Michael G. Flynn
| Michael G. Flynn | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael G. Flynn 1982/1983 (age 40–41)[1][2][3] United States |
| 🏳️ Nationality | United States |
| Other names | Michael Flynn, Jr.[4] |
| 💼 Occupation | Chief of staff, Flynn Intel Group Formerly aide to designate-National Security Advisor, Trump Transition |
| Twitter= | |
Michael G. Flynn (also referred to as Michael Flynn, Jr.[4]) is the chief of staff for the intelligence consulting company Flynn Intel Group.[5] The CEO of the company is his father, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and designate-National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration, Michael T. Flynn.[1] Flynn campaigned alongside his father during the 2016 U.S. presidential election in support of Donald Trump.[5]
Flynn worked as an aide to his father during the Presidential transition of Donald Trump. The transition team requested a federal security clearance for him in order for him to join the United States National Security Council.[1][6] He was removed from the transition team in early December 2016 for supporting the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory on his Twitter account.[1][7]
Early life and family[edit]
Flynn along with his brother Matthew Flynn is one of two sons of Michael Thomas Flynn and Lori Andrade Flynn.[8][9] He did not have much exposure to his father during the elder's service in the United States Army.[10] His father's deployments included long stints of service in Iraq and Afghanistan which kept him away from his family.[10] Due to this service, the elder Flynn was unable to attend his son's wedding.[10] The two grew closer after the senior Flynn completed his military service.[10] Flynn worked briefly for his uncle's California-based printing enterprise.[10] Prior to his appointment by his father as chief of staff for Flynn Intel Group, he had not garnered experience in government or national security.[10]
Flynn Intel Group[edit]
Flynn serves as chief of staff for the intelligence consulting company Flynn Intel Group, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.[8][5] Flynn Intel Group stated that it: "provides elite intelligence services and solutions to industry and government worldwide."[9] He reports directly to his father, and serves as his top aide.[1] He helped his father edit his book.[5] In 2015 while working as aide to his father, the two traveled together to Moscow, and assisted the senior Flynn who was placed in a seat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a gala event for Russian propaganda mouthpiece Russia Today.[10] He served as spokesman for the senior Flynn during outing to Russia.[11]
2016 U.S. presidential election[edit]
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the younger Flynn frequently attended official events with his father campaigning for candidate Donald Trump.[5] Michael G. Flynn and his father were both active on social media during the campaign on Twitter and Facebook promoting Trump, and shared conspiracy theories from fake news websites, the alt-right and Infowars.com.[5][1][7] He served as chief adviser and top aide to his father during the Trump campaign.[12][13] In this capacity he additionally served as spokesman to the media when the senior Flynn was under consideration for Vice President of the United States.[13]
Presidential transition of Donald Trump[edit]
Flynn served in the Presidential transition of Donald Trump as an aide to his father.[1][14] In this capacity as an employee on the transition team, the younger Flynn was issued an official Trump transition .gov email address.[6][4] He listed the Trump transition website greatagain.gov on his Twitter bio profile.[4][15][16] He attended multiple official Trump transition meetings with the senior Flynn at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[4][15][16] While working on the Trump transition team, he was scheduled to subsequently serve alongside his father on the United States National Security Council.[1] During the planning process to join the National Security Council, the Trump Transition team requested a security clearance with the federal government for Flynn.[1][17]
During the ongoing Trump transition efforts, Flynn defended the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory in a post to Twitter on December 4, 2016, hours after police in Washington, D.C. arrested a North Carolina man who brought an assault rifle to restaurant Comet Ping Pong.[1][6][3] The arrested individual fired two rounds in the restaurant, before admitting the stated aim of investigating fake "PizzaGate" conspiracy theory asserting the pizza parlor was the base of a child sex ring.[1][6][2] Michael's father previously posted numerous times to Twitter promoting the fake "PizzaGate" conspiracy theory including prior to the election,[15][18] and continued to do so repeatedly during the night immediately after the shooting.[16][19] Flynn re-tweeted a post to Twitter on December 5, 2016, which asserted the shooter arrested at Comet Ping Pong named Edgar Maddison Welch was actually an actor as part of a hoax to draw attention away from the child sex conspiracy theory.[1][14][20] Two days after the shooting, Trump Transition Chair and Vice President-elect of the United States, Mike Pence, appeared on the MSNBC program Morning Joe and said Flynn had never been an employee on the Trump transition, saying Flynn: "had no involvement in the transition whatsoever".[3][1][16] On December 6, 2016, Trump fired Michael G. Flynn from his transition team, with The New York Times and ABC News both reporting the action by the President-Elect was directly tied to Flynn's Twitter posting of fake news.[1][7] Trump himself gave the direct order for the removal.[17] Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Flynn had been involved in the transition saying he assisted with scheduling and administration functions for the designate-National Security Director.[7] Miller confirmed Flynn was removed from the transition team.[1] Pence verified this on CNN saying Flynn assisted as a scheduler and with administration, and said: "but that’s no longer the case."[14] Flynn had previously posted similarly conspiratorial material regarding Hillary Clinton from True Pundit, Infowars, the Drudge Report alleging that Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, drank the blood and bodily fluids of other humans in Satanic rituals, which Politico says "soon morphed into the '#pizzagate' conspiracy theory involving Comet Ping Pong."[21]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Matthew Rosenberg, Maggie Haberman, and Eric Schmitt (December 6, 2016), "Trump Fires Adviser's Son From Transition for Spreading Fake News", The New York Times, retrieved December 7, 2016CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Greg Miller (December 6, 2016), "Trump adviser's son removed from transition after spreading conspiracy theory", The Washington Post, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Trump fires employee over 'Pizzagate' tweet", Tampa Bay Times, December 6, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Aaron Blake (December 6, 2016), "Pence said Michael Flynn Jr. 'has no involvement in the transition.' But he did.", The Washington Post, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott (November 18, 2016), "Michael Flynn's son and chief of staff pushed conspiracy theories, obscene memes online", CNN, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Andrew Kaczynski (December 5, 2016), "Incoming national security adviser's son, who peddles conspiracies, has a government transition email", CNN, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Faulders, Katherine (6 December 2016), "Mike Flynn Jr. Forced Out of Trump Transition Amid Fake News Controversy", ABC News, retrieved 7 December 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alana Abramson (July 18, 2016), "Michael Flynn: Everything You Need to Know", ABC News, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 McBride, Jessica (November 17, 2016), "Michael Flynn: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know", Heavy.com, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "Trump transition team members spread fake news that inspired Salisbury man accused in rifle assault", Winston-Salem Journal, The Washington Post, December 5, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ Mark Hosenball and Steve Holland (February 26, 2016), "Trump being advised by ex-U.S. Lieutenant General who favors closer Russia ties", Reuters, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ Bryan Bender and Shane Goldmacher (July 8, 2016), "Trump's favorite general", Politico, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cadigan, Will (May 26, 2016), "Trump's Veepstakes: Who is Michael Flynn?", CNN, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Michelle Hackman (December 6, 2016), "Michael Flynn's Son Has Left Trump Transition Team", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Fake News Rings Alarm Bells From Restaurant to White House", The New York Times, Associated Press, December 6, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "Son of Trump Adviser Doubles Down on Fake Comet Ping Pong Conspiracy Theory", WRC-TV, Associated Press, December 6, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Jake Tapper, Eric Bradner, Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott (December 6, 2016), "Sources: Trump transition team requested security clearance for Flynn Jr.", CNN, retrieved December 7, 2016CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ "Suspect in Washington pizzeria shooting wanted to save kids, police say", Grand Forks Herald, Reuters, December 6, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ Camila Domonoske (December 6, 2016), "Man Fires Rifle Inside D.C. Pizzeria, Cites Fictitious Conspiracy Theories", National Public Radio, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ "Incoming national security adviser's son spreads fake news about D.C. pizza shop", Politico, December 4, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2016
- ↑ Bender, Brian; Hanna, Andrew (December 5, 2016). "Flynn under fire for fake news". POLITICO.
... Flynn posed a tweet containing the hashtag "#spiritcooking," a reference to a bizarre rumor alleging that Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, took part in occult rituals in which people consume blood and other bodily fluids. That rumor, based on a wild reading of some Podesta emails that had been released by WikiLeaks, also took off on websites such as the Drudge Report and InfoWars, run by Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The "#spiritcooking" rumor soon morphed into the "#pizzagate" conspiracy theory involving Comet Ping Pong, which alleges that virtually the entire D.C. establishment ... is involved with or covering up a satanic plot to traffic in, sexually abuse and murder children.
External links[edit]
- Michael G. Flynn on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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