Russia isn’t the only country causing headaches for the Trump administration. The federal investigation into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn is closely scrutinizing whether his lobbying work for Turkey influenced military decisions he made in the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The newspaper obtained a copy of a grand jury subpoena issued to one of Flynn’s business associates by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which involves his $600,000 contract with Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin to lobby for improved relations between the U.S. and Turkey.
McClatchy revealed this week that Flynn put a hold on a military operation against the Islamic State that involved arming Kurdish forces—a move Turkey opposed.
Because Flynn was so hawkish about the need to combat the threat posed by ISIL, his decision prompts questions about whether it was influenced by his hefty lobbying fees.
Federal investigators are looking into whether other military determinations Flynn made during the transition and his tenure as national security adviser were swayed by funds he received from Turkey and Russia, according to the Journal.
The retired lieutenant general reportedly told the transition team that he was under investigation for his lobbying work weeks before inauguration, but the White House insists they knew nothing about it at the time.
Flynn retroactively registered as a foreign agent after he was dismissed for misleading senior administration officials about his private conversations with Russian officials.
Flynn is a traitor, plain and simple. Flynn put his own monetary gain in front of US national interests.
25 years in a supermax federal prison should do him well.
“Traitor” is a casual word that can be thrown about with some recklessness, whereas “treason” is extremely narrowly defined.
There are a lot of traitors in this administration, I think, but we can use stronger language with Michael Flynn. IANAL, but I think his alleged actions very literally fit the Constitutional definition of treason.
Let’s use the strong language with this one.
As Josh stated earlier this week, this man’s decisions affected an untold number of peoples’ lives. His treasonous ass should be put away for a very long time.
The degree of self-sabotage in the Trump White House is staggering
Ross Barkan
But Republicans love the death penalty. Why deny it to them just because it’s one of their own?