Flynn lost me when he admitted, unless he was lying to the court to save his son, that he lobbied for and took $ from the Turkish Government while serving as Candidate Trump's principal foreign policy spokesman and while serving in President-Elect Trump's transition as the shadow/future National Security Advisor.
I'm anxious to read the explanation for his QANON loyalties.
No pay wall:
From the Wall Street Journal--Dec 1, 2017
WASHINGTON—Former national security adviser Mike Flynn revealed Friday that private consulting work he undertook while advising
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was directed and supervised by Turkish government officials, something people involved in the project have denied for months.
The revelation came as part of Mr. Flynn’s
agreement to plead guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his talks with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. As part of a deal for leniency, Mr. Flynn agreed to cooperate with the special counsel’s deepening investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Along with admitting he lied to the FBI, Mr. Flynn acknowledged in court papers unsealed Friday that the Turkish government “provided supervision and direction over” a $530,000 consulting contract he had with a Turkish businessman last year.
For months, those involved in the effort denied the Turkish government played any role in hiring Mr. Flynn to promote Ankara’s interests in the U.S. by attacking the government’s main nemesis: a Muslim cleric living in the U.S. whom Turkey has accused of trying to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr. Flynn didn’t publicly detail his consulting work until March, when he filed paperwork with the Justice Department about his work for Turkish interests. At the time, Mr. Flynn’s attorney and Ekim Alptekin, the Turkish businessman who signed the contract, denied that the Turkish government financed the project.
On Friday, Mr. Flynn admitted that Turkey played a much more significant role in overseeing the project than previously admitted.
There is no indication in the plea agreement that others in the Trump administration were aware of the arrangement with Turkey. It appears that prosecutors uncovered omissions about the Turkey contract in Mr. Flynn’s disclosure papers and then used them as part of the leverage to get him to cooperate in the continuing Russia investigation.
While Mr. Flynn admitted in documents released Friday to making “materially false statements and omissions” in forms filed with the federal government about the work for Turkey, he doesn’t face charges on the matter.
Mr. Alptekin has repeatedly denied that the Turkish government was behind the project. He didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday, but a representative said Mr. Alptekin stands by his denials.
“He’s pretty blown away” by Mr. Flynn’s statements on Turkey, the person said.
Turkish government officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.
While working on the Trump presidential campaign last year, Mr. Flynn’s consulting firm embarked on a project aimed at discrediting Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric. The Turkish government has pressed the U.S. to extradite Mr. Gulen to face terrorism charges in Turkey.
As part of that effort, Mr. Flynn wrote an opinion piece that appeared in The Hill newspaper and online on Election Day calling for Mr. Gulen’s extradition. The Flynn Intel Group also hired consultants, freelance journalists and public-relations firms
to create a “60 Minutes”-style piece attacking Mr. Gulen. The film was never completed, and Mr. Flynn shelved the work before being named Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser.
In the fall of 2016, Mr. Flynn also met with top Turkish officials in New York to discuss the prospect of spiriting Mr. Gulen out of the U.S. to Turkey, according to people familiar with the meetings. Mr. Flynn and the Turkish government have denied ever having any such discussions. Those
allegations have been a focus of the special counsel’s investigation, according to people familiar with the issue, but they weren’t addressed by prosecutors on Friday.
Mr. Flynn’s work for Turkey has been overshadowed by the special counsel’s focus on his contacts with Russian government officials. But the Turkey project could create more legal problems for Mr. Flynn and the Turkish government, which has tried to establish a new, cooperative relationship with the Trump administration.
