Michael Flynn, 33-year military man, retired as a Three-star Lieutenant General and former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), who was fired by President Obama, by request of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for being “unstable,” apparently decided his military officer’s pension wasn’t enough.
And as part of his unregistered (and thus illegal, SEE:FARA) support of a foreign government possibly AGAINST United States interests, hatched a plan (for $15mil) with his son to kidnap and transport to Turkey, a “dissident” Cleric named Fethullah Gülen.
From The Guardian, in 2017:
Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is under investigation for involvement in an alleged plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US and fly him to an island prison in Turkey in return for $15m, it was reported on Friday.
The former national security adviser’s company, Flynn Intel Group, is allegedly under scrutiny for failing to register work it did for interests linked to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Flynn is in legal jeopardy for his statements to investigators about his contacts with representatives of the Turkish and Russian governments.
The new allegation, that Flynn and his son engaged in a conspiracy to arrange the rendition of Fethullah Gülen to the Erdoğan government – which accuses the cleric of plotting an abortive coup in July 2016 – could if confirmed result in even more serious charges.
And even though Flynn appears to be done with the Mueller investigation, justice may not be done with him. This grand jury is situated in Virginia, and I doubt has anything to do with Mueller directly. Whether his plea agreement is connected in any way with this grand jury, I don’t know.
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a secret Turkish lobbying effort that once involved Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, even as Mr. Flynn’s role in the special counsel’s investigation winds down, according to people familiar with the inquiry.
[...]
The Turkey case appears to fit as one of those inquiries because Mr. Flynn has direct knowledge of aspects under scrutiny. Prosecutors are examining Mr. Flynn’s former business partners and clients who financed a campaign against Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania whom the Turkish government has accused of helping instigate a failed coup.
[...]
Federal prosecutors had begun investigating Mr. Flynn after he wrote an op-ed for The Hill newspaper on Election Day 2016 attacking Mr. Gulen as a “radical Islamist” and a “shady Islamic mullah.” The prosecutors began examining whether Mr. Flynn was working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey.
Investigators later learned the op-ed was part of a larger effort by Mr. Flynn on behalf of Turkey. Mr. Flynn’s company was ultimately paid $530,000 to investigate Mr. Gulen by a company run by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
In an op-ed, Mr. Flynn called Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, a “radical Islamist” and a “shady Islamic mullah.”
Flynn lied to the FBI, stating that he wrote the op-ed as a private citizen, when he was axctually getting PAID to write it by the Turkish Government.
So what? He lied about getting paid to rid the world of a “radical Islamist” and a “shady Islamic mullah” ???
Hardly……..
So, who is Fethullah Gulen actually?
Who is this mysterious man in Pennsylvania?
The 75-year old imam went into self-imposed exile when he moved from Turkey to the United States in 1999 and settled in Saylorsburg, Pennsyvlania.
Supporters describe Gulen as a moderate Muslim cleric who champions interfaith
dialogue.
Promotional videos show him meeting with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in the 1990s. He also met frequently with rabbis and Christian priests in Turkey. Gulen has a loyal following -- known as Gulenists -- in Turkey, who all subscribe to the Hizmet movement.
Hizmet is a global initiative inspired by Gulen, who espouses what The New York Times has described as "a moderate, pro-Western brand of Sunni Islam that appeals to many well-educated and professional Turks." Nongovernmental organizations founded by the Hizmet movement, including hundreds of secular co-ed schools, free tutoring centers, hospitals and relief agencies, are credited with addressing many of Turkey's social problems.
The preacher and his movement also spawned a global network of schools and universities that operate in more than 100 countries.
Yes. Radical Islamist. Obviously……..
I sure hope what Flynn gave Mueller was worth it.