Michael Flynn appears to be leaking dirt on Donald Trump
We’ve seen that Michael Flynn is so eager to protect himself in the Trump-Russia investigation that he was willing to incriminate Donald Trump by association when he registered as a foreign agent. We’ve seen Flynn ask for immunity in exchange for testifying. We’ve heard scattered reports that Trump is worried about Flynn’s eventual testimony. And based on a major new leak this evening, it appears Michael Flynn is now leaking dirt on Trump to the media.
Here’s the leak itself: the New York Times is reporting this evening that Michael Flynn voluntarily informed Donald Trump’s White House that he was under FBI investigation, and Trump decided to appoint Flynn as National Security Adviser anyway (link). Now think about who looks good in this story and who looks bad. Trump and everyone around him look terrible for having allowed a target of an active FBI investigation to take such a sensitive role. But Michael Flynn sure does look good.
Among the very finite number of people who would be aware that Flynn notified the White House Counsel of this, the only one who would have any motivation to leak it to the media is Flynn himself. Now of course Flynn isn’t calling up New York Times reporters and saying “guess what I know.” But he could easily give this information to his allies, who in turn would call up a reporter and leak it.
For its part, the Times says that its sourcing is “two people familiar with the case.” But based on the timing and overall circumstances, it sure does appear that Michael Flynn is the one leaking this dirt on Trump. Call it a hunch on my part, or an educated guess, or whatever you like. But we may actually now be at the point where Flynn smells blood and is looking to turn the narrative in his own favor at an already-wounded Trump’s expense.
