Patterico's Pontifications

2/13/2017

Flynn Resigns

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:01 pm



I guess he didn’t have Trump’s full confidence after all.

This is the only reasonable decision, after he was caught lying to Pence. It’s surprising it took this long. But then, Trump doesn’t like admitting mistakes. Glad he finally is, on this one.

UPDATE: This was just today:

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

71 Responses to “Flynn Resigns”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  2. a lot of people think the sleazy corrupt cia did him him

    i mean really

    pussyhatter sally yates is the one who’s asserting General Flynn is for whatever reason susceptible to Russian blackmail

    that said, these ex-military dorks aren’t really cut out for public service in government

    the military is not enough remotely enough like the real world for it to be the kind of good experience that will serve you well in political positions in government

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  3. not *even* remotely enough like the real whirl i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. oopers did him *in* i mean

    sorry this is why i don’t comment after taking the sleeper pills

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  5. The sin was the coverup.

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  6. Fake news! Fake news!

    Dave (711345)

  7. They make garbage up, hope it sticks, well it shows the measure of the administration.

    narciso (a7d019)

  8. “1000% behind him.”

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  9. General Petraeus is tanned, rested, ready and can keep it zipped.

    Or can he…

    “Sound the General Alarm! Sound the General Alarm!” – Capt. Morton [James Cagney] ‘Mister Roberts’ 1955

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  10. Maybe he could hire someone who has the intelligence community’s confidence. There are places that outsiders work, but this isn’t one of them. Even Reagan brought in an old hand in Judge Casey.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  11. You need about 7 years of separation and quick immersion in other endeavors. Eisenhower did a few things (among those, President of Columbia U.) between VE Day and his inauguration.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  12. That said, me likey a Mattis coup.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  13. i think how Mr. General Flynn tried to park his goofball business partner son in a sensitive position is really the most eyebrow-raising indication that his judgement may not be so good

    but that’s in retrospect

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  14. I’m guessing that it was a harem squabble, and Pompeo won. I’m also guessing that a large measure of it was Flynn saying: “WTF do I need this sh!t for? I already put in my time.”

    nk (dbc370)

  15. A talking head on CNN, the cable outlet bringing you ‘The History Of Comedy,‘ said the press can ‘take credit’ for this.

    Now that is funny.

    “We lie like hell.” – Howard Beale [Peter Finch] ‘Network’ 1976

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  16. People who might work: Petreus, John Negroponte, Michael Hayden or Stephen Hadley.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  17. Of course, Negroponte would have to kiss the ring first.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  18. That’s probably true, nk, but think who isgladdened by that stab in the back, Brennan and his toady, rice that weasel Rhodes, their perfidy is not only forgiven but applauded.

    narciso (a7d019)

  19. I don’t give a farthing, what’s that line about negotiating a price.

    narciso (a7d019)

  20. This article from November, when Flynn’s appointment was announced, looks pretty prophetic.

    He had a reputation for playing loose with the truth (“Flynn facts” = “alternative facts”) and being entirely too cozy with (i.e. getting paid by) Putin, Inc.

    Also rather telling that the Russians attempted to give him cover by backing up his false story. Putin knows who his friends are.

    Dave (711345)

  21. @16. Not too encouraging. Negroponte was hip deep in Vietnam talks 45 years ago– too old and part of the problem; Hayden is a media w-hore; a leaker who talks too much — was even caught doing it on a cell on Amtrak; Petreus’ own record shows poor judgement–he can’t be trusted; Hadley is part of the recent problems as well.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  22. Get John Bolton on the phone.

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  23. Well be vouched for the Vietnamese when Kissinger threw them overboard the left didnt forgive him for providing sanctuary for the Contra, it took after septemberv11th for the hold on in ambassador

    narciso (a7d019)

  24. You cannot have a National Security Advisor who is hated by the IC. Just will not work.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  25. As far as keeping people out of the Trump Administration because you think they might have poor judgement, that’s like coals to Newcastle.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  26. Bolton, it took a recess for him to be be confirmed because depends Customers Murkowski and Voinovich had a sad

    narciso (a7d019)

  27. Now can somebody do something about the many leakers of LE and IC code word information about WH communications with foreign officials?

    crazy (d3b449)

  28. Flynn’s resignation letter is a quite something:

    “I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way.”

    Okaaaaaay….

    Dave (711345)

  29. Very funny crazy what would Bezos Carlos slim and the journal do without those.

    narciso (a7d019)

  30. Yes, get John Bolton on the phone.
    That would send the NeverTrumpers into a rage.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  31. Yes, get John Bolton on the phone.
    That would send the NeverTrumpers into a rage.

    Most conservatives (“NeverTrumpers”) have a lot of respect for Bolton. I would hate to see him destroy his good reputation and credibility by working for Trump.

    Dave (711345)

  32. #31 Dave, you just admitted it … for you it’s not about putting the country first.
    Rather, the national security scene is just a high school Breakfast Club game of cliques where reputations and “who was seen walking with who” in the hallways is your primary focus.

    How sad.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  33. Among those who yelped Bolton was silkstocking spy Fred vreeland; station chief in Morocco during the years of lead and lurch pal Fulton armstrong

    narciso (a7d019)

  34. Hey, let’s all completely ignore Trump’s moronic non-vetting complicity in appointing such a compromised individual to such a clearly, clearly crucial post! Because, I mean… something something Hillary Clinton!

    LOLOLOLLOLOL

    Leviticus (c2dcf8)

  35. Baton pushed for stronger sanctions on north Korea, but was overruled by Powell and later rice. How did that workout.

    narciso (d1f714)

  36. Mattis is going to get the option on who it pick. It will be another military guy.

    Given that Mattis is a “wartime” DOD Secretary, I think he’s going to want someone he has confidence in with the Pres. ear on NatSec issues, and I think Mattis is the Cabinet Secretary who Trump respects the most.

    I don’t think it will be an Army guy — I always expected there would be an issue between Mattis and Flynn because Mattis was a Marine and had 4 stars while Flynn was Army and had only 3. Those guys don’t forget that.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  37. Trump will not accept lying. Just ask Chris Christie.

    Neo (d1c681)

  38. Nobody lies more than Trump. Nobody. I guarantee it.

    nk (dbc370)

  39. Remember he was a lawyer for gitmo detainees, who leaked the petraeus investigation, who ponies up 500 k for the post, where he took a shivin Phil haney

    http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-216-pages-documents-containing-official-emails-sent-private-unsecured-email-accounts-former-homeland-security-secretary-jeh-johnson-three-top-officials

    narciso (d1f714)

  40. nk: “Nobody lies more than Trump. Nobody. I guarantee it.”

    Excellent –

    One, finally a guy on our side who can compete with the leftists who are all lying liars.

    Two, he’ll for sure know how to recognize another liar.

    Three, the American voter has proven that on average he cannot be told the truth – he can’t handle it.

    Fred Z (05d938)

  41. Cruz Supporter, you spent seemingly every moment insulting Nevertrumpers and saying they are losing their minds and full of this rage. What are you talking about? You’re the one who is flipping out.

    Nevertrumpers love Bolton. I’d love to see him have a role.

    We also love Ted Cruz, the original Nevertrumper. You’ve pretended to support him but were conspicuously lukewarm on him, preferring guys like Rubio. Truth is you’re just a partisan and there’s literally nothing Team R could crap out onto your plate that you wouldn’t start swallowing while muttering nonsense about Hillary Clinton, who seems to live rent free in your mind long after she doesn’t matter.

    Ted Cruz was right about Trump. “Consistently disgraceful” “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward” “Big government liberal” “This man is a pathological liar” “The man is utterly amoral. Morality does not exist for him,” “Donald is a bully. … Bullies come from a deep, yawning cavern of insecurity.”

    Do you really support Cruz, Cruz Supporter? I don’t think you really do.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  42. Right, fling a 25 year old libel like the October surprise, and we’re the ones flipping out, rice and Morrell served up the Ukraine on a platter, practically sanctioned an aq hit on a us ambassador, toppled one ally in egypt

    narciso (d1f714)

  43. Do you really support Cruz, Cruz Supporter? I don’t think you really do.

    Dustin (ba94b2) — 2/14/2017 @ 6:41 am

    Texans support Cruz, and that is all that matters.

    nk: “Nobody lies more than Trump. Nobody. I guarantee it.”

    Excellent –

    One, finally a guy on our side who can compete with the leftists who are all lying liars.

    Two, he’ll for sure know how to recognize another liar.

    Three, the American voter has proven that on average he cannot be told the truth – he can’t handle it.

    Fred Z (05d938) — 2/14/2017 @ 6:15 am

    So, fight fire with fire, and an eye for an eye? Great philosophies if you’re trying to defeat an enemy, not so if you’re attempting to turn around a country.

    Sean (41ed1e)

  44. So chalk up a win for steele and fusion gps, the last have worked to undermine magnitsky to slime vanderslip but what do you care?

    narciso (d1f714)

  45. Most conservatives (“NeverTrumpers”) have a lot of respect for Bolton. I would hate to see him destroy his good reputation and credibility by working for Trump.

    Dave (711345) — 2/13/2017 @ 9:15 pm

    Of course you would. As a leftist, you hate seeing good people doing work counter to your goals of destroying the nation.

    NJRob (43d957)

  46. Ted Cruz was right about Trump. “Consistently disgraceful” “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward” “Big government liberal” “This man is a pathological liar” “The man is utterly amoral. Morality does not exist for him,” “Donald is a bully. … Bullies come from a deep, yawning cavern of insecurity.”

    Do you really support Cruz, Cruz Supporter? I don’t think you really do.

    Dustin (ba94b2) — 2/14/2017 @ 6:41 am

    And Cruz is right about Trump now. He’s working with him, pushing him to advance conservatism and trying to better the nation. Get on board.

    NJRob (43d957)

  47. As I noted last night, the rumored candidate to replace Flynn is a protege of Mattis — Ret. Adm. Robert Harward.

    Former Navy SEAL who was also Mattis’ Dep. Cmmdr when Mattis headed up Central Command.

    Prior to that he was in charge of all Special Ops in the Iraq theater.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  48. So, our National Security Adviser had to resign because he was lying about making deals with Russia behind our backs. How humiliating.

    Tillman (a95660)

  49. 46.Most conservatives (“NeverTrumpers”) have a lot of respect for Bolton. I would hate to see him destroy his good reputation and credibility by working for Trump.

    Dave (711345) — 2/13/2017 @ 9:15 pm

    Proving once again living in that leftist bubble prohibits fee thought and objective observation. I am as conservative as one can get and I was neveraNeverTrumper. You need to go get some conservative friends, you may learn something.

    49.So, our National Security Adviser had to resign because he was lying about making deals with Russia behind our backs. How humiliating.

    I saw him on TV this morning Tillman and he did look humiliated. You see, as a Republican getting caught lying is bad. I realize you leftists do it all the time and think nothing of it but to Republicans character matters and we don’t like liars.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7665KMUEFdg/VPuRxiJlhJI/AAAAAAAA1BE/Rk1DXVExIjw/s1600/1%2B1%2BElizabethWarrenCartoon.jpg

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  50. Can’t lie to the VP… next!

    Colonel Haiku (8f010c)

  51. I personally find it funny that the guy they manage to get kicked out of Trump’s administration is the only Democrat there.

    Good going, remove that moderating influence!

    Ingot (e5bf64)

  52. I’m curious as to whether the President is truly dumb enough to believe retreating to his Mar-a-Lago bunker provides security from the IC. If Flynn’s head in his bed wasn’t enough, who will be next?

    The IC may have to resort to notes on his pillow at Mar-a-Lago to get the message through.

    Rick Ballard (5e8a41)

  53. A Valentine for Gen. Flynn from the American news media:

    Thank you for your service.

    https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Eln6q8gxuh0/WKMOxbWlEII/AAAAAAABiCs/WrSB1bX1RsE/valentines-day-rome_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800

    Now go F*** yourself you conservative racist, bigot, Islamophobe, homophobe hater!

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  54. Newsweek (very partisan Democrat even in its new incarnation) version of the Michael flynn story as of Sat. Feb. 11th

    http://www.newsweek.com/mike-flynn-security-risk-555642

    Question: How did Mike Flynn get a security clearance?

    A couple of weeks ago, I sued several federal agencies, including the FBI, CIA and Justice Department, to find out—not just about Flynn, the besieged White House National Security Adviser, but other top appointees in the Donald Trump administration who have dodgy foreign ties…

    …Flynn, in a great irony, apparently learned nothing from this. U.S. intelligence reportedly overheard him conspiring with a Russian diplomat to undercut the Obama administration’s tough response to Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election.

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)

  55. 51. Colonel Haiku (8f010c) — 2/14/2017 @ 10:02 am

    Can’t lie to the VP… next!

    There were two lies.

    The first one was that Mike Flynn’s son, Mike Flynn Jr, who had tweeted about Pizzagate, and wasn’t taking it back

    Michael Flynn Jr
    ‎@mflynnJR

    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://twitter.com/jackposobiec/status/805559273426141184
    10:13 PM – 4 Dec 2016

    had not been given a security clearance. He had been given one by the transition team. This lie was not told to Mike Pence in person, but to people who worked for him. (Mike Pence was in charge of the transition)

    (Later on Mike Flynn Jr. after the Executive Order with the 7 countries, Mike Flynn Jr. began tweeting about it, using the hashtag “#MuslimBan, and first he deleted that tweet, and then later his whole account.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/316794-son-of-national-security-adviser-deletes-account-after-muslim-ban-tweets)

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)

  56. The second time Mike Flynn lied to Mike Pence was about whether or not he had discussed the sanctions Obama was putting on Russia during his telephone call with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

    Flynn claimed he had texted the ambassador to wish him a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and the Ambassador texted back with the same and that on Dec 28 the ambassador asked to call him. In that call, on December 29, Flynn said they discussed plans for a Trump-Putin conversation sometime after the inauguration and he also expressed condolences for the shoot-down of a Russian plane carrying a choir to Syria, but they did not discuss anything about the pending sanctions.

    And Pence said on TV that he had confirmed that with Flynn personally.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-january-15-2017-pence-manchin-gingrich/

    JOHN DICKERSON: Let me ask you about it was reported by David Ignatius that the incoming national security advisor Michael Flynn was in touch with the Russian ambassador on the day the United States government announced sanctions for Russian interference with the election. Did that contact help with that Russian kind of moderate response to it? That there was no counter-reaction from Russia. Did the Flynn conversation help pave the way for that sort of more temperate Russian response?

    MIKE PENCE: I talked to General Flynn about that conversation and actually [it] was initiated on Christmas Day[. H]e had sent a text to the Russian ambassador to express not only Christmas wishes but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. It was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.

    JOHN DICKERSON: So did they ever have a conversation about sanctions ever on those days or any other day?

    MIKE PENCE: They did not have a discussion contemporaneous with U.S. actions on–

    JOHN DICKERSON: But what about after–

    MIKE PENCE: –my conversation with General Flynn. Well, look. General Flynn has been in touch with diplomatic leaders, security leaders in some 30 countries. That’s exactly what the incoming national security advisor–

    JOHN DICKERSON: Absolutely.

    MIKE PENCE: –should do. But what I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.

    JOHN DICKERSON: But that still leaves open the possibility that there might have been other conversations about the sanctions.

    MIKE PENCE: I don’t believe there were more conversations.

    JOHN DICKERSON: Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s move on. Okay. Got it–

    Flynn also said, at some point, that he had called the russian Ambassador on December 19 to express condolences to Kislyak after the terrorist killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey. But Flynn also apparently lied or misled people about the number of calls he had had with the ambassador.

    You notice here with Pence has related the conversatuion to the Christmas and New Year’s text message greetings, but a later version was that that had nothing to do with it, and neither was it his first cintact with the Ambassador.

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)

  57. Another thing supposedly discussed in that conversartion was an invitation to the conference related to the conflict in Syria, which is set to take place in Kazakhstan. The transition official says no commitments about attending were made during the call. the conversation at that point was said to have taken place on December 28, but, according David Ignatius, the Washington Post columnist, it really took place on Dec 29 and there were several calls that day.

    http://www.npr.org/2017/01/13/509670980/trump-team-top-adviser-talked-with-russian-ambassador-before-u-s-hacking-respons

    Additionally, the official couldn’t say whether there had been any contact between Flynn and the ambassador since Dec. 28.

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)

  58. #31 Dave, you just admitted it … for you it’s not about putting the country first.
    Rather, the national security scene is just a high school Breakfast Club game of cliques where reputations and “who was seen walking with who” in the hallways is your primary focus.

    I am the one putting country first. You are the one insisting that loyalty to “the team” should overrule principles.

    The Trump administration will be a disaster for America, and for conservatism. It should be blindingly obvious that putting an aggressively ignorant, bigoted, morally bankrupt and emotionally unstable reality TV game show host into the Oval Office cannot, and will not, end well.

    Anyone who casts their lot with Trump will be complicit in what is coming. Trump should have been, and should still be, shunned by anyone who claims to be a conservative or who claims to love America. Sadly, the lure of power and influence are great, leading many to abandon their principles and fall into the classic Alinsky-ite rationalization that “the ends justify the means”.

    Dave (711345)

  59. Proving once again living in that leftist bubble prohibits fee thought and objective observation. I am as conservative as one can get and I was neveraNeverTrumper. You need to go get some conservative friends, you may learn something.

    Yeah, no. You aren’t “as conservative as one can get” if you support a RINO who said Hillary Clinton would make a great president, and who bankrolled Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Jimmy Carter, Charlie Rangel and Anthony Weiner.

    Dave (711345)

  60. Exactly, Dave.

    If you’re an enthusiastic Trump supporter, you simply aren’t conservative by definition. You could be a super Republican partisan, but not a conservative. Trump fans roll their eyes at principles.

    There are plenty of conservatives who hesitantly supported Trump despite his low morals and big government views, but that’s different.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  61. And Cruz is right about Trump now. He’s working with him, pushing him to advance conservatism and trying to better the nation. Get on board.

    NJRob

    I’m not sure how I’m supposed to get on board, but I believe Trump is a loathsome and dishonest person, and I’m fortunate that I’m not a politician like Cruz who supports a man who slurred his wife.

    You’re probably right that in some way this does advance conservatism in a crude way, but I believe in the long run Trump will usher in an era of hard left appointments, laws, and bureaucracy. And I think that’s pretty obvious. The nation hates him and the political consequences are going to be powerful.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  62. our last president was loathsome and dishonest

    but worse he was a complete effing bore

    and be real ted’s sacky ain’t all that and a bag of chips on her best most cogent day you know i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  63. No, I guess I don’t know what you mean.

    But I did vote for many Republicans last election. Not Trump of course, but many.

    It’s going to take a lot from the GOP to get that level of support from me again. I would enjoy seeing the party wiped away completely, actually.

    I do not think Obama was even remotely as dishonest as Trump, and I’m amused anyone would suggest he was.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  64. Nor would she be a probable Viagara TV commercial spokesmodel (the NYT reporter had the type wrong).

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  65. “MICHAEL WALSH: The Empire Strikes Back:

    Mike Flynn, a good man who saw the enemy clearly, and had the courage to name it, saw Russia not as an enemy but a geopolitical adversary with whom we could make common cause against Islam — and who also vowed to shake up a complacent and malfeasant IC — was its first scalp, and an object lesson to new CIA Director Mike Pompeo should he have any reformist notions. As for the media, having previously failed to take down Trump aides Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, Flynn was the next best thing; their joy today is unbounded.

    Is this what you thought you voted for in November? Is this how you thought American democracy worked? Is this the country you want to live in?

    Welcome to the Deep State, the democracy-sapping embeds at the heart of our democracy who have not taken the expulsion of the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party lightly. They realize that the Trump administration poses a mortal threat to their hegemony, and so have enlisted an army of Democrats, some Republicans, the “neverTrumpumpkin” conservative die-hards, leftist thugs, Black Lives Matter and anybody else they can blackmail, browbeat or enlist. They mean business.”

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/257346/

    Colonel Haiku (8f010c)

  66. i love how he’s taking an ax to the bad food stamp regulations what strangled prosperity

    Mr. President Trump will never have to pivot to the economy his whole life and that makes me wanna give him a big hug

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  67. Interesting the push back from the Admin today, even with the resignation of Trump.

    Not giving in on the question of whether he acted inappropriately in his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Saying that his resignation is the product of his misleading Pence, and causing Pence to publicly support him based on inaccurate info given to Pence by Flynn.

    A basic failure of trust since Flynn almost certainly was selective in what he failed to tell Pence.

    Re the conversations with the Russians, late today Trump turned that around and said the real outrage should be over the leaking by the IC about the interception of Flynn’s communications.

    I think Flynn was always going to be an early casualty. He’s a former Obama Admin. official who got dumped out, but there is enough institutional memory of his time there both in the deep state and in the Obama alums that they were going to go after him. He’s clearly been erratic enough to give them plenty of ammunition. And I think there were some rival power centers developing in the WH and DOD that didn’t necessarily him as NSA as being in their long-term interests.

    Now we’ll never know for sure, but the reporting today seems to confirm that if he hadn’t lied to Pence, the Admin would have likely backed him over any claims that his contacts with the Russians — regardless of the topics of conversation — were not unusual, unprecedented, or in violation of the Logan Act. Frankly, the Logan Act is unconstitutional on its face, its just never been challenged because no one has been convicted under its provisions since it was passed in 1799 (and later codified in 1948).

    So Flynn was probably just a bad option in terms of fighting back against the Deep State and Obama’s shadow admin in their efforts to undermine and delegitmize the Admin.

    But I think they are going to have to pick a fight and make a stand next time the Deep State targets an Admin official.

    shipwreckedcrew (2c9dcc)

  68. Certainly, the top company officials are wedded to the cve claptrap re islamists which ignores the hand of the ilkwan and its many appendages like cair.

    narciso (d1f714)

  69. McMaster selected by Trump to replace Flynn.

    DCSCA (797bc0)


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