Trump fans find fellowship at 3-day Dallas conference to talk God, country and patriotism, Army reviewing investigation into Michael Flynn’s dealings with Russia, foreign firm

Army reviewing investigation into Michael Flynn’s dealings with Russia, foreign firm

 

Michael Flynn leaves the Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington in 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Defense Department’s internal watchdog has concluded a long-delayed investigation into Michael Flynn, defense officials said Friday, sending its findings to the Army in a case that could bring tens of thousands of dollars in financial penalties for President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.

The investigation focuses on Flynn’s acceptance of money from Russian and Turkish interests before joining the Trump administration, a potential violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause. With few exceptions, U.S. officials, including retired service members like Flynn, are prohibited from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments. Flynn retired from the Army as a three-star general in 2014.

The inspector general’s investigation, opened in April 2017, was put on hold for more than three years amid a broader scandal that included a criminal investigation of Flynn by the Justice Department — part of what would become the investigation of Trump’s first presidential campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election led by former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III.

Flynn was fired by the Trump administration for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the case, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, later attempted to take back his plea, and ultimately was pardoned in November by Trump.

After Trump’s pardon, the Justice Department gave approval for the Defense Department inspector general’s office to resume its investigation, said Dwrena K. Allen, a spokeswoman for acting inspector general Sean O’Donnell. The watchdog’s office closed its investigation one week after the Biden administration took office and forwarded its findings to the Army.

“On January 27, 2021, we closed our investigation against LTG Flynn and forwarded several administrative matters to the Acting Secretary of the Army for review and appropriate action,” Allen’s statement said. LTG stands for lieutenant general, Flynn’s rank at retirement.

A lawyer for Flynn, Sidney Powell, did not respond to requests for comment.

Transmission of the investigation to the Army, which has not been previously reported, leaves military officials grappling with how to handle a politically polarizing officer who in recent months alarmed the Pentagon by falsely suggesting to Trump that, as commander in chief, he could declare martial law and force a “rerun” of the presidential election in swing states that went for President Biden. Such a move could have plunged the nation into an unprecedented crisis.

Similar investigations of Trump administration officials have been released since the former president left office. Among them was a delayed Defense Department review that found retired Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, a former White House doctor, had bullied staff, made inappropriate remarks about a female subordinate and engaged in “inappropriate conduct involving the use of alcohol” on two foreign presidential visits. Jackson, who is closely aligned with Trump, won a congressional seat as a Republican in Texas in November before the investigation was released.

An Army spokeswoman, Col. Cathy Wilkinson, acknowledged that acting Army secretary John E. Whitley had received the case for review.

“We do not have any additional information for you at this time,” Wilkinson said in an email on Friday.

The payment to Flynn from Russia dates to 2015, when the retired general appeared alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a gala dinner for RT, a Kremlin-controlled media organization. He was paid $45,000 for doing so.

Flynn later disclosed that he also worked as a foreign agent representing Turkish interests for the Netherlands-based company, Inovo BV, which paid his company, Flynn Intel Group, $530,000 in 2016. The company was founded by Kamil Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman, and lobbies on behalf of the Turkish government.

In 2017, a lawyer representing Flynn at the time, Robert Kelner, said that the general had communicated with the Defense Intelligence Agency before and after his trip to Russia, and argued that Flynn met the requirements to accept foreign money. Military officials confirmed in a letter to Congress that year that Flynn had done so, stating, though, that they had no record of him seeking permission.

Separately, the Defense Department said in 2017 that Flynn did not seek permission from the U.S. government to work as a paid foreign agent for Turkish interests.

Defense Department guidelines warn that it “may pursue debt collection” if a retired service member does not secure approval to accept foreign payments before doing so. Collection due to an emoluments violation is capped at no more than what an individual made in retirement pay during a period of unauthorized employment.

Flynn, whose retirement pay is more than $10,000 per month, worked for Inovo for three months.

This weekend’s “For God & Country Patriot Roundup” conference at the Omni Dallas Hotel features prominent Trump allies like Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, who have maintained that the presidential election was stolen from the former president and have brought attention to QAnon.

DALLASNEWS.COM

Trump fans find fellowship at 3-day Dallas conference to talk God, country and patriotism

Trump fans find fellowship at 3-day Dallas conference to talk God, country and patriotism

This weekend’s “For God & Country Patriot Roundup” conference at the Omni Dallas Hotel features prominent Trump allies like Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, who have maintained that the presidential election was stolen from the former president and have brought attention to QAnon.

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn snaps a selfie at the Omni Dallas Hotel downtown during the "For God & Country Patriot Roundup" on Friday, May 28, 2021.(Shelby Tauber / Special Contributor)

By Kevin Krause

7:57 PM on May 28, 2021 

It had all the buzz and excitement of a political convention, except that the next presidential election is still a few years away.

That didn’t matter for many of those who on Friday attended opening festivities of the For God & Country Patriot Roundup conference at the city-owned Omni Dallas Hotel. They didn’t care that the nation had elected Joe Biden as president in November.

They said they came to the weekend event because they want to learn more about how to steer the country back to traditional conservative values steeped in religion, law and order — and yes, Donald Trump. Many attendees also said they want to learn more about corruption in Washington, D.C., that they insist is being ignored by traditional news outlets.

They drank and ate and schmoozed at Bob’s Steak and Chop House inside the hotel with retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who held court at a large table in the bar area and posed for selfies with admirers.

Flynn was Trump’s former national security adviser before he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his role in the Russia scandal. Trump absolved him with a pardon.

Friday evening, Flynn was a star, a person to be seen and photographed with. A grim-faced conference organizer shot down a request for an interview. Flynn “definitely” didn’t want to talk to a newspaper reporter, the man said.

Brenda Bintz, 67, a retired nurse from New Jersey, grabbed a smoke outside before the VIP meet-and-greet reception kicked off.

“Our country needs to turn around,” she said. “We’ve turned our back on God.”

In search of ideas

Bintz, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, said she wants to learn new ideas for how to help get the nation back on track. She hoped her first visit to Dallas would prove fruitful and informative.

Like some others at the conference, Bintz said she didn’t pay a lot of money and travel a long distance to spend her Memorial Day weekend hearing about QAnon, a baseless conspiracy theory about Satan-worshipping pedophiles.

She did, however, look forward to hearing Flynn speak. She also was eager to hear from Sidney Powell, the former Flynn and Trump lawyer who mounted numerous failed legal challenges to the election results.

“All I know is that I’m a patriot,” Bintz said.

Both Flynn and Powell have maintained that the presidential election was stolen from Trump and have brought attention to QAnon.

According to the event’s website, a portion of proceeds from the convention will go to Defending the Republic, a political nonprofit that Powell founded while fighting the election results.

The event will feature speakers, entertainment and interactions with high-profile conservative politicians who promoted the Q theory and worked to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. A group called The Patriot Voice, which organized the conference, referred to it as its “inaugural kick-off event” on its website.

“For three days, you will have the opportunity to hear from some of your favorite Patriots and Digital Soldiers in both keynote speeches and panel forums,” the website says. “You will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with these people, as well as meet fellow Patriots from around the country and world.”

‘We’re in precarious times’

Calvin Tomicich and his wife, Carol, drove from a small town in Washington State to Dallas to attend the political-themed conference, the first such event for both of them. Tomicich, 72, a retired Seattle firefighter and Vietnam War veteran, said he was a Democrat for many years and voted for former President Bill Clinton. But Trump, he said, is the best president he’s seen in his lifetime.

“We’re American patriots, and we want to find out what’s going on with our country,” he said. “We’re in precarious times right now. ... We want to get this country back to normal.”

Karmen Siirtola donned patriotic boots for opening night of the conference at the Omni Dallas Hotel.(Shelby Tauber / Special Contributor)

Tomicich said the last presidential election remains clouded in corruption and dishonesty in his mind. The mainstream media, he said, is not going to illuminate what went wrong.

“I want to know what’s being done about it,” he said. “That’s why we’re here. You have to go looking. Search for it yourself.”

Tomicich said he doesn’t have any theories about who is behind QAnon but that he thinks it’s a person or persons behind the scenes who possesses knowledge about what’s really going on.

“Maybe we’ll find out some day,” he said.

Podcaster Steven Lundgren of Alaska is not only a conference attendee. He is handling audio and visuals for the event, including live interviews and other media activities.

Lundgren, 55, and his wife, Marcy, chatted up Flynn in the restaurant before joining a long line for the opening reception. He said the conference has been unfairly labeled as purely a QAnon event. It’s actually about patriotism, preserving freedoms, faith and returning to a “normal life,” he said.

“The focus isn’t Q. The focus is being a patriot,” he said.