What's Up With the Trump Administration and Russia? Part 1: NSA Director Michael Flynn

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Photo credit: Michael Klimentyev - Sputnik via Associated Press

​​National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is in a lot of trouble.

According to the U.S. intelligence community, Russia’s government interfered with the 2016 presidential election, with the intention of influencing the election in favor of Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton. President Obama announced on December 29, 2016, imposing additional sanctions against Russia in response to malicious cyber-enabled activities. There were already significant sanctions on Russia related to Russia’s incursion into Crimea, which is part of Ukraine.

It has been previously reported that Michael Flynn, a retired general working on the Trump transition team, spoke on the telephone several times with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak the day that President Obama announced the sanctions. This week the Washington Post reported that Flynn and Kislyak privately discussed sanctions on that day, contrary to public statements by Trump officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.
 
Even before the announcement of the substance of the conversations, according to the Washington Post, “Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.”

According to the article published Thursday, Flynn’s conversation included a promise that whatever Obama did in response to the Russian hacking, Trump could undo once he became president.

The conversations appear to violate the Logan Act, a United States federal law passed in 1799, which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments having a dispute with the U.S. The law was enacted with the intention of preventing the undermining of the government’s position with adversaries.

The implications for the Trump administration are significant. Here are a few of the ways the “Flynn Affair” may affect Trump’s leadership team.

1. Michael Flynn may be fired or forced to resign.
2. Vice President Pence may be implicated in the cover-up of the inappropriate contact and illegal communications.
3. Michael Flynn could be charged with a crime or crimes, ranging in severity from violation of the Logan Act to treason against the United States.
4. If it is determined that other members of the Trump administration were aware of the inappropriate communication, or if the communication was sanctioned by other members of the administration, other individuals could be charged with violation of the Logan Act or treason against the United States.

Finding out that the National Security Advisor, a Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army, engaged in inappropriate negotiations with the Russian government regarding sanctions raises a number of questions. First, why would Flynn engage in communications that, as a former Director of National Intelligence, he should have known were routinely monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies? This seems to point to either extreme naiveté or some form of mental impairment. Second, why would it be so important to Flynn to reassure the Russian government that the Trump administration would be friendly and solicitous, even though evidence showed clearly that the Russian government had interfered in the U.S. election?

The first question only Flynn can anwer, which will not happen he is interviewed under oath in a Congressional investigation or criminal trial. The second question is more complicated, but there is some evidence regarding Flynn’s relationship with Russia that may give some context for the phone calls.

A brief timeline of Flynn’s career and relevant events sheds some light on Flynn’s behavior.
 
1981: Flynn began work as a second lieutenant in Army military intelligence.

2002-2004: Flynn commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade

2004-2007: Flynn served as director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command, with service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

​2007-2008: Flynn served as director of intelligence, United States Central Command

2008-2009: Flynn served as director of intelligence, Joint Staff.

2009-2010: Flynn served as director of intelligence, International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

2011: Flynn was promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

2012: Flynn was appointed director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. While serving in this position, Flynn went to Russia and taught a leadership course to the GRU (Russia’s security service).

Flynn announced his retirement in 2014, a year earlier than expected. Reports indicate that he was forced out of the DIA after clashing with superiors over his chaotic management style and vision for the agency. According to a private email that was leaked online and reported on in the Washington Post, Colin Powell had said that he had heard in the DIA that Flynn got fired because he was “abusive with staff, didn’t listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc.” The New York Times reported the Flynn exhibited a loose relationship with facts. His subordinates reportedly referred to Flynn’s repeated dubious claims as “Flynn facts.”
 
2015: Flynn, less than a year after retiring from the U.S. Army, attended a dinner in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The event was an anniversary celebration for the Russia state-funded television station Russia Today (RT). According to Flynn, his trip was paid for by his speaker’s bureau. Questions remain about whether the trip was paid for by the Russian government. Flynn dismissed the controversy over his trip as ridiculous.
 
2015: The Trump campaign contacted Flynn as an advisor. Flynn reported also worked for the Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, and Ted Cruz campaigns.
 
In 2016 the Washington Post reported that Flynn’s former colleagues were worried about his increasingly outspoken and partisan views. “Former colleagues have contacted him to urge him to show more restraint. Among them are retired General Stanley A. McChrystal, who relied heavily on Flynn in Iraq and Afghanistan, and retired Admiral Michael Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen provided a written statement saying that ‘for retired senior officers to take leading and vocal roles as clearly partisan figures is a violation of the ethos and professionalism of apolitical military service.’ Officers are sworn to execute orders without regard for political positions, an oath to the Constitution that ‘is inviolable and presidents must never question it or doubt it,’ he said."

Why did Michael Flynn violate the Logan Act? At this point, we have more questions than answers.

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A February 10, 2017 article in Defense One magazine about the Flynn affair can be found here.
http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2017/02/michael-flynns-disaster/135335/?oref=d-channelriver

The February 9, 2017 Washington Post article reporting officials’ assertions that Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador can be found here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/national-security-adviser-flynn-discussed-sanctions-with-russian-ambassador-despite-denials-officials-say/2017/02/09/f85b29d6-ee11-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?postshare=7981486693718584&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.e5b4cfe69b28
 
President Obama’s December 29, 2016 Executive Order – “Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency with Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities” – can be found here.The November 17, 2016 article from the New York Times reporting Flynn’s relationship to the Trump team and his chaotic management style can be found here.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/29/executive-order-taking-additional-steps-address-national-emergency 

The November 18, 2016 New York Times article reporting the appointment of Flynn as National Security Adviser can be found here.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/politics/michael-flynn-national-security-adviser-donald-trump.html

The` September 2016 Washington Post article describing comments Colin Powell made about Michael Flynn’s performance as Director of National Intelligence can be found here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/09/15/michael-flynn-trumps-military-adviser-says-colin-powells-emails-include-really-mean-things/?utm_term=.1abe1f4d646e

The August 2016 article from the Washington Post about Flynn’s attendance at the dinner with Putin, concern from his former military colleagues, and his belief that Russia Today is a news outlet on a par with CNN, rather than a Russian propaganda machine, can be found here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/15/trump-adviser-michael-t-flynn-on-his-dinner-with-putin-and-why-russia-today-is-just-like-cnn/?utm_term=.b286db821fd2