flynn is at the center of the
dispute between James Comey and President Trump. In Comey’s
opening statement, the former director claimed that it was the investigation
of Flynn that prompted Trump’s alleged request that, “I hope you can see your
way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy.”
Who is Michael Flynn? Flynn is a retired US Army general who
rose to command the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Obama. He
served honorably in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of the War on
Terror. Flynn abruptly
retired a year early from his position at the DIA, apparently under
pressure from the Obama Administration. Sean
Spicer confirmed in May that Barack Obama had warned the Trump camp about
getting too close to Flynn.
In fact, Flynn became an early advisor to the Trump campaign
and was considered
as a vice presidential candidate. Flynn eventually was appointed as
President Trump’s National Security Advisor after delivering a fiery speech
to the Republican National Convention.
As National Security Advisor, Flynn lasted just over three
weeks. The issue was false statements that Flynn had made to Vice President
Pence, Press Secretary Spicer and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Before the
election and during the transition, Flynn had secret communications with
Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in which he discussed sanctions that the
Obama Administration had imposed on Russia in response their interference in
the election. Flynn denied discussing the sanctions until the Washington
Post reported that leaks revealed that there was evidence from surveillance
that Flynn was not being truthful.
Even after Flynn’s duplicity was revealed, Trump waited 18
days before finally deciding to fire him. Shortly after the Flynn’s
dismissal on the basis of loss of trust, The
Hill reported that Trump called him “a wonderful man” and said that the
media had treated him “badly.” The is in sharp contrast to the firing of Comey,
who was attacked
by Trump on Twitter in the days after his dismissal.
Since leaving the White House, Flynn’s troubles have only
gotten worse. Flynn is under investigation for failing to disclose a $33,000
payment from the Russian state-owned propaganda network, RT, after leaving
the DIA. The New
York Times reported in April that Flynn initially failed to disclose other
payments from “companies linked to Russia.”
Flynn also may have broken the law by doing consulting work
that benefitted the government of Turkey without the permission of the US
government. After being fired by Trump, Flynn registered
with the US government as a paid foreign agent for work done the year
before that could have aided the Turkish government. Flynn may have also failed
to fully disclose his contracts and payments from the Turkish consulting work.
Further, the Wall
Street Journal reported that Flynn met with Turkish government contacts
last summer, while he was still working for the Trump campaign, and discussed
the possibility of returning Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric that Turkey blames
for last summer’s failed military coup, without going through legal US
extradition procedures. Former CIA Director James Woolsey said the discussion
involved “a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away.” Woolsey
said he did not hear a specific plan and would have objected if he had.
Even before Donald Trump was nominated as the Republican
candidate, Flynn drew criticism for his ties to Russia. In December 2015, Flynn
was paid $45,000 by RT to speak at the network’s 10th anniversary
gala. The network also paid airfare for the trip and hosted Flynn at a luxury
hotel in Moscow according to NBC
News. Flynn sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin at
the event.
In 2013, as head of the DIA, Flynn arranged a controversial
trip to Russia for a group of US intelligence officers with the goal of
building a working relationship with the GRU, Russian military intelligence.
Flynn planned to host GRU officers in the US, but the Russian invasion of
Crimea led to chilled relations between the two countries.
There are many questions about Mike Flynn that are
unanswered. There is not even a definitive answer on how Flynn and Trump came
to know each other. In an interview with the
New Yorker, Flynn claimed he hit it off immediately with Trump in an August
2015 meeting in New York. In his interview with NBC
News in May 2017, Trump denied knowing Flynn in 2015 In any case, Flynn was
identified as an advisor
to Trump by February 2016.
Trump’s relationship with Michael Flynn is central to the
question of whether the president tried to interfere in the investigation of
Flynn and whether he abused his authority in firing Director Comey. Trump is
also alleged to have asked
other intelligence officials to back off from the Flynn investigation. When
asked by senators, Director
of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Advisor Mike Rogers
said that they have never been “pressured” to interfere in an investigation. Neither
would answer the question of whether Trump had ever broached the subject,
however.
Right now, even after James Comey’s testimony, there are far
more questions than answers. At this point, it is unknown whether a crime has
been committed by either Mike Flynn or Donald Trump, but if there has been no
crime then what has the White
House cover-up been about? Did President Trump act illegally to protect
Flynn? If so, why? Why did Trump really fire Comey? And why fire him when he
did, months after taking office and seemingly out of the blue? The timing of
the firing endangered the Republican legislative agenda at a time when the
Republican health care reform had just passed the House and the party was
looking towards tax reform.
Mike Flynn seems to hold many of the answers, but he isn’t
talking. The retired general is invoking
his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination and refusing to comply
with a subpoena to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Flynn also initially refused to comply with a subpoena
for personal documents relating to his businesses. Eventually Flynn agreed to
provide some documents after senators issued subpoenas his businesses as well.
With Special Counsel Bob Mueller likely investigating Flynn
alongside the Senate Intelligence Committee, the probe into the Russian
interference in the election and possible collaboration by members of the Trump
campaign isn’t over yet. It’s just getting started and the relationship between
President Trump and Gen. Flynn is likely to generate many more headlines before
it’s over.
Originally published
on The Resurgent
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