For days, the US Army lied about disgraced felon Michael Flynn’s brother involvement in a key part of their response to the Capitol riots on January 6.
Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training, confirmed to the Washington Post in a statement that he was in the room when Capitol Police and D.C. officials called the Pentagon and pleaded with them to dispatch the National Guard urgently as supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol two weeks ago. But, army officials on the line said they were concerned about the visuals of sending National Guard members to the Capitol.
Flynn did not stay for the entirety of the call because he assumed that the then-army secretary Ryan McCarthy would give the green light to send National Guard troops to the Capitol and he needed to be in his office to help execute the plan.
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But, the army denied he was ever on the call despite multiple inquiries. It was not until pressure increased on top officials after McCarthy, defended Flynn’s character in an interview with The Post and they were faced with other accounts of multiple officials on the call, that the army finally issued a statement admitting that Flynn was on the call.
The call came weeks after Michael Flynn called for Trump to invoke Martial law and have the military oversee a new election. There is no indication that Charles Flynn shares his brother’s extreme views or discharged his duties at the Pentagon on Jan. 6 in any manner that was influenced by his brother, the Post reports.
From the Washington Post:
The episode highlights the challenge for the Army in having an influential senior officer whose brother has become a central figure in QAnon, the extreme ideology that alleges Trump was waging a battle with Satan-worshiping Democrats who traffic children. Michael Flynn, who previously ran the Defense Intelligence Agency and left the Army as a three-star general, has espoused QAnon messages, and QAnon adherents are among those who have been charged in connection with the attempted insurrection.
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One official directly familiar with the situation said there was concern in both the Army and National Guard about possible political fallout if it was discovered that Flynn was involved in the Army’s deliberations, according to The Post. That is despite it being commonplace that the person in Flynn’s role would have been involved.
Donald Trump pardoned Michael Flynn who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians during Trump’s transition.
