What Michael Flynn’s silence since resigning over Donald Trump – Russia scandal tells us
In the four days since four Donald Trump campaign advisers were exposed for having colluded with Russian intelligence officers during the election, three of them – Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page – have predictably stepped forward to publicly defend themselves in the Trump Russia scandal with varying degrees of clumsiness. And yet the fourth among the accused, Michael Flynn, who’s in the deepest, hasn’t said a word. So what does this tell us?
Michael Flynn is known to be many things, most of them disturbing – but quiet isn’t one of them. He was so forceful during his military career that it got him investigated for violating orders in 2010. He was so openly combative during his time at the Defense Intelligence Agency that it got him forced out in 2014. He was so unhinged during his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016 some wondered if he was all there. And yet, with his reputation now in tatters and his future on the line, Flynn has gone uncharacteristically silent.
Not only should Michael Flynn seemingly be out there publicly defending himself, he could probably profit from it as well. He’d be a hot interview right now, and could command a good chunk of change from those outlets who pay for such things. And this comes at a time when he’ll have trouble ever working in the government the defense industry again, and probably needs the money. In fact we know Flynn likes an easy paycheck, because as we reported yesterday, he took $40,000 in Russian money back in December of 2015 just to show up to a dinner. And yet we’ve seen and heard nothing from him in the ten days since he resigned. Even Flynn’s “resignation letter” sounded like it was written by Mike Pence’s office, so we’ve heard nothing from Flynn at all. Three distinct explanations come to mind.
One is that the Russian government, to whom Michael Flynn is clearly partial, has simply told him to keep quiet. Perhaps there’s a job offer waiting for him in Moscow if he survives all this. Another possibility is that he’s simply lawyered up, and that his attorney has given him the usual advice to shut up. But the third possibility is that Michael Flynn has already flipped on Donald Trump.
Flynn reportedly lied about his Russian scandals to the FBI during an interview, a felony, giving him motivation to flip in order to save himself. If Flynn has already sold out Trump and his co-conspirators to the FBI, it would explain why Flynn is only one of the bunch who’s not publicly talking. Now we wait for Flynn’s other shoe to drop. But for now, his silence in the face of the increasing accusations against him is deafening. Contribute to Palmer Report
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