Thursday, March 09, 2017

Wait, so Donald Trump's former national security advisor was working for the Turkish government?

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote an op-ed on Election Day calling for the U.S. to kick out an anti-government Turkish cleric without disclosing he was being paid by a firm linked to the Turkish government, according to documents newly filed with the Justice Department. 

POLITICO reported in November that Flynn's consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, was lobbying for a Dutch consulting firm with ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The new documents confirm that Flynn lobbied for the Turkish-linked firm, Inovo BV, before and immediately after the election. They also reveal that Flynn’s firm secretly met with the Turkish foreign and energy ministers in New York less than two months before the election. According to Inovo’s founder, Kamil Ekim Alptekin, the meeting was with Flynn himself.

The documents reveal that Inovo BV paid Flynn's firm $535,000 between Sept. 9 and Nov. 14. The firm's assignment focused on Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania whom the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a failed coup against Erdogan last summer.

Apparently Flynn's firm admitted that they were lobbying for Inovo, but Flynn himself never bothered to register himself as a foreign agent. (Would be kind of embarrassing since he was working for Trump as well.)

Now that has changed.

Courtesy of the AP:

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired from his prominent White House job last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before Election Day that may have aided the Turkish government. 

Paperwork filed Tuesday with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit said Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November that "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." It was filed by a lawyer on behalf of the former U.S. Army lieutenant general and intelligence chief.

Okay first off the question to ask is "Is anybody on the Trump team not compromised by a relationship with a foreign government?" 

And the second question to ask is "Does anybody have a scorecard that we can use to keep track of all of the different moving parts?"

For those like myself a little surprised that Flynn turned out to be a "foreign agent" working for Turkey instead of Russia, as it turns out Russia and Turkey have a kind of on again, off again, relationship that for right now seems to be on again.

In other words what's good for Turkey could in fact also be good for Russia.

24 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:39 AM

    Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November
    ==============
    So they are "voluntarily registering" for something in that happened LAST YEAR !!

    Isn't that special. So much for draining the swamp.

    This gives the swamp a new name, swamp of traitors.

    And of course trump has business ties to turkey.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:53 AM

    Trump Dossier Analysis: Corroborating Evidence in the Trump/Russia Dossier https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RbpBxJ3QNyvts_w16UcSSGeH7cSrXK9U3wIq0OOq-Xs/edit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:25 PM

      http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/08/is-conspiracy-queen-louise-mensch-right-about-donald-trump.html

      Delete
  3. Anonymous11:54 AM

    OT
    Get your popcorn: Sally Yates gets her revenge on Donald Trump on March 20th

    http://www.palmerreport.com/opinion/get-your-popcorn-sally-yates-gets-her-revenge-on-donald-trump-on-march-20th/1850/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:23 PM

      Too bad it isn't the 15th, beware of the ides of March.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:52 PM

      @2:23 I'm mailing 9 and adding #notmy
      Prepare for March 15th, 2017, a day hereafter to be known as:

      #TheIdesOfTrump

      Write one postcard. Write a dozen! Take a picture and post it on social media tagged with #TheIdesOfTrump ! Spread the word! Everyone on Earth should let Donnie know how he’s doing. They can’t build a wall high enough to stop the mail.

      Then, on March 15th, mail your messages to:
      President (for now) Donald J. Trump
      The White House
      1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
      Washington, DC 20500

      It might just be enough to make him crack.

      Cut and paste to pass this on."

      Delete
  4. Anonymous12:05 PM

    Was the $535,000 payment paid to Flynn by Russia and they used "Turkey" to wash it clean?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:17 PM

    I heard on TV in the wee hours that Flynn finally being open about the half-mill is very possibly because he knows that the hammer's going to come down soon and he wanted to get his own situation out there and transparent and possibly escape the worst.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:38 PM

    OT BOYCOTT CNN THIS WEEKEND

    They are doing a glossy puff piece on Melania Trump. Going to try and make her a "normal" first lady and style setter like Jackie Kennedy.

    Reality is ... she is nothing more than a nude model with a fake resume that found a rich sugar daddy. She can't even speak English well.

    Remember you can't spell Melania without these four letters .. A-N-A-L

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:57 PM

      http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/i-fcking-hate-melania-trump-dan-savage-rips-undeservedly-charitable-view-of-the-first-lady/

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:42 PM

      I think the tea baggers pronounce it Moolania.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous2:24 PM

      She is no Jackie Kennedy and they should stop the comparison right now.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous4:48 AM

      Who cares? The third wife will never be a match to previous first ladies. It will take many months to build her specially lighted room in the White House for her morning makeup routine. The beautiful White House will probably need major rewiring to do the job. Trump will want to hire electricians from Russia to do the job.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  7. Anonymous12:55 PM

    Score card? You'really going to need a chalkboard as big as a semi truck trailer, maybe two...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:58 PM

    OT? THINK ABIUT IT?
    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/allegations-of-party-priests-and-prostitution-rock-the-catholic-church/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:46 AM

      And the subject is relevant because Flynn has an Irish surname and so many Irish people are Catholic?
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  9. Anonymous1:22 PM

    OIL
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/09/the-kremlin-s-oil-company-has-a-man-in-trumpland.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous2:57 PM

    Headline: EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Disagrees With Science On Another Major Climate Change Issue
    He said he doesn’t believe carbon dioxide emissions are to blame.

    In other news it was revealed that Pruitt failed every science class he ever took from K-12, and his preschool teacher said he wasn't too swift on the basics like water is wet, either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:45 AM

      The Senate should have waited until those emails were released. But then, the GOP never worries about emails being withheld by fellow Republicans. This man, like may GOP members of Congress, is owned by the oil and gas industry. Oklahoma is likely to sink despite it's being landlocked because of the fracking and no one there seems to care.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  11. Anonymous3:57 PM

    Flynn needs to go to jail.

    LOCK HIM UP!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What's the next step down from a "flawed Democracy".

    Because I think we're already there.

    Wow, that was quick.

    How long before we reach failed democracy?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:47 AM

    They want to do extreme vetting of immigrants, but can't even properly vet Trump's nominees?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous4:43 AM

    Flynn must have really been angry with the US when he got fired from his military position over incompetence, I think. Lobbying is a particularly evil endeavor; I place it up there with hedge funds.
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous12:02 PM

    Just WTF, I mean really? This is beyond insane that this man thought he was without conflict?

    ReplyDelete

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