By Ryan Morgan
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 Trumpâs 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government. The investigation into the Trump campaign, known as âCrossfire Hurricaneâ involved the surveillance of at least four Trump campaign advisers, including Flynn himself.
Durhamâs report (pdf) concluded that âneither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion.â 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 Clintonâs campaign to undermine Trump by tying him to an election interference effort by Russian intelligence services.
âWhat people need to really stay focused on is this deep, deep level of corruption in our federal government, particularly starting in the White House,â Flynn told NTDâs âCapitol Reportâ 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 Durhamâs investigation raised.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, FBI Special Agent Garret OâBoyle, 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 FBIâs claims to have addressed the problems Durham identified.
âThey werenât 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,â Flynn told NTD News. âAnd today that problem is not fixed. Look at what weâre learning from the whistleblowers.â
Flynn noted recent indications that FBI officials had planned to infiltrate Catholic churches and organizations in order to root out âradical-traditionalist Catholicâ ideology. In February, a document was leaked from the FBIâs Richmond Field Office, describing this ideology. The FBI has since disavowed the record, saying it âdoes not meet the exacting standardsâ of the bureau.
âThis assault on Catholics, as an exampleâthatâs just one example, the assault on Catholics and on the Latin Mass. I mean, that little thing alone thatâs out of the Richmond office of the FBI, by the special agent in charge there,â Flynn said. âThese are not things that are minor things. These are big, big deals. Thatâs just one example, you know, in addition to the politicization and the weaponization of the FBI thatâs being additionally brought out by these whistleblowers, and itâs still ongoing.â
Flynn said he doesnât think FBI Director Christopher Wray, or Attorney General Merrick Garland deserve to continue to serve.
âAnd 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,â 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 departmentâs most recent $3 billion accounting error for Ukraine aid.
âThe Pentagon, always, always overestimates everything. I donât care whether itâs food, ammunition, people, battlefield operations, battlefield casualties, they always, always overestimate,â Flynn said. âIn 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.â
While he sees this accounting issue as part of a larger trend, Flynn said this particular accounting error has caught peopleâs attention because of how much money U.S. taxpayers have already given to Ukraine.
âIf it was $3 million, maybe even $30 million, nobody wouldâwe wouldnât be having this conversation, but $3 billion, you know, that kind of money, when you break it down to the American peopleâthe American people are just, theyâre livid about $170 billion going over to Ukraine, and God knows where itâs going, and it doesnât look like things are going well in the war over there,â Flynn said. âSo a $3 billion oversight. So now itâs like, âWell, where is it?â So is there going to be investigation? Well Iâm sure there will be, and then weâll never hear anything else about it, and come to find outâitâll be one of those dollar amounts that somebody basically walked away with.â
From NTD News