Flynn orchestrated a kidnapping?

Michael Flynn, US President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser is reportedly under investigation over a plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US. The plot involved flying Fethullah Gülen to an Island prison in Turkey in return for $15 million.

Background

Michael Thomas Flynn is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General.  He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the eighteenth director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and served till 2014 in that capacity. He founded the Flynn Intel Group which has provided intelligence services for businesses and governments across the world. He was one of the most passionate advocates for Donald Trump during the Presidential campaign. He gave speeches on behalf of Trump and was highly critical of Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. He even led chants of “Lock her up” in various occasions during Trump rallies.

After the elections, Flynn was appointed the National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump. He served from January 20th, 2017, to February 13th, 2017. He was forced to after information surfaced that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. On April 27, 2017, the Pentagon inspector general announced an investigation into whether Flynn had accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.

Reports have stated that it is possible that Flynn played a role in removal of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars. Flynn Intel Group, took $530,000 from a company based in the Netherlands that has extensive ties to the Turkish government.

On July 2016, there was an attempted coup against state institutions, the government and the president. When the coup was declared, the president was on vacation in a seaside resort town. A fraction of the military took over and declared martial law and a curfew. They also said that a new constitution would be instated. Erdogan appealed to his supporters to protest. The Turkish government has placed the blame on Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric but he has denied any involvement.

Analysis

Michael Flynn, US President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser is reportedly under investigation over a plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US. The plot involved flying Fethullah Gülen to an Island prison in Turkey in return for $15 million. The investigation is being led by Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.

The story was first reported in Wall Street Journal. Robert Kelner, Flynn’s lawyer has forcefully denied any involvement stating, “Out of respect for the process of the various investigations regarding the 2016 campaign, we have intentionally avoided responding to every rumor or allegation raised in the media. But today’s news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false.”

Mueller’s team is also investigating a particular meeting between Flynn and top officials from within the Turkish government in weeks before Trump’s inauguration as the American President. He had discussed a “quid pro quo” where Flynn would be paid to work on behalf of the Turkish government. NBC cited unnamed members within the investigation.

 “If the facts involving Flynn and his son are true, or even mostly true, it indicates an incredible propensity for outrageously illegal conduct,” said Ryan Goodman, a New York law professor and former Pentagon counsel. “Evidence that Flynn was prepared to act in such an unlawful way could help prove a case against him in other activities as well involving his ties to Russia during the campaign. If Mueller has sufficient evidence that Flynn and his son were involved in this audacious plot to kidnap the cleric, the special counsel can use that to pressure the former Trump campaign associate to flip and tell the FBI everything he knows of relevance to the Russia investigation.”

The White House has not commented on the reports. Flynn’s son is also reportedly under investigation. Details can be found here.

Assessment

Our assessment is that current allegations against Flynn indicate that the former National Security Adviser is in a grave position. If the investigating team has enough evidence to support their claims, then Flynn and his son will be in no position but to cooperate with the investigators and even testify against the US President.