Note: It looks like Flynn ran afoul of some laws with respects to reporting payments he received from companies with ties to foreign governments. He may have broken laws, but that still doesn’t mean he’s a traitor. It does better explain his request for immunity however.

‘It increasingly looks like Flynn may have a deal with the FBI’ recently declared a CNN analyst. Fake news is probably the most overused term in recent months, but fact free conspiracy theories presented as legitimate news cannot be described as anything else. In recent times there has not been a more concentrated and extensive effort to destroy a man than in the case of General Michael Flynn. It goes far beyond false innuendo in the media, the entire Trump surveillance controversy takes center stage.

Graduating from Rhode Island University in 1981, Michael Flynn immediately received commission as a second lieutenant in Military Intelligence. As he rose through the ranks, he earned three graduate degrees and was highly awarded for his tours abroad. Hailed as a disruptor of the status quo on military intelligence and seen as innovating new techniques, he was appointed to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency by Obama in 2012. His time serving in the Middle East convinced him that a main threat to national security was Islamic extremism. He saw major risks in deposing Assad without quickly and fully backing the moderate rebels and had serious concerns about Iran’s drive to acquire advanced nuclear capabilities. With positions greatly at odds to the administration and accused of poor management, he was asked to step down as the director. Convinced on the dangers of Syrian collapse, he then opened up a private firm, leveraging his experience and connections to make money advising major participants in the conflict, our NATO ally Turkey and Russia. These were not direct employments but for companies with connections to the two governments. None the less, he apparently registered as a foreign agent of Turkey, belatedly, and was paid large fees by companies with ties to Putin. There is a very fair argument that his behavior tarnishes his reputation and there are questions about its legality. However, before these came to light, he was one of the first to openly support Donald Trump for President, acting as a surrogate and providing Trump’s campaign needed credibility. In return he was appointed as the National Security Adviser and and walked into a waiting attack.

Prior to his official appointment, the Obama administration had the Russian ambassador under FISA surveillance. During the transition period Obama issued sanctions on Russia in response for the hacking of Podesta and the DNC and the Russian ambassador and Flynn spoke in length about it. The existence of these phone calls were then leaked to the press under recriminations that Flynn violated the Logan act, a two century old law that has never been successfully used to prosecute anyone and is likely unconstitutional. In response Flynn acknowledge the conversation, but lied about its contents, telling the Vice President that the sanctions were not discussed. Highly classified communications were then serendipitously leaked to the press, providing evidence of his falsehood and leading to Trump demanding that Flynn resign.

Now the Wall Street Journal has joined the pile on with an explosive headline that Flynn is seeking immunity in return for testimony on Russia. On cue the Russian conspiracy theorists claimed vindication, declaring this is proof of illegal collusion with Russia. Even the leading Democrat on the HISC, Adam Schiff, chimed in to help undermine his own investigation’s ability to get Flynn to testify. His story is that the intern head of the DOJ, Sally Yates, will testify that there is more to the Flynn/ambassador conversation than the White House made public. No doubt the optics look fairly awful for Trump and his administration, but this story is far less than it seems. First the Yates testimony has been previewed in the press, and it sounds more like disagreements over who knew about the extent of the conversation rather than any evidence of wrongdoing. Second, any lawyer worth their salt would attempt to request some protection in the current environment, and that’s exactly the explanation of the Flynn’s attorney. Another legal analysis says such a public request suggests that Flynn has nothing to say. His fears of prosecution are extremely well founded, with one Democrat publicly demanding he be prosecuted for receiving funds from a foreign news outlet under the theory that it is an arm of a foreign government. Getting past unfounded conspiracies and politicized prosecutions, the most likely desire for his request comes from reports that he told the FBI he did not discuss sanctions on his calls with the ambassador.

Is Flynn blameless? Of course not. His own deceit opened the door to further questions of impropriety. Further, the payments he’s received raise some questions about his legal obligations as a former military officer. That said, the current smear campaign orchestrated against him is shameful. It’s one thing to deride him for dishonesty, and it’s quite another to imply without evidence that he’s a traitor, especially considering his long distinguished career in the US military. Furthermore, attacks on Flynn didn’t come from normal channels, but by the illegal release of highly classified information that has served no purpose beyond taking down Flynn. In other words, the Obama administration leaked classified foreign intelligence in order to undermine the incoming administration. Forget whistle blowers and insider leaks, this is a scenario of those power using the tools of the government to surveil and disseminate damaging information on their political opponents. The extent and methods of this surveillance looks to be coming into some focus. As congressman Nunes discussed in his press conference, the Obama administration created intelligence reports that made clear, either explicitly or through context, specific American citizens’ identities. These reports were unrelated to any Russian investigation and documented information on the Trump transition team by monitoring foreign officials interactions with and about the team. Furthermore, these reports were given to and reviewed by the White House. This is not the first time the Obama administration monitored political opponents in a circular method. The New York Times has faulted Nunes for his deception on who gave him the documents, and his explanation is that he was informed of the surveillance by intelligence sources and members of the NSC were finally able to provide them. However, the article also makes clear that his description of the reports is accurate. The potential abuses of this power are immense. In essence the Executive could spy on Americans legally and without a warrant by spying foreign intelligence agencies’ monitoring of Americans. In order to cover up this scandal, if not crime, the Democrat party and media have committed themselves to all-out war against the character and patriotism of Michael Flynn. Like all men, he has his flaws, but a distinguished general with decades of service to his country does not deserve to be subject to a smear campaign instigated by high ranking Democrat politicians abusing the power of their office.