Michael Flynn.

[hollodero]

Please help me out. Let's see if I get the facts straight here.

Michael Flynn, that fine gentlemen that pushed pizzagate and made such noble remarks like "Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore", had recieved over 500.000 Dollars from Turkey to promote a pro-Erdogan agenda. That made him a foreign agent, which he didn't disclose. He was under FBI investigation because of that, and possibly because of speaking fees straight from Russia as well as strange Russia TV appearances. The Trump team knew exactly he was under FBI investigation and still made him security advisor. Warnings are ignored, including Obamas. He meets with Kislyak, allegedly talking sanctions, and lies about it. Sally Yates sees immediate danger of possible Russian blackmail because of this and maybe other things and alarms the White House, offering evidence. She gets fired a few days later for obviously unrelated reasons. Michael Flynn stays on for 18 more days, until his lieing gets public through a leaked report with his name unmasked. Trump asks for Flynn's resignation, but insists we has treated so unfairly. He also asks the FBI director to stop the investigation against Flynn. Flynn himself asks for immunity and claims he certainly has a story to tell.

In short, this all is absurd.
What's going on? I come up with nothing. Especially nothing that isn't too huge to say out loud. And also nothing where whoever leaked isn't as much a criminal as a hero.

[Belsnickel]

To be fair, Pizzagate and, I believe the Jews quote, was his son.

Other than that, I'm as lost on this situation as you are. I can't come up with a reasonable explanation for it all.

[hollodero]

(05-18-2017, 08:42 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: To be fair, Pizzagate and, I believe the Jews quote, was his son.

Oh right... pizzagate was pushed by his son, although father Michael did tweet links to conspiracy sites where Clinton/Podesta child molestation and satanic rutuals were discussed. He's not exactly remaining blameless on that one.
Also the Jews comment wasn't his, he just retweeted it. Welp, I spread some fake news here. Justice for Flynn!

[*michaelsean*]

(05-18-2017, 10:26 AM)hollodero Wrote: Oh right... pizzagate was pushed by his son, although father Michael did tweet links to conspiracy sites where Clinton/Podesta child molestation and satanic rutuals were discussed. He's not exactly remaining blameless on that one.
Also the Jews comment wasn't his, he just retweeted it. Welp, I spread some fake news here. Justice for Flynn!

 "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?"  Michael Flynn quoting Ray Donovan.  (Not that Ray Donovan)

[Dill]

(05-17-2017, 11:18 PM)hollodero Wrote: In short, this all is absurd.
What's going on? I come up with nothing. Especially nothing that isn't too huge to say out loud. And also nothing where whoever leaked isn't as much a criminal as a hero.

You don't have quite ALL the facts. E.g., Flynn apparently nixed the Obama plan for Kurdish-led assault on Raqqa--which the Turks were dead set against. Was he just waiting for a comprehensive Trump plan first, or was he acting in the interest of Turkey? We may find out in the next few months.

The Flynn puzzle has two parts:

1. INCOMPETENCE--Trump gets some good advice, but his instincts and impulses trump that advice. He knows NOTHING of foreign policy or the intel world. Flynn is a good guy and a general and hates Obama and Hillary so that outweighs ties to Turkey and Russia. Trump's base also knows NOTHING of foreign policy or intel, and so they see nothing especially troubling about his personnel selections or intel-risky behavior.  Washington needs a shakeup, right? Give the Russians Israeli intel. That the most highly classified intel would daily be flowing to someone compromised by Russia and Turkey is less important than his desire to LOCK HER UP!

2. RUSSIA--the inability of Trump to say or do anything against the interests or even the public image of an adversary who attacked the US election process. To an intel specialist looking at this situation from the outside, Flynn looks like a Russian asset. The meeting with Kislyak is off the chart troubling, even if he doesn't directly speak of easing sanctions. A national security adviser with a special (and especially friendly, cemented in cash payments) relationship with Putin, Kislyak, and Lavrov.  Imagine if Mexico or China hacked the US elections. Can you imagine a president elect selecting a national security adviser with undeclared monetary ties to these countries? Can you imagine him denying the unanimous conclusion of his intel services? From the outside, to intel services in other countries, this has to look like the president of the US is a Russian asset as well. Hence the choice of Flynn and the reluctance to part with him--so long as the public doesn't know he is compromised.

[hollodero]

(05-18-2017, 01:14 PM)Dill Wrote: You don't have quite ALL the facts. 

Oh yeah, I left out quite a bit. The strange meeting with my country's right-wing party leader, for example. Or the allegation he was in a plan to obduct Gülen.
And sure, the Russian asset interpretation fits the facts, but I can't quite wrap my head around that. It would make for a quite unbelievable B movie plot.

[GMDino]

Also VP Pence insists he knew nothing.

BREAKING: letter to Pence stating issues about General Flynn being a lobbyist for turkey. Pence knew as did Trump.
RT pic.twitter.com/kMydUKfliV

— SCROTUS (@_NotFakeNews_) May 19, 2017

Oops.

Not exactly "breaking" as it's been known since March.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article137853633.html

Quote:Trump transition was told of Flynn’s lobbying, congressman’s letter to Pence shows

The top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform told then Vice President-elect Mike Pence in a November letter that the man Donald Trump had tapped to be his national security adviser was lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.

The letter, a copy of which was shared with McClatchy, contradicts White House claims that neither Pence nor Trump knew of Michael Flynn’s lobbying until it was revealed in a Justice Department filing this week.

In the letter, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, asked Pence, then the leader of Trump’s transition team, for information regarding Flynn’s business interests and statements regarding potential conflicts of interests.

Cummings said Flynn’s work for Turkey and a speech Flynn gave in Russia could violate Trump for America’s code of ethics if Flynn was advising Trump on policy related to those two nations. Flynn was Trump’s principal foreign policy adviser during the campaign.

“Lt. Gen. Flynn’s involvement in advising Mr. Trump on matters relating to Turkey or Russia – including attending classified briefings on those matters – could violate the Trump for America, Inc. Code of Ethical Conduct,” Cummings wrote.

The Cummings’ letter, which was dated Nov. 18, the day after Trump announced that Flynn would be his national security adviser, adds to the mystery surrounding Flynn’s short tenure in the White House.