Michael Flynn might be Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor, but he’s also a man who dines with Putin, and more importantly, a man who has had trouble keeping secret information secret.
If retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn were a rank-and-file intelligence analyst, military officer or congressional aide, his career would be in smoldering ruins. But instead, he’s getting a big-league promotion.
Not only did Flynn share classified information with foreign military without permission while on the ground in Afghanistan, he also let Pakistan in on U.S. intelligence capabilities being used to monitor terrorist networks. But far from getting busted for his leaks, Flynn got what most people at the general officer level get when they screw up—a pass.
But at least two Democratic senators aren’t quite ready to extend that offer.
[Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH] and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote to the FBI director, White House director of personnel management and director of national intelligence questioning whether Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn should have this exclusive access to U.S. secrets given claims that Flynn leaked documents and owns a private intelligence company that has built-in conflicts of interest to his upcoming job.
It may seem as if having a national security advisor who can’t access classified information might be a handicap, but since Trump has already dismissed the value of classified briefings, it’s no big deal. After all, they can always check with Alex Jones for the latest doings of lizardmen and pizza lovers.
Flynn’s cavalier treatment of classified information didn’t stop when he left his post in the military. In fact, it hasn’t stopped now.
Flynn continued to run a company that was lobbying on behalf of foreign clients, even as he received classified intelligence briefings during the presidential campaign. It’s an action that could have left him susceptible to foreign influence as he was being provided secret information.
“Once he was receiving classified information again, by not cutting off ties to his company or disclosing these ties in the first place, he was exposing himself impermissible levels of foreign influence and raising doubts about his candor and trustworthiness,” said Bradley Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security law.
But at least he didn’t have a private email server. That would be …
In another incident, Flynn had technicians install an internet connection in his office at the Department of Defense, even though this was prohibited.
Oh. Well … that didn’t keep Flynn from playing the role of finger-wagging scold during the campaign.
At the Republican National Convention in July, Flynn called on Clinton to drop out of the race for putting “our nation’s security at extremely high risk with her careless use of a private email server.” He egged on the partisan crowd in chants of “lock her up,” adding: “If I, a guy who knows this business, if I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today.”
Maybe he would have been trouble for a tenth. But apparently doing ten times as much? That’s okay.