Michael Flynn, Jr. Is Target of Russia Probe

​During the 2016 campaign season, Michael G. Flynn, son of Trump supporter General Michael Flynn, was a tireless Tweeter, sharing outlandish conspiracy theories. Now NBC News has reported that the son of the former National Security Advisor is under investigation in the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election, and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

During the campaign the elder Michael Flynn led shouts of “Lock her up!” at Trump campaigns. Michael G. Flynn, his son, shared false stories about a supposed pedolphile ring that ran out of a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C. (known as the Pizzagate conspiracy), and other propaganda pushed by Russian and right-wing extremist media outlets. He also served as his father’s chief of staff in his company Flynn Intel Group.

The younger Flynn continues to share propaganda on Twitter, and maintains a social media relationship with Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec, two extremist media personalities who have been awarded White House press credentials.

The Rachel Maddow Show reported tonight that the younger Flynn has an associate’s degree in golf course management, unusual preparation for a career in national security. The younger Flynn also accompanied his father on his trip in December 2015 to Moscow, where the elder Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, the Russian government-sponsored English language media company. (Yesterday it was announced by Yahoo News that RT is under investigation by the FBI, and that RT must register as a foreign agent in the U.S., under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.)

Experts agree both Flynn’s are in a great deal of legal jeopardy. Some of the legal issues for the elder Flynn include:

• He failed to register as an agent of the Turkish government in 2016. Under FARA, failure to register is a felony.
• He failed to get permission from the Department of Defense for his travel to Russia in 2015.
• He failed to disclose contacts with representatives of the Russian government during the transition period between the election and Inauguration.
• He secretly worked on a joint Russia-U.S. plan to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East, both before and after accepting the position of National Security Advisor. Newsweek reported on this in June; today, House Oversight received information that Flynn was warned by lawyers of the National Security Council not to pursue this project. In spite of that, he ordered employees of his office to work on the plan.
• He may have made false statements to federal investigators in January of 2017, not long after the Inauguration. Flynn’s interview with FBI investigators appears to have been alarming enough that Sally Yates, acting Attorney General, made two visits to speak with Don McGahn, White House counsel. Days later Sally Yates was fired by the president, ostensibly for refusing to uphold the first travel ban executive order. Less than two weeks later Flynn himself was fired from his position as National Security Advisor, ostensibly for failing to tell Vice President Mike Pence about his dealings with representatives of the Russian government.

While Vice President Pence has asserted that he did not know about Flynn’s dealings with the Russians, he did receive a letter in November 2016, as head of the transition team, from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, detailing Flynn’s actions representing the Turkish government.

Information from NBC News about the special prosecutor’s focus on Michael G. Flynn can be found here.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mike-flynn-s-son-subject-federal-russia-probe-n800741

An article in Daily Kos, with more information about Flynn’s interest in conspiracies, can be found here.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/13/1698247/-Michael-Flynn-s-son-under-investigation-by-Special-Counsel-Robert-Mueller

An article about the spread of extremist propaganda during the campaign can be found here.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/13/1698187/-While-Russia-was-buying-ads-on-Facebook-right-wing-web-sites-gave-propaganda-a-free-ride

An article about RT being ordered to register as the agent of a foreign government can be found here.
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/350226-russian-network-rt-must-register-as-foreign-agent-in

A Newsweek article about Sputnik, another English-language Russian government-funded media outlet, now under FBI investigation, can be found here.
http://www.newsweek.com/russian-network-sputnik-under-fbi-investigation-possible-kremlin-propaganda-662844

An NPR story about the nuclear deal the elder Flynn worked on in the White House can be found here.
http://www.npr.org/2017/09/13/550679417/house-dems-michael-flynn-may-have-lobbied-for-nuclear-deal-inside-white-house

A New York Times article detailing some of the elder Michael Flynn’s legal problems can be found here.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/us/politics/michael-flynn-russia.html?_r=0
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Photo credit: NBC News

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