Donald Trump's lawyer, and other behind the scenes conspirators, slipped Mike Flynn a plan to lift sanctions against Russia before he was fired.

Trump and his attorney, Michael Cohen.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia. 

Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort. 

At a time when Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia, and the people connected to him, are under heightened scrutiny — with investigations by American intelligence agencies, the F.B.I. and Congress — some of his associates remain willing and eager to wade into Russia-related efforts behind the scenes. 

You might remember that Michael Cohen was featured prominently in the famous dossier put together by the former MI-6 agent.

And now here he is again mentioned in a article about pushing a policy that would benefit Russia.

And exactly HOW did Cohen and his cohorts plan to provide an incentive to get Americans to go along with the idea of removing sanctions against a country that just hacked our election?

By convincing Russia to pull out of Ukraine.

And how would they do that?

By first removing the current anti-Russian leader of Ukraine, and replacing him with a more pro-Russia leader:

But the proposal contains more than just a peace plan. Andrii V. Artemenko, the Ukrainian lawmaker, who sees himself as a Trump-style leader of a future Ukraine, claims to have evidence — “names of companies, wire transfers” — showing corruption by the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, that could help oust him. And Mr. Artemenko said he had received encouragement for his plans from top aides to Mr. Putin. 

“A lot of people will call me a Russian agent, a U.S. agent, a C.I.A. agent,” Mr. Artemenko said. “But how can you find a good solution between our countries if we do not talk?”

So if Trump facilitates, or at least ignores, a plan to overthrow the Ukrainian government, then Russia will pull their troops out of the area, and that will give Trump the ammunition he needs to justify removing those irritating sanctions against Russia and make his boyfriend Vladimir Putin very happy with him.

Okay so HOW exactly did this Artemenko fellow get his hands on this supposedly career ending information?

Well how does Russia typically get dirt on their political adversaries?

By hacking I would assume.

So this could yet be another case of Trump associates promoting the idea of using hacked information to destroy a political career so that they can manipulate a situation to favor their agenda.

Gee, where have we seen that before?

For his part Michael Cohen is doing damage control and has changed a key part of the story.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Cohen, speaking with The Post on Sunday, acknowledged that the meeting took place and that he had left with the peace proposal in hand. 

But Cohen said he did not take the envelope to the White House and did not discuss it with anyone. He called suggestions to the contrary “fake news.” 

“I acknowledge that the brief meeting took place, but emphatically deny discussing this topic or delivering any documents to the White House and/or General Flynn,” Cohen said. He said he told the Ukrainian official that he could send the proposal to Flynn by writing him at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I am not too sure how that really exonerates Cohen, but for their part the Times is standing by their initial reporting.

Gee who to believe. The slimy attorney for one of the most duplicitous human beings on the planet, or the New York Times?

Yep, that's a tough one alright.

Trump's pick to replace Mike Flynn as National Security Adviser says "Oh hell no."

Vice Admiral Robert Harward.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

President Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, sources familiar with Harward’s decision said on Thursday. 

Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. 

Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team. 

That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn’s deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay.

This seems to have come as somewhat of a surprise to Trump who had vaguely referred to Harward in that wild and crazy press conference earlier in the day. 

I really do think that at this point Trump is going to have some difficulty finding folks excited about joining his administration, and those he DOES find willing will certainly NOT be the cream of the crop.

After all would you be willing to board a vessel when you already see the crew preparing the lifeboats for the inevitable disaster?

Washington Post reveals that Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Flynn, lied to the FBI. Can you say "Just committed a felony?"

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States before President Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former U.S. officials said. 

The Jan. 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions. 

A spokesman for Flynn said he had no response. The FBI declined to comment.

Uh oh! Lying to the FBI is kind of a no no.

So now apparently this paragon of virtue, at least that is how he was advertised to the media, has now been caught lying to the Vice President and to the FBI.

Of course considering the administration that he was going to be working with, I almost think that the ability to lie, and lie well, is a prerequisite.

And let's face it with Trump now putting his own people in place, and Comey still leading the FBI, Flynn will absolutely face NO charges for this.

In fact the FBI is already saying as much.

Courtesy of CNN: 

The FBI is not expected to pursue any charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn regarding a phone call with Russia's ambassador, barring new information that changes what they know, law enforcement officials told CNN Thursday.

Flynn initially told investigators sanctions were not discussed. But FBI agents challenged him, asking if he was certain that was his answer. He said he didn't remember. 

The FBI interviewers believed Flynn was cooperative and provided truthful answers. Although Flynn didn't remember all of what he talked about, they don't believe he was intentionally misleading them, the officials say.

So you can see that since this story broke the FBI is already starting to provide cover.

How could Flynn, a trained military officer with an intelligence background, "not remember" talking to the Russians about sanctions?

That's bullshit, and if this was not Trump's guy he would indeed be facing charges.  

Donald Trump holds press conference attacking the press and bitching about the difficulty of this job.

I actually missed most of this because I was at the gym on the treadmill.

However I came home, did some catching up, and essentially cannot believe this really happened.

Here was a link to WaPo so you catch as well.

And if you dont have that kind of time here are a few of his crazier statements:

I'm here following through on what I pledged to do. That's all I'm doing. I put it out before the American people, got 306 electoral college votes. I wasn't supposed to get 222. They said there's no way to get 222, 230's impossible. 

270 which you need, that was laughable. We got 306 because people came out and voted like they've never seen before so that's the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. (This is demonstrably untrue. And in fact Trump's electoral college win is only larger than one modern day president. George H.W. Bush.)


Still can't get over that election can you Orange Hitler?

Every GOP Congressman and Senator watching this is grinding their teeth into dust.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 16, 2017

In response to a question about his campaign staff's reported contact with Russian intelligence:

The failing New York Times wrote a big, long front-page story yesterday. And it was very much discredited, as you know. It was -- it's a joke. And the people mentioned in the story, I notice they were on television today saying they never even spoke to Russia. They weren't even a part, really -- I mean, they were such a minor part. They -- I hadn't spoken to them. 

I think the one person -- I don't think I've ever spoken to him. I don't think I've ever met him. And he actually said he was a very low-level member of I think a committee for a short period of time. I don't think I ever met him. Now, it's possible that I walked into a room and he was sitting there, but I don't think I ever met him. I didn't talk to him ever. And he thought it was a joke.Russia is fake news.
.....

Russia -- this is fake news put out by the media. The real news is the fact that people, probably from the Obama administration because they're there, because we have our new people going in place, right now.

As you know, Mike Pompeo has -- has now taken control of the CIA, James Comey at FBI, Dan Coats is waiting to be approved, I mean he is a senator and a highly respected one and he's still waiting to be approved. But our new people are going in. 

Meaning that as soon as his people are in place that this Russian story will quickly disappear.

Which pretty much confirms the authenticity of the New York Times story in my opinion.

Trump calls everything "fake news" that contains a truth about him that he does not want people to know.

On the leaks:

Yes, we're looking at them very -- very, very serious. I've gone to all of the folks in charge of the various agencies and we're -- I've actually called the Justice Department to look into the leaks. Those are criminal leaks. They're put out by people either in agencies -- I think you'll see it stopping because now we have our people in. You know, again, we don't have our people in because we can't get them approved by the Senate.

........

What happens when I'm dealing with the problems in the Middle East? Are you folks going to be reporting all of that very, very confidential information, very important, very -- you know, I mean at the highest level? Are you going to be reporting about that too? So, I don't want classified information getting out to the public and in a way that was almost a test. 

So I'm dealing with Mexico, I'm dealing with Argentina, we were dealing on this case with Mike Flynn. All this information gets put into the "Washington Post" and gets put into the "New York Times" and I'm saying "what's going to happen when I'm dealing on the Middle East? What's going to happen when I'm dealing with really, really important subjects like North Korea?

Perhaps if Trump did not conduct national security meetings in full view of guests at Mar a Lago he would not have to worry about so many leaks?

Just saying.

On the firing of Mike Flynn, and his contact with Russia about sanctions during the campaign:  

No, I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence. Very simple. Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So, it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn't doing it.

I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him because that's his job.

Wait, what? This happened BEFORE the inauguration, and BEFORE Flynn was the national security adviser.

It is most certainly NOT the job of a campaign advisor to be talking to Russia about sanctions before his guy takes office. In fact it was not fucking Donald Trump's job to do that either.

We HAD a President dealing with that stuff and he certainly did not need any interference from Trump and his cronies.

Trump also spent quite a bit of time slamming the media and calling them fake news, defending his desire to "make a deal" with Russia (While also claiming that he had NO contact with them during the campaign.), and bizarrely attacking Hillary Clinton and re-litigating the election.

If you look at this and think he is sane or truthful, you need your head examined as well. Geez, the amount of crazy....#TrumpNewsConference

— Fjola Ingva (@FjolaIngva) February 16, 2017

All in all it was a trip to crazy town, and will undoubtedly provide much material for SNL.

Here is now disgraced former National Security advisor, Mike Flynn, before the election, denying Russian hacking and attacking Hillary Clinton over her e-mail server.

I believe the word for that feeling you are having is schadenfreude.

Just look at the ease in which this asshole lies, and then remember that he was temporarily in charge of national security.

Want more? Of course you do.

Well here is more.

WATCH EVERY SECOND OF THIS. DON'T MISS A THING. IF THE PHONE RINGS, START IT OVER. WATCH IT THREE TIMES. pic.twitter.com/HTNiaQWF9b

— Yashar (@yashar) February 14, 2017

 I actually feel that every single one of Trump's people are just as untrustworthy and dangerous to the future of our nation as this man.

Every last one of them, including of course Trump himself. 

Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee says that we need an exhaustive investigation of Michael Flynn and Trump's ties to Russia.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday called for an exhaustive investigation into connections between President Donald Trump and Russia and said the Intelligence Committee should immediately speak with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. 

Flynn resigned Monday evening amid revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had in December with Russia's ambassador to the US about sanctions placed on Russia. Pence had defended Flynn on television and denied he discussed sanctions after initial reports of the conversations. 

"I think everybody needs that investigation to happen," Blunt said on KTRS radio. "And the Senate Intelligence Committee, again that I serve on, has been given the principle responsibility to look into this, and I think that we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldn't reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions."

"But the Senate Intelligence Committee is looking at this," he continued. "I would think that we should talk to Gen. Flynn very soon and that should answer a lot of questions. What did he know? What did he do? And is there any reason to believe that anybody knew that and didn't take the kind of action they should have taken?"

Somebody asked me awhile back if I thought there was any chance that the Republicans would support an investigation Trump's ties to Russia, and the Russian hacking of our election.

My answer was that they would probably not do anything until not doing anything endangered their chances for reelection, which is really their motivating force for most of what they do.

Apparently we are getting to that place now.

Look for other Republicans to start jumping aboard this train as well in the coming days and weeks.

And let's face it, they already have a lot to work with already.

The notion that Flynn DIDN'T make these phone calls at DT's behest is laughable. Flynn leads directly to DT. pic.twitter.com/OBGXlommHx

— Free bird (@TearsInHeaven09) February 14, 2017

Though according to a Russian news outlet there is nothing to see here so everybody just needs to move along.

Courtesy of Sputnik News:  

The Kremlin spokesman said Moscow and Washington had not broached the issue of lifting anti-Russia sanctions.

According to the Washington Post several Russian lawmakers rushed to defend the Trump administration:

Leading Russian lawmakers rushed to defend President Trump’s former national security adviser Tuesday after he resigned amid furor over his misleading statements to senior White House officials, including Vice President Pence, about his contacts with Russia. 

The heads of the foreign-affairs committees in Russia’s upper and lower houses of parliament chalked up Michael Flynn’s resignation to a dark campaign of Russophobia in Washington, and said it would undermine relations between the White House and the Kremlin.


Oh, well there you go then.

Boy the Russians must REALLY think that the American people are gullible idiots.

Oh wait, they already KNOW they are because they easily manipulated them into putting Donald Trump into the White House.

I almost forgot.

Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Flynn, resigns. Update!

Courtesy of CNN: 

Embattled White House national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday night, an abrupt end to a brief tenure. 

His departure came just after reports surfaced the Justice Department warned the Trump administration last month that Flynn misled administration officials regarding his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians. 

"I inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology," Flynn wrote, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by CNN.

"I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way," he wrote. "I know with the strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in US history." 

The move comes less than a month into the job, making him one of the shortest-serving senior presidential advisers in modern history. 

This changes NOTHING.

As was pointed out on a variety of cable news shows it is HIGHLY unlikely that Flynn reached out to Russia to discuss sanctions without the knowledge and direction of Donald Trump.

For one thing Flynn simply could NOT make any assurances unless he had Trump's blessing to make the calls.

By having Flynn take the bullet here the Trump administration is hoping that all of this Russian talk will blow over and that Trump can start receiving intelligence briefings again like nothing ever happened.

But fuck that.

Trump is the guy the Russians worked to get into the White House, not Mike Flynn, so clearly he is the one that they are counting on to do their bidding.

The media needs to keep the heat on and the Democrats need to continue to push for those investigations into Trump's ties with Putin and to get his tax returns released.

Mike Flynn is a good start, but our country will not truly be safe until the entire Trump administration is fired, impeached, or thrown in jail.

Update: By the way the man who feels that continuing to go after Hillary Clinton is still reasonable, sees no reason to investigate Flynn.

Chaffetz says investigation of Flynn is "taking care of itself." Says further investigation is purview of intel committee not oversight.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 14, 2017

I think Chaffetz needs a few more rousing choruses of "Do your job!"

Useless POS!

Intelligence agencies are so mistrustful of Donald Trump that they are withholding classified intelligence from him.

Courtesy of the Observer: 

Our Intelligence Community is so worried by the unprecedented problems of the Trump administration—not only do senior officials possess troubling ties to the Kremlin, there are nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump—that it is beginning to withhold intelligence from a White House which our spies do not trust. 

That the IC has ample grounds for concern is demonstrated by almost daily revelations of major problems inside the White House, a mere three weeks after the inauguration. The president has repeatedly gone out of his way to antagonize our spies, mocking them and demeaning their work, and Trump’s personal national security guru can’t seem to keep his story straight on vital issues. 

That’s Mike Flynn, the retired Army three-star general who now heads the National Security Council. Widely disliked in Washington for his brash personality and preference for conspiracy-theorizing over intelligence facts, Flynn was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency for managerial incompetence and poor judgment—flaws he has brought to the far more powerful and political NSC.

Flynn’s problems with the truth have been laid bare by the growing scandal about his dealings with Moscow. Strange ties to the Kremlin, including Vladimir Putin himself, have dogged Flynn since he left DIA, and concerns about his judgment have risen considerably since it was revealed that after the November 8 election, Flynn repeatedly called the Russian embassy in Washington to discuss the transition.

The article goes on to lay out a rather stunning case for why the intelligence agencies feel that Doanld Trump, nor members of his administration, are to be trusted with the state secrets or intelligence concerning our allies as well as our enemies.

I found this portion in particular to be troubling:

What’s going on was explained lucidly by a senior Pentagon intelligence official, who stated that “since January 20, we’ve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM,” meaning the White House Situation Room, the 5,500 square-foot conference room in the West Wing where the president and his top staffers get intelligence briefings. “There’s not much the Russians don’t know at this point,” the official added in wry frustration.

You know I have, on some level, already assumed much of this.

However having it confirmed by intelligence agents is still a little disconcerting.

After all how can a president and his administration work to protect this country, and make smart decisions, if they have no idea exactly what is actually happening?

So is this article believable? I mean I know it speaks to our own confirmation bias, but does it stand up to scrutiny?

Well first off it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.

Secondly it quotes from a number of other news outlets that are reporting on similar facts about Trump, his ties to Russia, and his disdain for the intelligence community.

There is also the fact that numerous other respectable reporters and news outlets seem to accept the reporting at face value.

Then there is also this article from Politico: 

A top deputy to National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was rejected for a critical security clearance, effectively ending his tenure on the National Security Council and escalating tensions between Flynn and the intelligence community.

Well it is fairly clear that at least one member of Trump's team is unacceptable to the intelligence community.

And Nancy Pelosi essentially feels the same way about Flynn himself: 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Saturday called for the suspension of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, until an FBI probe determines the exact nature of his “secret contacts” with Russian officials. The congresswoman also said Flynn should have his security clearance revoked.

So yes all of that, plus what we know already about Trump's troubling ties to Putin, certainly lends an air of credibility to this story.

Which means that I guess we now have some confirmation that Donald Trump is seen by US Intelligence as a potential double agent.

I swear if this were the plot for a TV movie, I would turn it off for being too unbelievable.

White House leaks claim that Donald Trump called General Mike Flynn at 3 AM to ask whether it was a strong or weak dollar that was good for the US economy.

"Yeah, I'm going to save the economy. Just as soon as I figure out how the damn thing works."

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

President Donald Trump was confused about the dollar: Was it a strong one that’s good for the economy? Or a weak one? 

So he made a call ― except not to any of the business leaders Trump brought into his administration or even to an old friend from his days in real estate. Instead, he called his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Flynn’s accounts of the incident. 

Flynn has a long record in counterintelligence but not in macroeconomics. And he told Trump he didn’t know, that it wasn’t his area of expertise, that, perhaps, Trump should ask an economist instead. 

Trump was not thrilled with that response ― but that may have been a function of the time of day. Trump had placed the call at 3 a.m., according to one of Flynn’s retellings ― although neither the White House nor Flynn’s office responded to requests for confirmation about that detail.

Remember this is the guy who is going to dramatically increase jobs and save the economy.

Kind of heard to imagine if he does not understand such a basic premise, and if he continues going to people who have no expertise economics.

It should be noted that there are numerous news articles discussing the unprecedented number of leaks coming from his administration, and even this article suggests that the people working for Trump who are essentially terrified at his lack of experience and extreme impulsiveness:

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s volatile behavior has created an environment ripe for leaks from his executive agencies and even within his White House. And while leaks typically involve staffers sabotaging each other to improve their own standing or trying to scuttle policy ideas they find genuinely problematic, Trump’s 2-week-old administration has a third category: leaks from White House and agency officials alarmed by the president’s conduct.

I know I have said this before, but just in case you missed it, yeah....we're fucked. 

Donald Trump checks in with his boss from the new office he helped him get.

Yes Vlad things are going as planned, except everybody hates me and it's not as fun as you told me it would be.

Courtesy of New York Daily News:  

President Trump chatted with Vladimir Putin Saturday, his first known conversation since taking office with the Russian leader he frequently complimented on the campaign trail. 

A gaggle of White House staffers — Vice President Pence, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon — were in the room when Trump made the call.

It is not clear what the two presidents talked about.

Oh I think I can guess the topic of conversation.

Putin put Trump in place to remove the sanctions, and that is what he expects him to do.

After speaking with Chancellor Merkel for 45 minutes @POTUS is now onto his 3rd of 5 head of government calls, speaking w Russian Pres Putin pic.twitter.com/RPAWIgcO2C

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 28, 2017

Do you notice that both Bannon and Flynn are in the room for the phone call?

Bannon is essentially running the show by writing the executive orders that Trump signs, and Flynn is his go between with Putin.

As reported earlier I think Pence and Priebus were forced on Trump in order to keep up appearances for the photograph.

I would bet money that there is a more private conversation later, assuming of course that there have not already been several private conversations before this. 

Donald Trump's Security Advisor Michael Flynn was investigated for "inappropriately sharing" classified information.

U.S. Military investigation into Mike Flynn for unauthorized sharing of classified info https://t.co/ssWjgpb8yt pic.twitter.com/qx8Stwo5G9 pic.twitter.com/CtKKnfiexc

— Jeff Gauvin (@JeffersonObama) December 14, 2016

Courtesy of WaPo: 

A secret U.S. military investigation in 2010 determined that Michael T. Flynn, the retired Army general tapped to serve as national security adviser in the Trump White House, “inappropriately shared” classified information with foreign military officers in Afghanistan, newly released documents show. 

Although Flynn lacked authorization to share the classified material, he was not disciplined or reprimanded after the investigation concluded that he did not act “knowingly” and that “there was no actual or potential damage to national security as a result,” according to Army records obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

Flynn has previously acknowledged that he was investigated while serving as the U.S. military intelligence chief in Afghanistan for sharing secrets with British and Australian allies there. But he has dismissed the case as insignificant and has given few details. 

The Army documents provide the first official account of the case, but they are limited in scope because the investigation itself remains classified. Former U.S. officials familiar with the matter said that Flynn was accused of telling allies about the activities of other agencies in Afghanistan, including the CIA.

Color me confused but isn't this kind of the same thing that the Trump campaign and GOP have been falsely accusing Hillary Clinton of doing?

So the Republicans are justified in spending millions of tax payer dollars to conduct a witch hunt against Hillary Clinton, only to come up with nothing, and yet this guy, who actually DID what she was accused of doing, gets rewarded with a job in the Trump administration?

You know I really do not think that hypocrisy is a strong enough word here.

In other news Flynn finally deleted that tweet accusing Hillary of sex crimes against children:

Yeah, hypocrisy definitely does not cover this.

Rachel Maddow scraps a segment of her show to warn viewers about Trump's appointment of Mike Flynn as his National Security Advisor.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

“It will not be discussed all that much compared to the other people who need to go through a Senate confirmation process, but the choice of Mike Flynn really is a different kill of fish than anything that even I think we might have expected from the Trump campaign,” she said. 

Maddow continued with strong concern, “Mike Flynn calls Islam a political ideology hiding behind a religion. Mike Flynn calls Islam a malignant cancer.” 

General Flynn formerly served as the director for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and his views on oft-cited Trump campaign topics like waterboarding and the killing of suspected terrorists’ families have been expressed ambiguously at best. Maddow continued: 

“I would also say that Mike Flynn has been on the payroll — his intelligence firm has been on the payroll of Turkey , including during the Trump campaign, without him disclosing that while he was working for the Trump campaign. I know he’s not gonna get as much coverage… stick a pin in that. It’s a really, really important, really really worrying announcement.”

We are all so freaked out by the appointments of Stephen Bannon and Jeff Sessions that I think for a lot of us this Mike Flynn thing kind of flew under the radar.

But it shouldn't.

Apparently Donald Trump took that "basket of deplorables" thing literally and is plucking from it to staff his administration.

And that is terrible news for the future of this country.

P.S. Flynn apparently also shared fake conspiracy theories about Hillary and Muslims, so yeah he's deplorable.