Michael Flynn

"Mike Flynn" and "General Flynn" redirect here. For other uses, see Michael Flynn (disambiguation) and General Flynn (disambiguation).

Michael Flynn
Official portrait, 2012
24th United States National Security Advisor
In office
January 22, 2017 – February 13, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyK. T. McFarland
Preceded bySusan Rice
Succeeded byH. R. McMaster
Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
In office
July 24, 2012 – August 7, 2014
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byRonald L. Burgess Jr.
Succeeded byDavid Shedd (acting)
Personal details
Born
Michael Thomas Flynn

(1958-12-24) December 24, 1958 (age 65)
Middletown, Rhode Island, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 2021)
Republican (from 2021)[1]
Spouse
Lori Andrade
​
(m. 1981)​
Children2
Relatives
Education
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1981–2014
RankLieutenant general
Unit
Battles/wars
Awards

Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who was the 24th U.S. national security advisor[2] for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports that he had lied regarding conversations with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. Flynn's military career included a key role in shaping U.S. counterterrorism strategy and dismantling insurgent networks in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, and he was given numerous combat arms, conventional, and special operations senior intelligence assignments.[3][4][5] He became the 18th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in July 2012 until his forced retirement from the military in August 2014.[6][7][8] During his tenure he gave a lecture on leadership at the Moscow headquarters of the Russian military intelligence directorate GRU, the first American official to be admitted entry to the headquarters.[9][10][11]

After leaving the military, in October 2014 he established Flynn Intel Group, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments, including in Turkey.[12][13][14] In December 2015, Flynn was paid $45,000 to deliver a Moscow speech at the ten-year anniversary celebration of RT, a state-controlled Russian international television network, where he sat next to Russian president Vladimir Putin at his banquet table.[15]

In February 2016, Flynn became a national security advisor to Trump for his 2016 presidential campaign.[16][17] In March 2017, Flynn retroactively registered as a foreign agent, acknowledging that in 2016 he had conducted paid lobbying work that may have benefited Turkey's government.[18][19] On January 22, 2017, Flynn was sworn in as the National Security Advisor.[20] On February 13, 2017, he resigned after information surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature and content of his communications with Kislyak.[21][22][23] Flynn's tenure as the National Security Advisor is the shortest in the history of the position.[24][25]

In December 2017, Flynn formalized a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to a felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI about the Kislyak communications, and agreed to cooperate with the Special Counsel's investigation.[26] In June 2019, Flynn dismissed his attorneys and retained Sidney Powell, who on the same day wrote to attorney general Bill Barr seeking his assistance in exonerating Flynn. Powell had discussed the case on Fox News and spoken to President Trump about it on several occasions.[27][28][29] Two weeks before his scheduled sentencing, in January 2020 Flynn moved to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming government vindictiveness and breach of the plea agreement.[30] At Barr's direction, the Justice Department filed a court motion to drop all charges against Flynn on May 7, 2020.[31][32] Presiding federal judge Emmet Sullivan ruled the matter to be placed on hold to solicit amicus curiae briefs from third parties.[33] Powell then asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to compel Sullivan to drop the case, but her request was denied.[34] On November 25, 2020, Flynn was issued a presidential pardon by Trump.[35] On December 8, 2020, Judge Sullivan dismissed the criminal case against Flynn, stating he probably would have denied the Justice Department motion to drop the case.[36]

On July 4, 2020, Flynn pledged an oath to the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory,[37] and as Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in which he was defeated, Flynn suggested the president should suspend the Constitution, silence the press, and hold a new election under military authority.[38] Flynn later met with Trump and their attorney Powell in the Oval Office to discuss the president's options. Trump denied reports that Flynn's martial law idea had been discussed.[39][40][41] Flynn has since become a prominent leader in the Christian nationalist movement, organizing and recruiting for what he characterizes as a spiritual and political war.[42][43]

  1. ^ "Michael Thomas Flynn from Englewood, Florida | VoterRecords.com". voterrecords.com. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  2. ^ Tikkanen, Amy (September 10, 2019). "List of national security advisors of the United States". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  3. ^ Whitlock, Craig; Miller, Greg (December 14, 2016). "Trump's national security adviser shared secrets without permission, files show". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Abramson, Alana (July 18, 2016). "Michael Flynn: Everything You Need to Know". ABC News. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  5. ^ Roulo, Claudette (August 7, 2014). "Rogers Lauds Retiring Defense Intelligence Agency Chief". DoD News, Defense Media Activity.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference forced out was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kitfield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, USA: Director". Defense Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference concerns was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Russia, Trump, Turkey: Detailing Michael Flynn's fall". PolitiFact.
  11. ^ Gloria Borger; Pamela Brown; Jim Sciutto; Marshall Cohen; Eric Lichtblau (May 20, 2017). "First on CNN: Russian officials bragged they could use Flynn to influence Trump, sources say". CNN Digital.
  12. ^ McBride, Jessica (July 10, 2016). "Michael Flynn: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  13. ^ Baker, Peter; Rosenberg, Matthew (March 10, 2017). "Michael Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey's Interests During Trump Campaign". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Baker, Peter; Rosenberg, Matthew (March 10, 2017). "Michael Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey's Interests During Trump Campaign (Published 2017)". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Multiple sources:
  16. ^ Hosenball, Mark; Holland, Steve (February 26, 2016). "Trump being advised by ex-U.S. Lieutenant General who favors closer Russia ties". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
  17. ^ "Michael Flynn: timeline of the former national security adviser's case". The Guardian. December 5, 2018.
  18. ^ Swanson, Ian (December 17, 2018). "Turkey and Michael Flynn: Five things to know". The Hill.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Farhi, Arden; Brennan, Margaret; Dufresne, Louis; Gross, Katherine; Watson, Kathryn; Alemany, Jacqueline (December 2, 2017). "A timeline of Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia, his ouster and guilty plea". CBS News. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  21. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Rosenberg, Matthew; Apuzzo, Matt; Thrush, Glenn (February 13, 2017). "Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference WaPoSanctions was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Pramuk, Jacob (February 16, 2016). "Trump: I fired Flynn because of what he told Pence". CNBC.
  24. ^ Flynn, Michael E. (February 14, 2017). "On Michael Flynn's Tenure as National Security Advisor". The Quantitative Peace. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  25. ^ Hawkins, Derek (February 14, 2017). "Flynn sets record with only 24 days as national security advisor. The average tenure is about 2.6 years". The Washington Post.
  26. ^ Herb, Jeremy; Polantz, Katelyn; Perez, Evan; Cohen, Marshall (December 1, 2017). "Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI, is cooperating with Mueller". CNN. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  27. ^ Polantz, Katelyn (June 6, 2019). "Michael Flynn fires lawyers who cut plea deal with Mueller". CNN.
  28. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Savage, Charlie; Goldman, Adam (June 28, 2020). "How Michael Flynn's Defense Team Found Powerful Allies". The New York Times.
  29. ^ Powell, Sidney (June 6, 2019). "Letter to William Barr re Internal review, Brady, IG Report, Declassification, and Lt. General Michael Flynn (retired)" (PDF). Sidney Powell, P.C. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference HsuJan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Tucker, Eric (May 8, 2020). "Flynn dismissal a surprise? AG Barr in sync with Trump". Associated Press.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Balsamo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Hsu, Spencer S.; Leonnig, Carol D. (May 12, 2020). "U.S. judge puts Justice Department's move to drop charges against Michael Flynn on hold". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  34. ^ Gerstein, Josh (August 31, 2020). "Appeals court deals setback to Flynn's attempt to end DOJ case against him". POLITICO.
  35. ^ "Michael Flynn: Trump pardons ex-national security adviser". BBC News. November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  36. ^ Hsu, Spencer S.; Marimow, Ann E. "Michael Flynn judge says pardon doesn't mean ex-national security adviser is innocent". The Washington Post.
  37. ^ Multiple sources:
  38. ^ Multiple sources:
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference Heated Oval was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Cite error: The named reference Special Counsel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  41. ^ Cheney, Kyle; Gerstein, Josh (December 19, 2020). "Trump sought to tap Sidney Powell as special counsel for election fraud". Politico. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  42. ^ Smith, MIchelle R. (October 18, 2022). "How Michael Flynn goes local to spread Christian nationalism". Associated Press.
  43. ^ Michelle R. Smith; Richard Lardner (October 7, 2022). "Michael Flynn's ReAwaken roadshow recruits 'Army of God'". Associated Press.