Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Tuesday that Michael G. Flynn, the son of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser who has defended the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory on Twitter, is not involved with Trump’s transition team.
But later in the morning, Trump’s transition team confirmed that the younger Flynn had in fact previously been involved in the transition.
“General Flynn’s son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever,” Pence said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday, responding to a question from Mike Barnicle, who said there was “growing concern” about the fake news and conspiracies promoted by both Flynns, father and son, online.
Hours later, Trump communications director Jason Miller said in a phone call with reporters that Michael G. Flynn “was helping his father with some administration and scheduling duties early on in the transition process and he is no longer involved with transition efforts.”
He did not specify when Flynn’s involvement in the transition had ended.
The younger Flynn has served as his father’s chief of staff and as an employee at his consulting firm. CNN reported Monday that he had a transition email address. When pressed about that email address on “Morning Joe,” Vice President-elect Pence said again, “He has no involvement in the transition whatsoever.”
On Sunday, the younger Flynn took to Twitter to defend the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory in the wake of the arrest of a gunman who claimed to be “self-investigating” theory.
Comet Ping Pong, a neighborhood pizza place in Washington, D.C., is the center of a Clinton-run child sex trafficking ring, according to the bizarre Pizzagate lore. The gunman fired one shot before surrendering to police.
“Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many “coincidences” tied to it,” the younger Flynn wrote Sunday night, one of many statements defending the conspiracy theory.
His father, retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, has dabbled in the conspiratorial, as well: “U decide – NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc…MUST READ!” Flynn tweeted on Nov. 2, linking to an article on truepundit.com which cited “NYPD sources” who claimed evidence existed linking Hillary Clinton to various crimes including “Child exploitation” and “sex crimes with minors (children).”
The elder Flynn has promoted conspiracies about various members of President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s inner circles, pushing 16 dubious stories since August 9, according to a Politico tally.
Esme Cribb contributed reporting.
