Disgraced general to far-right hero: Michael Flynn rides the next wave
| San Marcos, Calif.
The sun has already set outside the white-walled church as Michael Flynn walks onstage. The crowd inside the 1,100-capacity auditorium has thinned some after 10 hours of speeches and prayers and performances, but the closing speaker seems raring to go.听
Lieutenant General Flynn, a former Army intelligence officer who served, briefly, as President Donald Trump鈥檚 first national security adviser, wears a blue palm-tree print blazer over a gray camouflage T-shirt with an eagle across the chest. Once described by Gen. Stanley McChrystal as 鈥渟pring-loaded,鈥� he radiates latent energy as he paces the stage in his brown boots.
It鈥檚 Mr. Flynn鈥檚 second speaking slot of the day at Reawaken America, the 海角大神-themed, MAGA-infused roadshow听that he headlines. Since his morning pep talk, the audience has heard from anti-vaccine activists, election-fraud proponents, a gold-bar salesman, various GOP candidates, an assortment of pastors, and Eric Trump.
Why We Wrote This
Donald Trump鈥檚 former national security adviser is rallying the faithful and looking to future elections. He鈥檚 become an icon for a GOP base that鈥檚 increasingly suspicious of a corrupt 鈥渄eep state鈥� and elites.
Now it鈥檚 evening in Southern California. Mr. Flynn tells the crowd of mostly white, middle-aged men and women that they鈥檙e living 鈥渋n an incredible moment in U.S. history.鈥� But not in a positive sense: America, he says, is under threat from within.
鈥淭he people that are in charge of our government right now, they are intentionally trying to destroy our country,鈥� he rasps into a microphone decorated in the colors of the flag. 鈥淭hese people, they鈥檙e not incompetent. They鈥檙e not stupid. They鈥檙e evil!鈥�
For most senior military officers, retirement from active duty听tees up a comfortable life of after-dinner speeches, seminars at military academies, and consulting gigs. Mr. Flynn is on a different circuit 鈥� one that taps into the combative politics of the president he served and is now a brand-building, cash-generating tour that鈥檚 taken on a life of its own.
Nearly six decades ago, historian Richard Hofstader published his famous essay, 鈥�.鈥� In it, he described the extreme right of the Republican Party as driven by a sense that America had been 鈥渓argely taken away from them and their kind.鈥� That paranoid wing gained unusual strength in the 1950s and 鈥�60s with McCarthyism and the John Birch Society, which held that communist conspirators had permeated the highest levels of the U.S. government.
But while Republican leaders back then took decisive steps to quash the Birchers, today the balance of power in the party seems to have shifted. Former President Trump and his allies have fostered and benefitted from a widespread suspicion of 鈥渃orrupt鈥� institutions and entrenched elites, which has flourished in a hyper-online, polarized and atomized America.
And as Mr. Trump positions himself for a possible second run at the White House, his former national security adviser 鈥� a man who once held the nation鈥檚 top security clearance and was privy to its most closely-guarded secrets 鈥� is helping to lay the groundwork as a prominent voice for that anti-establishment, conspiracy-minded wing.
To his supporters, Mr. Flynn鈥檚 long military service, his loyalty to Mr. Trump, and above all his prosecution for lying to the FBI 鈥撎齛 felony that was later wiped clean by a presidential pardon 鈥� make him both sympathetic and a symbol of everything that鈥檚 gone wrong in this country.
鈥淗e鈥檚 an American hero,鈥� says Chad Vivas, an artist who presented the retired three-star general with a portrait of him in dress uniform with a bald eagle against a stormy sky. 鈥淎nd they framed him.鈥澨�
Like many here, Mr. Vivas is happy to expound on a vast web of conspiracy theories involving global business elites, election fraud, vaccine mandates, and more. One of his paintings shows the Trump family beside a smoke-ringed Q, a nod to QAnon, the byzantine fantasy involving the former president and a secret war against deep-state pedophiles.
In his new role, Mr. Flynn can be seen 鈥渁s a phenomenon of an age in which the right in America has bought into immense fantasy elements,鈥� says Lawrence Rosenthal, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley,听and founder of its Center for Right-Wing Studies.
It all seems a long way from the grinding post-9/11 wars that Mr. Flynn fought as an intelligence officer, building a reputation as a talented analyst and tactician. Still, a contrarian streak early on in his career signaled some of the troubles to come: He became a national-security insider, before a forced early retirement led him to Mr. Trump, the ultimate political outsider. His dizzying rise and fall in Washington 鈥� in the shadow of a Russian influence campaign and a flawed FBI investigation that continues to stoke controversy听鈥� left him with both significant legal fees and few career options.听
Now he鈥檚 fully embracing outsider status, while building a platform that could elevate both his own profile and that of the former president, whether in pursuit of redemption, revenge, or both. At the same time, he鈥檚 feeding an outlook on the right that is increasingly alienated from mainstream institutions and convinced of their inherent rot 鈥� a worldview that will leave its stamp on American politics long after Mr. Trump and his allies have left the public stage.
Mr. Flynn ardently maintains that the 2020 election was 鈥渟tolen,鈥� calling it 鈥渢he that our country has ever experienced,鈥� despite more than 60 court rulings upholding Joe Biden鈥檚 victory.听
And Mr. Flynn believes he himself was unfairly targeted by Mr. Trump鈥檚 political enemies. As he told the crowd, he鈥檚 seeking 鈥渁ccountability of the people that persecuted me.鈥�
His long, strange journey isn鈥檛 over.听 听
Democratic roots
Michael Thomas Flynn grew up in Middletown, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children. His father served in the Army in World War II, fighting on the beaches of Normandy, and his grandfather fought in World War I. But he calls his mother, Helen, 鈥渢he most courageous person I have ever known鈥� for keeping order in a rowdy household while working and studying part-time for a law degree.
Helen was active in Democratic politics, raising money and even running for office. Mr. Flynn describes his family as 鈥減roud Democrats who loved America and all it stood for.鈥�
He joined the Army in 1981 and rose through the ranks in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he met General McChrystal, who would become a key mentor. In 2004, then-Colonel Flynn was put in charge of intelligence analysis at the Joint Special Operations Command, an elite unit in Iraq that was hunting Al Qaeda.
鈥淭he only way to defeat [the enemy] was to get to know them better than they knew themselves,鈥� he wrote in his memoir 鈥淭he Field of Flight.鈥�
Two years later, his unit tracked and killed Musab al-Zarqawi, the elusive leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq; he and General McChrystal inspected the corpse together.
Fresh from success in Iraq, he then served in Afghanistan as director of intelligence for U.S. forces. In January of 2010, Mr. Flynn coauthored a stinging report, published by a Washington think tank, on intelligence failures by the stalled U.S. mission. Among its recommendations was to make greater use of open-source information to fight insurgencies.
The report鈥檚 publication raised a stink at home. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised its candor, validating the general鈥檚 decision to go public and elevating his profile as a maverick thinker and rising star.听听
In an NPR interview that year, he said he was tapping the expertise of scholars in archeology, anthropology, and other disciplines to help understand Afghans better. 鈥淏y bringing those subject-matter experts in, we see the battlefield in a much different light,鈥� he said.
But Mr. Flynn鈥檚 own battles were just beginning.
A forced retirement
In 2012, he was nominated by President Barack Obama for a big promotion: director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, which analyzes foreign military capabilities.听
Almost immediately, his efforts to overhaul the 17,000-employee bureaucracy went poorly. Morale sank at the agency. Obama administration officials began to question his leadership and judgment amid reports that he played loose with the facts to support his theories, particularly on Iran and militant Islam.听
Two years later, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper showed him the door. He later said Mr. Flynn was angry at being forced to retire. 鈥淚 think the termination ate at him,鈥� he told NBC News in 2018.
In his memoir, the general claims he was fired for being too honest 鈥� for telling Congress that 鈥渨e were not as safe as we had been a few years back.鈥� He also blamed Mr. Obama personally for his removal. (In reality, experts say Mr. Obama likely had little direct contact with Mr. Flynn.)听
His military career over, Mr. Flynn started a consulting company and began taking on foreign clients. In December 2015, he attended a gala dinner in Moscow for RT, the Kremlin-run media organization. He was paid $45,000 for his appearance and was seated at a table with President Vladimir Putin.
That wasn鈥檛 his first trip to Russia: As director of the DIA, he had met two years earlier with Russian intelligence officers in Moscow, ignoring the advice of the CIA鈥檚 station chief. When he tried to invite a Russian group to Washington in 2014, not long after Russia鈥檚 first invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Clapper reportedly had to warn him off.听
During this time, Mr. Flynn also grew increasingly critical of the Obama administration鈥檚 foreign policy. He joined Mr. Trump鈥檚 team as an adviser, bringing military and national security credentials to the campaign at a time when few others were willing to do so.听Soon, he became a popular surrogate on the campaign trail, offering fiery criticism of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He also began sharing far-right conspiracies and memes on social media 鈥� falsely linking Secretary Clinton and her staff to child trafficking, for example, and alleging without grounds that Mr. Obama had laundered money for terrorists.
That rang alarm bells in Washington. Retired generals jawboning on TV about military or diplomatic strategy was one thing. But Mr. Flynn鈥檚 activities cut sharply against the 鈥渘orm of nonpartisanship鈥� that has traditionally guided former officers, says Heidi Urben, a retired Army colonel who teaches at Georgetown University. That norm has been stretched in recent years, she admits, but Mr. Flynn鈥檚 behavior 鈥渇ar exceeded鈥� its boundaries.听
In July 2016, he addressed the Republican National Convention, at a time when the FBI was investigating Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 use of a personal server to send classified emails. As he spoke, the crowd began chanting 鈥淟ock Her Up!鈥� He nodded. 鈥淒amn right, you鈥檙e exactly right.鈥� He clapped along to the chant, mouthing the words.
鈥淚f I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today,鈥� he said.
Six months later, Donald Trump was sworn in as president and Michael Flynn became his national security adviser.听
The new boss
For the first week, staff at the National Security Council, which Mr. Flynn now headed, heard nothing from their new boss. Still, most knew him by reputation.
Some had read his memoir, which he co-wrote with Michael Ledeen, a hawkish foreign policy analyst. The book, which contains factual errors and no footnotes, warns of myriad enemies lurking at home and abroad. A former NSC staffer familiar with Mr. Flynn鈥檚 intelligence career was struck by its tone.
鈥淗is ideas went from thoughtful and careful to just all over the place,鈥� says the staffer.听鈥淭his is not the guy who was a two-star [general] briefing four-stars on intelligence in Afghanistan 鈥� and impressing everyone.鈥�
When the new national security adviser finally called an all-staff meeting in January 2017, it raised new worries. Mr. Flynn spoke for around 30 minutes, mostly about President Trump鈥檚 campaign, and barely mentioned foreign policy. 鈥淚t was all grievances on the home front,鈥� says another former staffer. 鈥淗e seemed unhinged.鈥�
鈥淓verybody was more alarmed after that meeting, not less,鈥� says the first staffer.
But it was another meeting, held just days earlier in the same building, that was to prove most consequential.
Two FBI agents met with Mr. Flynn to ask him about his phone calls in late December with Sergey Kislyak, Russia鈥檚 ambassador to the U.S. At that time, the Obama administration had expelled 35 Russian diplomats and imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 election 鈥� including hacking and releasing emails from Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.
Russia had unexpectedly taken no retaliatory measures. The agents wanted to know if Mr. Flynn, as the incoming national security adviser, had asked the ambassador not to escalate.
He told them no, they hadn鈥檛 discussed the sanctions. Asked if there had been a follow-up call with Ambassador Kislyak, he said he didn鈥檛 recall one. Pressed to clarify, he stuck to his account.
Both claims were false 鈥� as the FBI, which had transcripts of the calls, knew. It set off a storm that led to Mr. Flynn鈥檚 resignation less than a month into his tenure, after President Trump concluded he had lied not only to the FBI but also to Vice President Mike Pence, who had publicly repeated the denials.
Mr. Flynn eventually struck a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, who was investigating Russian links to the Trump campaign. The deal would mean no prison time and would end a separate prosecution for illegal lobbying for Turkey.
In December 2017, he told a federal court in Washington that he took full responsibility.
鈥淚 recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right,鈥� he said in a statement, calling his guilty plea 鈥渋n the best interests of my family and of our country.鈥澨�
鈥淎merica鈥檚 general鈥�
At home in Charlottesville, Virginia, Pasquale Scopelliti suspected a set-up.
A self-employed executive coach, he had gotten to know Mr. Flynn during the 2016 campaign, when he started emailing him unsolicited polling analysis and the general responded positively. To Mr. Scopelliti, the Russian investigation was a smokescreen, an effort to kneecap the new Trump administration. And the more he looked into Mr. Flynn鈥檚 case, the less it added up. 鈥淗e was 100% innocent,鈥� he says.
Central to this counter-narrative is the charge that it was the Clinton campaign that got the FBI to launch the Trump-Russia probe by funding the now-infamous dossier of 鈥渄irt鈥� on Mr. Trump 鈥� much of which turned out to be false. When Mr. Flynn spoke to the FBI, his defenders say, he was walking into a trap. Moreover, his communications with the Russian ambassador weren鈥檛 inappropriate for an incoming national security adviser.听听听
This view of Mr. Flynn as a martyr who took one for team Trump in the battle against a corrupt establishment makes him an unimpeachable star at events like Reawaken America, where he鈥檚 known to supporters as 鈥淎merica鈥檚 General.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 a hero. What he鈥檚 been through!鈥� exclaims Anthony Lorenzo, as he stood in front of the eagle-themed painting. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a true patriot.鈥澨�
Mr. Lorenzo and his wife had driven from central California, where he installs electrical systems, for the two-day festival. The paintings were sandwiched between stalls touting dietary supplements, anti-vaccine books and videos, patriotic playing cards and T-shirts, scented candles, and, in a nearby room, two nonprofits based in Florida in which Mr. Flynn is involved, one as chairman.
In January 2020, Mr. Flynn formally withdrew his guilty plea before he could be sentenced, arguing that prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence. With the support of then-Attorney General William Barr, he sought to dismiss the case. According to Mr. Flynn鈥檚 attorney, Sidney Powell, his decision to cooperate had mostly been an effort to protect his son, who had been involved with his father鈥檚 foreign lobbying work.听
Mr. Scopelliti, who had started a legal defense fund for him, was delighted. 鈥淭hey made an innocent man make a guilty plea,鈥� he says.
Supporters point to the FBI鈥檚 own admission of serial errors in obtaining surveillance warrants for Carter Page, a Trump campaign aide, as evidence of a wider conspiracy. Another was the role of Peter Strzok, one of the agents who interviewed Mr. Flynn, who was fired in 2018 for sending anti-Trump text messages to a colleague with whom he was having an affair.
Yet the problematic warrants didn鈥檛 apply to Mr. Flynn, who led investigators directly to him with his calls to Russia鈥檚 ambassador. By that time, the FBI was five months into a counterintelligence investigation 鈥撎齛nd U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia had sought to tip the election to Mr. Trump. To take a call on a cellphone with a senior Russian official and not expect it to be monitored seems na茂ve, particularly for a former intelligence officer.
John Sipher, a former CIA officer who interacted with Mr. Flynn,听thinks he must have known he 鈥渟crewed up鈥� 鈥� and then made it worse by lying. By doing so, he opened himself up to possible blackmail from Russian officials who knew the reality.
Mr. Sipher, who retired around the same time as Mr. Flynn after 28 years in the National Clandestine Service, sees parallels with earlier lapses in the general鈥檚 military career, such as when he improperly shared classified intelligence with allies in Afghanistan, or was reprimanded for similar breaches in Pakistan. 鈥淭hat stuff is beaten into us,鈥� says the former CIA officer. But 鈥渢he military is a whole different thing. They think they can get away with things.鈥澨�
His next fight
On Nov. 25, 2020, three weeks after President Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, Mr. Flynn鈥檚 legal appeal became moot. 鈥淭he president has pardoned General Flynn because he should never have been prosecuted,鈥� the White House said in a statement.
At that point, the general was already at work on his next fight 鈥� to reverse Mr. Trump鈥檚 election defeat. Working with a team of lawyers, cyber experts and military veterans, he tried to persuade Mr. Trump to send federal officials to seize voting machines and ballots in contested states.
Had the president green-lit their plan, Mr. Flynn could have been Mr. Trump鈥檚 鈥渇ield marshal,鈥澨齭ays Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive of Overstock, who has spent millions of dollars on 鈥渆lection integrity鈥� efforts in the wake of the 2020 vote. Instead, Mr. Trump rejected the proposal. It鈥檚 now a subject of inquiry for the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In San Marcos, Mr. Flynn told the crowd that he had 鈥減led the Fifth鈥� the previous day in his day-long deposition to the committee, which he derided as partisan.
But he left no doubt about his take on the 2020 election: It was stolen. 鈥淲hen somebody goes, 鈥榃here鈥檚 the evidence?鈥� I want to say鈥� 鈥楢re you a moron?鈥欌�� he said, raising a storm of laughter.
Mr. Trump鈥檚 own attorney general found no evidence of widespread fraud, and his cybersecurity chief declared the 2020 election the safest and most secure in history. In all, more than 90 judges, including some appointed by Mr. Trump, ruled against his campaign.听
Recently, some GOP election-fraud activists have criticized Mr. Flynn for seeming more focused on the future 鈥� including his own.听His main message at Reawaken America was that Trump supporters need to get involved in local politics and get ready for the next election. To keep fighting over the last one, at this point 鈥渋s looking backwards,鈥� he told the audience. 鈥淣ow we have to look forwards.鈥�
Mr. Flynn has endorsed challengers in several GOP primary contests and earned fees for political consulting. He鈥檚 also advising Mr. Byrne, whose nonprofit The America Project is training poll watchers in battleground states. In February, Mr. Flynn launched a slick new website and a book that bears the hallmarks of a possible political candidate-in-waiting.
Mr. Byrne, who describes Mr. Flynn as his 鈥淵oda鈥� and who moved to Florida to see him regularly, insists that鈥檚 the last thing that Mr. Flynn wants to do. He certainly wouldn鈥檛 run in 2024 against Mr. Trump. But if Mr. Trump doesn鈥檛 run and nobody else seems to be taking on 鈥渢he swamp,鈥� he could take the plunge, says Mr. Byrne.
鈥淚 know he doesn鈥檛 want to do that. I know his wife doesn鈥檛 want him to do that. But I think that he鈥檚 a guy who also does things out of a sense of duty,鈥� he says.
It鈥檚 that sense of duty, not a desire for vindication, that counts, says Mr. Byrne. 鈥淚 think Mike feels zero sense of a need of redemption. I think he鈥檚 been redeemed,鈥� he says.
A 鈥渟afe space鈥�
In the parking lot of Del Rio beach, Mr. Flynn pulls on a wetsuit. It鈥檚 not yet 7 a.m., but several surfers are already bobbing in breakers near the shore, and he鈥檚 preparing to join them. The previous night, he鈥檇 announced on stage that he鈥檇 be going surfing the next morning 鈥� and anyone was welcome to join.
鈥淕eneral, when was the last time?鈥� asks Scott, a local surfer who heeded the call.听 听
鈥淭hanksgiving, has to be,鈥� says Mr. Flynn.听听
He and his impromptu surf buddies 鈥撎齟ight men and his elder sister, Barbara 鈥� gather in a circle, boards on the sand, for a short prayer. 鈥淥ur Father, who art in heaven,鈥� he begins. Afterward, he crouches to wax his borrowed board.听听
At 63, Mr. Flynn still has the agility and build of the competitive swimmer and lifeguard that grew up riding the waves off Rhode Island, a passion he鈥檚 never forgotten.
Surfing, he told the Reawaken America crowd, is 鈥渕y safe space. That鈥檚 how I get away from all the FBI guys.鈥�
As the morning sun glints off the waves, Mr. Flynn hoists his board and paddles out to sea. Within minutes, he鈥檚 past the breakers and lined up with his companions. He kneels on his board and turns his head, waiting for the wave that will bear him forward.
