# Michael Flynn Retired US Army Lieutenant General, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Trump's first National Security Adviser. Served only 24 days before being forced to resign for lying about Russian contacts. ## Military Career - 33 years in US Army intelligence - Director of Defense Intelligence Agency (2012-2014) - Forced out by Obama administration over management issues - Became deeply embittered toward Obama; embrace of conspiracy theories followed ## The RT Connection - **December 2015**: Sat next to [[Vladimir Putin]] at a gala dinner for **RT** ([[Russia]] Today), the Russian state propaganda network, in Moscow - **Paid $45,000** for the appearance - Failed to disclose the payment on security clearance forms - The image of a retired three-star US general sitting next to Putin at a propaganda event became iconic ## The Turkey Contract — the Original FARA Scandal The Russia story eclipsed it publicly, but Flynn was simultaneously an **undisclosed paid agent of Turkish interests** during the 2016 campaign: - **August 2016**: [[Flynn Intel Group]] signs a $600K contract (of which **$530K was paid**) with **Inovo BV**, a Dutch shell of Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, to campaign against exiled cleric [[Fethullah Gülen]] — [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]]'s designated enemy after the July 2016 coup attempt — while Flynn served as candidate Trump's top national-security surrogate - **September 2016**: Meets Turkish ministers in New York; ex-CIA director James Woolsey, present, later described discussion of removing Gülen from the U.S. outside legal extradition — widely reported as a rendition discussion (never charged) - **Election Day, November 8, 2016**: *The Hill* publishes Flynn's op-ed branding Gülen a "radical cleric" and urging extradition — reviewed in draft by his Turkish clients - **March 7, 2017**: After his firing, Flynn Intel Group files a **retroactive [[FARA]] registration** conceding the work "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey" - **July 2019**: Partner **Bijan Rafiekian (Kian)** convicted of conspiring to act as an undisclosed Turkish agent; verdict overturned by the trial judge, then reinstated on appeal (2021) Full context in [[Turkey]] — the foundational case of the Trump-era foreign-influence record. ## National Security Adviser (January 2017) - **December 29, 2016**: As incoming NSA, called Russian Ambassador **[[Sergey Kislyak]]** to discuss sanctions Obama had just imposed on Russia for election interference; asked Russia not to escalate (undermining sitting president's foreign policy). He consulted deputy [[KT McFarland]] at Mar-a-Lago before the call — see [[First Trump Transition]] - **January 24, 2017**: FBI interviews Flynn at the White House about Kislyak calls; Flynn lies - **January 26, 2017**: Acting AG [[Sally Yates]] warns White House Counsel [[Don McGahn]] that Flynn is compromised — "the Russians knew he had lied" and could blackmail him - **February 13, 2017**: Forced to resign after 24 days — the shortest-serving NSA in history ## Conviction and Pardon - November 2017: Pleads guilty to lying to the FBI - Cooperated extensively with Mueller investigation - Later attempted to withdraw guilty plea - **Pardoned by Trump, November 2020** ## Post-Pardon Became a prominent figure in the [[QAnon]] conspiracy movement, leading crowds in QAnon oaths and promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. [[America's Future]], the group he led, gave about $976,000 to the Arizona Senate's 2021 review of Maricopa County's vote, the second-largest of the five disclosed funders ([[2021 Maricopa County Presidential Ballot Audit]]; see [[Cyber Ninjas]]). ## Significance Flynn represents the most senior military/intelligence official compromised through Russian contacts in the Trump orbit. A former DIA director accepting payment from Russian state media, lying about conversations with the Russian ambassador, and then being appointed National Security Adviser illustrates the extraordinary permeability of the Trump administration to Russian influence. The parallel Turkey retainer completes the picture: the same man was simultaneously an undisclosed paid agent of a second foreign government, making Flynn a one-man index of the influence channels ([[Russia]] cultivation, [[Turkey]] cash) this vault tracks separately.