Retired U.S. Army Gen. Michael Flynn is warning that the United States needs to address corruption within the highest levels of its government after recent allegations of politicization within the FBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the intelligence community.
On Monday, special counsel John Durham published his report into the origins of an FBI investigation into allegations of collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government. The investigation into the Trump campaign, known as “Crossfire Hurricane” involved the surveillance of at least four Trump campaign advisers, including Flynn himself.
Durham’s report (pdf) concluded that “neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion.” Furthermore, the report detailed an Aug. 3, 2016, White House meeting involving then-President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden (now the president), then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then-CIA Director John Brennan, and then-FBI Director James Comey. According to notes he took from the meeting, Brennan briefed those in the room about an effort by then-candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign to undermine Trump by tying him to an election interference effort by Russian intelligence services.
“What people need to really stay focused on is this deep, deep level of corruption in our federal government, particularly starting in the White House,” Flynn told NTD’s “Capitol Report” host Steve Lance.
Flynn Not Convinced of FBI Reform Claims
The FBI issued a statement in response to the Durham report, admitting missteps but claiming to have already taken corrective action to address the issues Durham’s investigation raised.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, former FBI Special Agent Steve Friend, and FBI Staff Operations Specialist Marcus Allen, testified of continued politicization and retaliation against those who speak out.
Flynn dismissed the FBI’s claims to have addressed the problems Durham identified.
“They weren’t missteps, those were criminal acts by the highest levels of people in our FBI and other elements and other people inside of the Department of Justice,” Flynn told NTD News. “And today that problem is not fixed. Look at what we’re learning from the whistleblowers.”
Flynn noted recent indications that FBI officials had planned to infiltrate Catholic churches and organizations in order to root out “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology. In February, a document was leaked from the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, describing this ideology. The FBI has since disavowed the record, saying it “does not meet the exacting standards” of the bureau.
“This assault on Catholics, as an example—that’s just one example, the assault on Catholics and on the Latin Mass. I mean, that little thing alone that’s out of the Richmond office of the FBI, by the special agent in charge there,” Flynn said. “These are not things that are minor things. These are big, big deals. That’s just one example, you know, in addition to the politicization and the weaponization of the FBI that’s being additionally brought out by these whistleblowers, and it’s still ongoing.”
Flynn said he doesn’t think FBI Director Christopher Wray, or Attorney General Merrick Garland deserve to continue to serve.
“And I think that impeachment proceedings need to start at the highest levels of our government, and I think it needs to start right behind the Roosevelt desk in the Oval Office,” Flynn added, referring to Biden.
$3 Billion Ukraine Accounting Error
Flynn also weighed in after the Pentagon determined it had overestimated the value of weapons and equipment the United States has been supplying Ukraine with over the past year. The accounting error could mean a difference of $3 billion or more.
The retired three-star general said the U.S. Department of Defense has a consistent problem with overestimating its spending, as in the case of the department’s most recent $3 billion accounting error for Ukraine aid.
“The Pentagon, always, always overestimates everything. I don’t care whether it’s food, ammunition, people, battlefield operations, battlefield casualties, they always, always overestimate,” Flynn said. “In this case, because of the scrutiny that we have, by the American people right now on everything going on from this government, particularly everything going on over in the Ukraine, they needed to, they should have done a far better job before they actually put the data together.”
While he sees this accounting issue as part of a larger trend, Flynn said this particular accounting error has caught people’s attention because of how much money U.S. taxpayers have already given to Ukraine.
“If it was $3 million, maybe even $30 million, nobody would—we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but $3 billion, you know, that kind of money, when you break it down to the American people—the American people are just, they’re livid about $170 billion going over to Ukraine, and God knows where it’s going, and it doesn’t look like things are going well in the war over there,” Flynn said. “So a $3 billion oversight. So now it’s like, ‘Well, where is it?’ So is there going to be investigation? Well I’m sure there will be, and then we’ll never hear anything else about it, and come to find out—it’ll be one of those dollar amounts that somebody basically walked away with.”