CNN reported Friday that the Defense Department Inspector General had concluded a “long-delayed investigation into Michael Flynn” sending its findings to the Army “in a case that could bring tens of thousands of dollars in financial penalties for President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.”
The report stems from a referral launched by Democrats in 2017, as they attempted to paint Flynn as an agent of Russia and Turkey, while they struggled to build the narrative that the President and his campaign had somehow worked with the Russian government to secure a win of the Presidency.
The CNN report details that the Inspector General was investigating claims that General Flynn accepted money from Russian and Turkish interests before he began working for the Trump Administration, alleging that the acceptance of the money was a violation of the Constitutions Emoluments clause. Because there is the chance that former military officials may be called back to serve, they are subject to this rarely enforced provision in the Constitution.
UncoverDC has filed a FOIA request for a copy of the report.
The reporting by CNN and other legacy media outlets is the latest in an attempt to demonize the General, as his influence and popularity among more than half the country skyrockets. However, Flynn is one of the most investigated men on the planet, and each of the politically motivated attempts to destroy the decorated general, have failed.
Russian money
In December of 2015, Flynn traveled to Russia to speak at RT’s anniversary gala. The trip and speaking engagement were arranged by a speakers bureau. Flynn informed the DIA that he would be making the trip and then briefed them afterward. Declassified documents provided to then-Senate Judiciary chair Chuck Grassley were exculpatory in nature for General Flynn. They indicated that he attended a defensive briefing before attending the dinner, and when he returned, he spent time briefing intelligence officials on what he learned during the event. Additionally, the Obama administration obviously knew of the trip and extended Flynn’s security clearance after he had returned, something that arguably wouldn’t have been done should General Flynn have violated the Emoluments Clause. The government was keenly aware and benefited from Flynn’s trip to speak in Russia.
Turkish Entanglements
One of the most misunderstood portions of the story involving General Flynn stems from the work his firm, Flynn Intel Group, conducted for a Turkish businessman by the name of Ekim Alptekin. Ekim was interviewed for UncoverDC in August of 2020. The government filed charges against Flynn’s business partner, Bijan Rafiekian, as part of the Mueller Special Counsel investigation, alleging FARA violations and asserting that Alptekin was working on behalf of the Turkish government. They declined to charge Flynn, instead soliciting his help as a witness against his former business partner. The case is complicated, however ultimately, the government was unable to prove that Alptekin was working for the Turkish government. In a highly politicized trial, intertwining with Flynn’s own case on separate matters, a jury convicted Rafiekian of the violations. In a stunning reversal, the judge in the case overturned the guilty verdict, acquitting Flynn’s former business partner, stating, “There is no substantial evidence that Rafiekian agreed to operate subject to the direction or control of the Turkish government. There is no evidence of any statements by Rafiekian that would allow a rational juror to find that Rafiekian had agreed to operate as an agent of the Turkish government or that he thought he was acting as a Turkish agent.”
It is worth noting that the government used this case as a weapon in a politically motivated targeting of General Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn Jr., and attempted to force General Flynn to lie on behalf of the government in the case. When General Flynn refused to do so, Mueller attorneys did a complete 180 regarding his cooperation status reports, where they had lauded him as an upstanding, fully cooperative witness. They then used this as a cudgel in Flynn’s own case. The fact that General Flynn refused to lie, the very thing he was charged with doing in interviews with FBI agents, caused the government's case against Rafiekian to fall apart.
A Brief History
Recent reporting, and the referral of the IG report to the Army, is the latest in a string of politically motivated attacks against General Flynn. The Department of Justice dropped all charges against Flynn after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found that it was questionable there was even a predicate to begin the investigation at all. In addition, numerous documents were declassified, which debunked the allegations, and FBI agents who worked on the case were interviewed and indicated they worried they would be held accountable for an investigation in search of a crime.
It is worth a quick trip down memory lane to refresh the reader on what was found, in part. The documents and interviews uncovered a string of malfeasance. Among them were the fact that the transcripts of the calls with former ambassador to Russia Sergei Kislyak showed no conversations about sanctions, the centerpiece of the entire case against him, and that the FBI sought to close the investigation into Flynn in January of 2017 after they could find no evidence—not even a shred—of any criminal activity.
In one of the more telling declassifications from the case, we learned that former FBI official Bill Priestap had scribbled in handwritten notes when discussing the strategy to interview Flynn, writing, “What is our goal? Truth/Admission, or to get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Agents also discussed whether or not they needed to give an admonition regarding 1001, the statute that makes it a crime to lie to an FBI agent. The statement is typically given before any interview so that a party is aware.
An agent on the case, Joseph Pientka, who was responsible for closing the case, failed to do so, leaving a frantic FBI scrambling to reverse the closing order in an attempt to begin an investigation into supposed Logan Act violations. The Logan Act has never been used to successfully prosecute an American citizen. Declassified documents show that it was actually former Vice President Joe Biden who initiated discussion of the Logan Act in a small meeting with FBI brass and President Obama.
Additionally, a declassified 302 of an interview with FBI Agent William J. Barnett, one of the agents involved in the baseless investigation into General Flynn, shines a tremendous light on the weaponization of the Obama DOJ against an innocent man. The FBI assigned General Flynn code-name “Razor” in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The agent said that some in the FBI had a “get Trump” attitude and that the targeting of Flynn fell along the same lines—to “get” Flynn, to “get” Trump, and ultimately to hamper and stall an America first agenda.
The government's Motion to Dismiss in the case details a litany of issues and uses it as a predicate to “ambush” the interview of General Flynn in January of 2017, stating that it was not conducted with a legitimate investigative purpose, among other issues of targeting. One would do well to read the entire document and its exhibits, which can be found here.
It is clear the new Biden administration has no intention of returning honor back to the U.S. Government but is continuing to weaponize its assets against patriotic Americans who seek to better the country. This is just the latest in the political prosecution of America First allies.
