FLYNN WON’T GO AWAY

The sordid tale of Michael Flynn continues to dog the Trump administration.

We have recently learned that the Inspector General for the Pentagon has opened an investigation into Flynn’s receipt of payments from Russia. 

Flynn had been specifically warned prior to his 2014 retirement (firing) that it is illegal for a foreign military officer to receive payments from foreign governments without receiving prior permission.  In spite of the warning, Flynn failed to get permission before accepting payment from Russia’s propaganda network, RT for a 2015 speech at lavish event whose audience included Vladimir Putin.  Flynn also admitted that he and his consulting firm were paid over $500,000 for lobbying on behalf of Turkish entities which we now believe were funded by the Russian government.

The House Oversight Committee has requested that the White House provide documentation of Flynn’s application for a security clearance as well as logs of his activities while serving briefly as Trump’s National Security Advisor.  Those requests have been denied with alternate explanations that A.) The documents don’t exist and B.) The documents are classified. 

When pressed on the dubious reasoning for the refusal to comply, Press Secretary Sean Spicer turned to the tried and true rationale behind everything that goes wrong in the Trump White House.  Spicer blamed it on the Obama administration.

In his convoluted explanation Spicer made it clear that any vetting that may have been done was largely ignored. According to Spicer, Flynn had a long distinguished military career and had been vetted by the Obama administration to hold some of the highest positions in the military; therefore there was no compelling reason to vet him again.

Note to Spicer:  Michael Flynn was FIRED by the Obama administration in 2014.  His 2015 business relationship with RT was public knowledge.  His radical beliefs and public advocacy for off the wall conspiracy theories would be disconcerting to any prospective employer.  Why anyone would let Michael Flynn within a mile of the White House is hard to fathom.   

No doubt Trump found in Flynn a kindred spirit.  A nationalist minded tough guy more inclined to inflammatory patriotic rhetoric than reasoned thought.  Two powerful likeminded men easily swayed by flattery and praise.  The kind of men KGB operatives refer to as “useful idiots.”

In a rare moment of candor Donald Trump recently admitted to Reuters that he was surprised at how difficult a job it was to serve as president.  Trump said he thought that running country would be easier than running his company. 

We can excuse this president for being unprepared for the difficulties of running the most powerful office in the world.  No incoming president ever is. 

However we cannot excuse the incompetence that continues to run rampant throughout this administration. 

We cannot excuse an administration so lacking in professionalism and common sense that it would look at Michael Flynn’s past and say: “Nothing to see here.”