Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn’s fitness to serve as National Security Adviser is being called into question for engaging in a malicious campaign to smear Hillary Clinton during the election with false claims she was engaged in a child sex ring.
(Photo by Win McNamee/ Getty Images)
McCaffrey appeared on NBC News today (Dec. 12) and said he was “extremely uneasy” about Flynn in such a sensitive role.
“I was very strong in my endorsement of him when he was first announced for the NSA position,” McCaffrey said. “I said he was, correctly, probably the best intelligence officer of his generation.”
But McCaffrey, a Vietnam War veteran who twice won the Silver Star for combat bravery, said he changed his opinion after reading some of Flynn’s Tweets posted during the campaign.
U decide – NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc…MUST READ! https://t.co/O0bVJT3QDr
— General Flynn (@GenFlynn) November 3, 2016
Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many "coincidences" tied to it. https://t.co/8HA9y30Yfp
— Michael G Flynn🇺🇸 (@mflynnJR) December 5, 2016
“I’m now extremely uneasy about some of these tweets, which don’t sound so much as if they are political skulduggery, but instead border on being demented. So I think we need to look into this and sort out what’s going on here,” he said.
Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn Jr., who was working with him on the Trump transition team, were the source of Tweets claiming Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was involved in child-sex rings.
The younger Flynn tweeted about claims that Clinton and her chief campaign aide John Podesta were running a child sex ring out of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong.
The claim was one of a number of fake news stories that were widely circulated to discredit Clinton. Although the story was patently false, it was enough to cause a North Carolina man to storm into the store with an assault rifle this week.
The man, identified as Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., was quickly arrested. He fired at least one shot. No one was injured, but the incident highlighted the impact of fake news stories on individuals.
The younger Flynn posted multiple defenses of the so-called “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. He was reportedly booted from the transition team for his actions, according to reports.
Ret. Lt. Gen Flynn posted a tweet that said the New York Police Department (NYPD) “Blows the Whistle on… sex with children. He specifically referenced a fake news Web site and added: “MUST READ.”
Some right-wing propaganda sites tried to obfuscate the issue by claiming Flynn was actually referring to former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s sexting scandal with a 15-year-old girl.
But the article in question clearly ties Clinton to “sex crimes.”
Saliently, it reads: “NYPD sources said these new emails include evidence linking Clinton herself and associates to: Money laundering, child exploitation, sex crimes with minors (children), perjury, Pay to play through Clinton Foundation, Obstruction of justice [and] other felony crimes.”
None of the claims turned out to be true.
Weiner was married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Neither she, nor Clinton were ever investigated by the NYPD as part of that case. So far no evidence has been produced tying Weiner to a “sex ring” and he has still not been charged with a crime.
The story, of course, dovetailed with the fake news “#PizzaGate” narrative.
To assert, Lt. Gen. Flynn wasn’t maliciously spreading falsehoods is specious at best. McCaffery certainly isn’t buying it.
“I think that we need to aggressively examine what was going on with Gen. Flynn and his son, dealing with these transparent, nearly demented tweets that were going out,” he continued. “I think it needs closer scrutiny,” he told NBC News.
In fact, the retired Army general posted 16 unfounded accusations on his Twitter account leading up to and during the election, according to an analysis by Politico.
One highly disrespectful Tweet called President Obama a “jihadi.”
Flynn’s also called repeatedly to “lock up Hillary Clinton” during the campaign. That “makes most of us in the military very uncomfortable,” McCaffrey said.
As National Security Advisor, Flynn does not have to go before the U.S. Senate for confirmation.
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