FLYNN 5 3 26
3 26 HE IS BAACK TO STEAL MIDTERMS CONFCLETA HEP
DOJ PAYOUT 3 26
usaid bs
JOE DIGENOVA FAIL 9 26 SYDNEY P
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beast
Updated Oct 09, 2026 10:46AM EDT—Published Oct 09, 2026
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ daughter has been pictured at a Bosnian gun range beside an ally of Vladimir Putin.
Katie Wiles traveled to the semi-autonomous region of Republika Srpska, where she met with interior minister Željko Budimir, according to an image shared by conservative Albanian-American activist Evi Kokalari and verified by CBS News.
The image, in which Wiles holds a rifle, appears to be a screenshot of one of Wiles’ Instagram Stories. Wiles captioned it “mostly work + some serious fun!” and added the Republika Srpska handle. Kokalari claimed the picture was taken in August.
Katie Wiles holds a rifle next to Željko Budimir, the interior minister of the semi-autonomous Republika Srpska administration.
@evikokalari/X
Budimir (left) and Dodik (second from left) attend a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin in April 2025.
In December 2025, Putin awarded Budimir the Pushkin Medal for strengthening ties between Serbs and Russians. The two had previously met at the Kremlin that April.
Republika Srpska is led by 67-year-old Milorad Dodik, the region’s former president. Though removed from office last year for failing to adhere to Bosnia’s 1995 peace accords, Dodik retains considerable influence. He has formed a close connection to Russian dictator Putin, and, according to foreign agent registration (FARA) filings seen by CBS, paid U.S.-based lobbying firms to rub elbows with Trump associates.
Two top outside advisers to Trump, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina last week to help Dodik’s party campaign, the New York Times reported
Trump Humiliates MAGA Aides Busted Helping Pro-Putin Regime
Katie Wiles is a partner at D.C.-based political lobbying firm Continental Strategy, which earlier this year registered to lobby for the region she visited. A spokesperson told CBS that Wiles spent two days in Republika Srpska in mid-August “with a U.S.-based company who was invited to do a feasibility study in the region.”
“Wiles provides strategic communications support to this U.S. company and has done so for over two years,” the spokesperson added. “Wiles has not spoken with any United States Government official regarding Srpska.”
Putin meets with Dodik at the Kremlin in April, 2025.
The company’s name is unclear. Continental Strategies did not immediately respond to CBS or the Daily Beast when asked
Katie Wiles’ bio on the firm’s site appears to have been taken down.
A White House official told the Daily Beast that Susie Wiles, 69, “does not discuss work matters with her daughters.” Wiles’ other daughter, Caroline, is also a consultant. Caroline worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign and transition team, and was aiming to land a role in the White House until she reportedly failed an FBI background check, forcing her to find another job in the Trump administration.The White House says Susie Wiles does not discuss work matters with her two daughters, who are in the consulting business.
Despite the White House’s claim that Susie and Katie Wiles don’t disclose their work to each other, they have interacted with similar types of people from the Balkans.
Last month, according to CBS, Susie Wiles met with Dodik ally Željka Cvijanović, a former president of Republika Srpska and a current member of the three-person presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Katie Wiles did not set it up, a White House official told the network. Instead, it was Alejandro Garcia, who is also a partner at Continental Strategies.
The firm’s spokesperson told CBS that Garcia, a former deputy political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign, attended election day in Bosnia—Oct. 4—“but no other member of the team was present.”
“Garcia is the sole person who has interacted with the United States government regarding Srpska, and his contacts have all been meticulously tracked to be reported in accordance with FARA requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Trump Humiliates MAGA Aides Busted Helping Pro-Putin Regime
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions against Dodik has drawn scrutiny. House Democrats say the administration did so to help AAFS Infrastructure & Energy, a U.S.-incorporated company run by Joseph Flynn, the brother of Trump ally Michael Flynn, and Jesse Binnall, a former personal attorney to Trump. After the sanctions were removed, Dodik’s party, which had opposed the company’s proposed gas pipeline in the region, changed course and passed legislation clearing the way for the over $1.5 billion project.
A White House official told CBS that the administration lifted sanctions to prevent regional instability.
“This is yet another example of President Trump’s pragmatic, farseeing foreign policy that has prevented disasters on perennial issues that his predecessors so often stumbled into,” they said.
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MMA
MS NOW explores the relationship between election denier Tina Peters and the Trump administration and her calls to “get rid of voting machines”
Peter Baker: President Trump has “expressed a willingness to do things that we’ve never seen in this country be done before in order to alter the results of an election”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published 10/06/26
Video
Citation
From the October 6, 2026, edition of MS NOW's On the Line With Alicia Menendez
ALICIA MENENDEZ (MS NOW ANCHOR): I have a million questions, Let's start with this one. Peter, Why won't the White House just say that they didn't meet with Tina Peters?
PETER BAKER (NEW YORK TIMES CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT): It's a really good question. When they say they don't confirm private meetings, of course they confirm private meetings when it suits their interests. It's in this case, obviously, they feel some degree of concern that it will cause, you know, backlash, right? I mean, to Laura's point, you know, it's remarkable that the people who manage to use these machines to rig the 2020 election forgot to do it in 2024, right? This is an election that the president won, doesn't complain that that one was rigged, same machines, same voting structures, same, you know, system that he is now saying is unfair and was unfair in 2020, perfectly fair two years ago when he happened to win.
So, you know, we'll see. But I think the point of the machines is really interesting because remember back in 2020, after the election, before January 6 in the Oval Office, the president of the United States, hosted a number of advisers, outside advisers, including Mike Flynn, who had been his national security advisor and later convicted, and eventually pardoned. Mike Flynn, a retired three star general, told the president of the United States at that point, that he should order the National Guard to seize voting machines in six states that Trump lost and then rerun the election so that therefore he could theoretically win, again.
The president didn't do it that time. But when my colleagues went and interviewed President Trump in January of this year, he said he regretted not taking that advice. He regretted not using the military to seize voting machines and rerunning elections with no legal basis whatsoever until he could get a win. And so, when we say, you know, what's she doing there? I think it's reasonable to ask that question, given that he himself has expressed a willingness to do things that we've never seen in this country be done before in order to alter the results of an election.
//
10/06/26 11:43 AM EDT
10/01/26 9:33 AM EDT
09/30/26
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MMA
John Solomon hyped Trump prosecutor Joe diGenova's work just days before diGenova resigned
Solomon a day before diGenova resigned: “Joe diGenova, the FBI, Kash Patel, Todd Blanche are getting their horses together now. For the first time, there is a buzzing accountability machine.”
Written by Sophie Lawton
Published 09/11/26
A day prior to Joe diGenova’s abrupt resignation from his position running Trump's “Grand Conspiracy” probe, diGenova ally and “special government employee” John Solomon — whose task force just declassified documents related to the probe, including notes from the FBI's interview of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn — was seemingly caught flat-footed, boasting of diGenova's role as part of a “buzzing accountability machine.”
On September 10, diGenova resigned from his Justice Department appointment running Trump’s “Grand Conspiracy” probe into Democratic political figures, law enforcement officials, and other perceived enemies of the Trump administration.
During the September 9 episode of his program Just the News No Noise, Solomon interviewed Flynn, who also praised diGenova, calling him “absolutely the right person” for the probe and a “pit bull-type prosecutor.” Solomon also claimed that the latest documents release was “about providing evidence to Joe diGenova and the prosecutors of the U.S. attorney's office in Miami and Fort Pierce.”
Solomon also appeared on Steve Bannon's War Room on September 8 ahead of the documents’ release, claiming that “there are some major cooperating witnesses that have now flipped to the state to working with Joe diGenova,” which will “accelerate the ability to bring accountability.”
Following diGenova's resignation, Solomon took to social media to reassure followers that the “Grand Conspiracy” investigation is still ongoing and that prosecutors are “continuing the work Joe started with a roadmap that includes subpoenas and some cooperating witnesses.” Meanwhile, Ryan Reilly reported for NBC that “a person familiar with the investigation” said that “Justice Department leaders had lost confidence in diGenova because they believed he was unfocused, moving too slowly and pursuing a path unlikely to succeed.”
Here is Solomon and Flynn's exchange on September 9:
Video
Citation
From the September 9, 2026, edition of Real America's Voice's Just the News No Noise
JOHN SOLOMON (HOST): It isn't just about clearing Mike Flynn's name, though that's very important. It's also about providing evidence to Joe diGenova and the prosecutors of the U.S. attorney's office in Miami and Fort Pierce. They are now beginning to bring grand jury witnesses to begin securing indictments against those who weaponized the government from the summer of 2016 to January of ’25. Everything from the FBI and Russia collusion all the way to Jack Smith.
In that process, they have secured cooperation for one or two really significant FBI personnel. That's a really important thing. When someone in the middle of the drama says, we lied, we made it up, we didn't do that, that wasn't the truth, we set it up, it changes the ability of prosecutors to make a case, particularly in a partisan divide like we are in America.
Joe diGenova, the FBI, Kash Patel, Todd Blanche are getting their horses together now. For the first time, there is a buzzing accountability machine. And this — these documents today are already in the hands of prosecutors. They have it down in Florida. It would be called an overt act. It happened eight, nine years ago, which means it can't charge it itself.
…
MICHAEL FLYNN (GUEST): I just want to say, I appreciate what the Government Transparency Task Force is doing. You are working to get to the bottom of it, and I think that there's going to be more to come. In fact, I know there's going to be more to come.
I think that Joe diGenova is absolutely the right person at Fort Pierce and with this grand jury. I mean, Joe — and for people to know, I mean, Joe was one of the lawyers that I was consulting after I had gotten rid of my original lawyers and working closely with Sidney [Powell] to help us out. So, Joe is the right man to take this on. He is a pit bull-type prosecutor anyway, and he has the big strategic picture that I think that the country needs to have in a prosecutor that's going to dig and expose the truth. And that's what you guys did with this Transparency Task Force breaking story that you broke.
...
We have to bring these people to account. We have to — and I do believe that Joe diGenova is the right guy to build these various conspiracy cases to show that these people were undermining, not only guys like me, but they were undermining a duly elected president of the United States. They were undermining the Constitution of our country, and they and they basically did it, you know, in a very, almost — I would just say a criminal fashion. I mean, it's beyond corruption. It's criminal. And people are going to have to be held accountable.
//
09/04/26 12:38 PM EDT
08/28/26 1:33 PM EDT
John Solomon is spreading another flimsy election fraud claim
08/07/26
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ref
Statement on Misinformation around our Humanitarian Work
Global Refuge condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the false accusations lodged against our humanitarian work. As a faith-based nonprofit, we have faithfully walked alongside legally admitted refugees and immigrants for more than 85 years. This includes Afghan Allies who risked their lives to protect U.S. troops, as well as persecuted Christians, all of whom have been extensively vetted and approved by multiple U.S. government agencies before traveling to our country.
We also remain committed to caring for unaccompanied children forced to flee unimaginable circumstances in their home countries to seek safety in the United States. Across Democratic and Republican administrations, we have partnered with the U.S. government to protect vulnerable children, safeguard them against human trafficking, and safely reunify them with their parent(s) or guardian.
Rooted in our proud Lutheran heritage, Global Refuge and our dedicated network of providers stand ready to assist the new administration in welcoming families who need to resettle in our country, helping ensure they learn our language, secure jobs that help our economy grow, and quickly become vital contributors to communities. To do otherwise would run contrary to the spirit of our Christian faith, America’s identity as a nation of immigrants, and our role as a global humanitarian leader.
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
(Matthew 25:40)
balt banner
Elon Musk’s gutting of USAID rips through Baltimore humanitarian groupsMeredith Cohn and Jasmine Vaughn-Hall
2/5/2025
Jhpiego, headquartered in Fells Point, is in turmoil over the Trump administration’s move to gut a funding source: USAID. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
National security experts say the country will be less safe
The work of two Baltimore organizations charged with improving the health of millions of people around the world screeched to a halt this week when they lost their main funding source, the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Johns Hopkins University-affiliated Jhpiego and Center for Communication Programs have received stop-work orders, affecting at least 4,400 employees worldwide and programs that treat people with cancer and HIV, train local doctors and ensure the health of newborn babies in poor nations.
Seeming to cement the pause, virtually the entire staff of USAID was told Tuesday night by the Trump administration’s main cost-cutter, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, that they would be off the job by Friday and workers abroad would be brought home.
“It’s frightening,” said a worker at Jhpiego, who did not want to be named. The worker said staff was still reporting to work and were told they’d be paid at least until the end of February.
Jhpiego was founded more than a half-century ago and has a focus on improving health for women and children. From its office in Fells Point, it manages hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from USAID and other federal agencies and philanthropic organizations, reaching more than 40 countries at any one time.
Humanitarian groups are in turmoil, the worker and a Washington-based USAID employee told The Banner. They did not want to be named because they didn’t have permission to comment and feared retribution by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Both said they worried about their careers — and have deeper concerns about the future of the work they have been doing in some of the most unstable and poorest parts of the world. The programs save countless lives, they said, but also aim to protect the health and security of Americans.
“The level of experience that could be lost is massive,” the staffer said, “and the effects enormous.”
Alice Payne Merritt, a former deputy director of the Center for Communication Programs, said the organization could have thousands of staff globally at any one time. There are about 150 employees at the Baltimore headquarters and nearby offices who oversee some $100 million in programs in 40 to 50 countries.
The group works with local partners to ensure that people learn about and receive HIV/AIDS medications, as well as nets to protect children from malaria, a leading cause of death among children in Africa. It trains local officials to continue that work.
Read More
Trump froze grantmaking for health research. Now Maryland is shivering.
Jan 27, 2025
There’s room but no refugees: How Trump has upended Maryland’s resettlement system
Feb 2, 2025
Other countries benefit, and so do Americans, she said.
“COVID, malaria, mpox, Ebola, all those things came here from other places. If we can contain them in one place, it stops them from spreading here,” she said. “If humanitarian aid is gutted, we can’t do anything.”
USAID’s budget of about $40 billion is less than 1% of the federal budget, and international development experts say that’s a relatively small investment for the return.
Allyson Bear, a Baltimore-based international development expert and former USAID foreign service officer, said USAID is one of the three legs in the national security stool, along with State Department diplomacy and Defense Department military power.
“USAID changes hearts and minds; it’s a soft power that helps us gain allies,” she said. “We go to these countries and ask them to accept this aid for them, but it’s really for us.”
She said U.S. workers, for example, have largely prevented Ebola cases here despite multiple outbreaks in other parts of the world over the years.
Days ago, Ebola broke out in Uganda, “and we’re not there,” she said.
Leaving so abruptly can make the governments, public health workers and the public in those countries feel betrayed, she and others said. They could welcome adversaries such as China, which could gain a foothold in enough places and replace the United States as the biggest superpower.
That can play out in many ways, including when there is another pandemic, like COVID-19, and Americans can’t put themselves first in line for supplies and therapies.
“What happens when China moves into the top spot and bosses us around?” Bear said.
The moves to gut USAID was called “puzzling” by Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume, adding the approach to governing had “seemingly no regard for deliberate or thought-out reform.”
It was called “illegal” by Sen. Chris Van Hollen after he and other Maryland Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Jamie Raskin and Johnny Olszewski Jr., were denied entry into USAID’s headquarters in Washington.
Lawmakers say funding is a constitutionally designated duty of Congress and there already are several lawsuits to stop the dismantling of federal agencies.
The blunt cuts also extend to other organizations in Baltimore, including academic institutions that rely on billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research and humanitarian nonprofits that focus on aiding refugees and those seeking asylum.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (R.-Va.), joined by fellow lawmakers and employees and supporters of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), hold a press conference outside USAID headquarters on Monday in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Baltimore is home to several organizations that assist refugees and asylum seekers, and officials also fear massive cuts, further threatening jobs, the area economy, and risking harms to international relationships.
One of those organizations, Global Refuge, a nonprofit formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services that helps immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, defended its work after Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn called it a “money laundering operation.”
A reply from Elon Musk said DOGE was “shutting down these illegal payments.”
Global Refuge condemned the “false accusations lodged against our humanitarian work.”
The team at Global Refuge participates in a training at the office last month. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
Executive orders and memos issued by the Trump administration have canceled travel for thousands of approved refugees and ordered resettlement agencies receiving federal funds to stop providing services to refugees already here.
There is a lot of anxiety about what is coming, said Tim Young, spokesman for Global Refuge.
“It’s good to know that we are not alone in this,” he said.
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an 6 26
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser is in charge of a MAGA non-profit staffed with Trump loyalists — but apparently they are secretly at each other’s throats.
“Since taking over the storied conservative group America’s Future in 2021, retired general Michael Flynn has turned it into a real rogue’s gallery,” The Bulwark’s Will Sommer wrote on Monday. “For one, Flynn, who briefly served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser in the first administration, put Lara Logan—the former CBS News reporter turned conspiracy theorist—on the nonprofit’s board. Flynn also launched an anti-child trafficking initiative within America’s Future called ‘Project Defend & Protect Our Children,’ which he stocked with fringe activists, including Pizzagate true believer Liz Crokin, who now serves as a Project board member.”
Yet this “kook heaven” proved to be “hardly paradise,” Sommer observed, as a rash of unexplained resignations began depleting the organization’s staff.
“The cause of these resignations remains unclear,” Sommer said. “But, as a whole, they strongly suggest that Flynn’s organization, a pillar of the conspiratorial right, may be in serious trouble. America’s Future didn’t respond to requests for comment. Neither did anyone who resigned.”
He added, “Rest assured, I’m working to get to the bottom of all this. Unfortunately, my skeptical approach to QAnon and other conspiracy theories appears to have alienated some of the key people involved in this story. When I asked Moore, who was tweeting over the weekend about how Barack Obama would soon be arrested for treason, why he had resigned, he declined to tell me.”
Sommer then quoted a statement by Ben Moore, “a lawyer on the “Project Defend” advisory board” who when resigning earlier this month resigned used “QAnon-style language as a ‘digital soldier.’”
“Will, you shit on so many of us for so long,” Moore said in his statement. “You want a story to try to destroy General Flynn.”
Another QAnon booster who is sticking by Flynn, Sommer pointed out, has tried to downplay the resignations, but has used language which raises more questions. Sommer described it as “drunk night between grown adults,” adding that “there’s no side. People are upset over personal shit. Drunk night between grown adults. This s——— has NOTHING to do with General Flynn or his organization.”
The details have been left “blank,” Sommer concluded.
Flynn has been criticized before for his cozyness with Trump, which has also seemed to personally benefit him financially. In March a former Justice Department prosecutor accused Flynn of committing theft by accepting a $1.25 million settlement after pleading guilty under oath to intentionally making false statements to the FBI in 2017.
"I really do not understand how you justify this as anything but theft," Andrew Weissmann told "The Illegal News" at the time. "To make this a legitimate settlement, there would have to be a good faith belief that he has a meritorious argument and that there might be some downside in litigating this."
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OMFG
https://www.dw.com/en/us-president-donald-trumps-trio-for-the-balkans/a-71649332
dw
no pix lnx
US President Donald Trump's trio for the Balkans
Alexander Rhotert
02/18/2025February 18, 2025
President Trump's new team for the Balkans includes some familiar faces with close ties to Serbia: son-in-law Jared Kushner, former special envoy Richard Grenell and ex-governor Rod Blagojevich.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qdGO
Two men (Richard Grenell and Donald Trump) in blue suits stand in front of a US flag. Between them and the flag is a large blue banner with the words 'Protect our food from China' and 'Protecting America Initiative,' which are only partially visible
Richard Grenell (left) and Donald Trump at an event in Philadelphia in September 2024Image: AP Photo/Alex Brandon/picture alliance
The first weeks of Donald J. Trump's second presidency have shown that The New York Times hit the nail on the head with its Inauguration Day headline: "The Deal Maker in Chief Is Back."
Trump's foreign policy also seems to show that his beloved "deals" will remain a dominant theme of his second administration.
There have already been three indications of this: The US is willing to continue sending military aid to Ukraine in return for access to its reserves of raw materials such as rare earths and lithium, the "takeover" of the Gaza Strip to create a "Riviera of the Middle East," and — a Trump classic — a "Trump Tower" in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
The first attempt to get this last project off the ground stalled in 2012. The fact that construction is now about to begin 13 years later is largely due to Trump's close adviser, Richard "Ric" Grenell.
Grenell was special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations during the first Trump administration, and Trump recently named him presidential envoy for special missions.
Trump Tower No. 5
Grenell has close — almost friendly — relations with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, a former Serbian ambassador to the US.
Vucic even presented Grenell with the Order of the Serbian Flag in 2023 in recognition of his "balanced approach" to Europe's youngest state, the Republic of Kosovo, which Serbia still claims as part of its territory 26 years after the end of the Kosovo War.
The Trump Tower Belgrade deal — which, according to The New York Times, comes with a price tag of half a billion dollars — was concluded by the Serbian government, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Arab investors in March 2024.
A man in a blue suit (Richard Grenell) holds a box containing an order. Beside him is a taller man (Aleksandar Vucic). The two men are standing in front of a row of flagsA man in a blue suit (Richard Grenell) holds a box containing an order. Beside him is a taller man (Aleksandar Vucic). The two men are standing in front of a row of flags
Grenell (left) received the Order of the Serbian Flag from Serbian President Vucic (right) in Belgrade on October 25, 2023Image: Darko Vojinovic/dpa/picture alliance
The plan is to turn the former headquarters of the Armed Forces of Serbia (then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) into a hotel complex with luxury apartments, including a memorial to the victims of the NATO bombardment of Belgrade in 1999, during which the building was damaged.
After New York, Chicago, Manila and Istanbul, this would be the fifth Trump Tower worldwide.
'The perfect man for Belgrade'
On February 7, Politico reported that Trump was considering making Rod "Blago" Blagojevich US ambassador to Serbia. The former Democratic governor of Illinois is a colorful political figure — even by Trump's standards.
Blagojevich, the son of Serbian immigrants, was removed from office in 2009 and sentenced three years later to 14 years in prison for corruption.
When Trump commuted his sentence during his first term in office, Blagojevich was released from prison in 2020.
A man (Rod Blagojevich) wearing a black coat and a gray roll-neck sweater looks past the cameraA man (Rod Blagojevich) wearing a black coat and a gray roll-neck sweater looks past the camera
Rod 'Blago' Blagojevich is being touted as the next US ambassador to SerbiaImage: Vincent Alban/REUTERS
This makes the Democrat an ideal ally for the Republican president, says Daniel Serwer, Balkans expert at Johns Hopkins University and US Balkans negotiator under former US President Bill Clinton. "Blago is the perfect man for Belgrade: a profoundly corrupt politician who will be willing to do anything Trump wants to be rehabilitated," Serwer told DW.
Trump popular with Serbs — at home and abroad
After his removal from office, Blagojevich appeared on Donald Trump's show "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2010.
When Trump was nominated presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in July 2024, Blagojevich and Grenell made several electoral appearances together, especially in parts of the USA with large Serbian communities, where Trump had high approval ratings — as he did among nationalist Serbian politicians in Serbia and in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, which also have Serbian communities.
A US coastguard boat with a gun on the front sails past a residence with peach-colored walls surrounded by palm trees. There is a large American flag in the grounds of the residenceA US coastguard boat with a gun on the front sails past a residence with peach-colored walls surrounded by palm trees. There is a large American flag in the grounds of the residence
According to a businessman who attended an event at Mar-a-Lago (pictured here), Trump called Blagojevich a 'great friend' and 'close associate'Image: Jen Golbeck/picture alliance/Sipa USA
In early 2024, five US businessmen with Serbian roots attended a reception at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. One of them was Ranko Ristic, founder of the company Zastava Arms USA, which has the exclusive right to import to the US firearms produced by the Serbian company Zastava Oruzje.
According to Ristic, Trump referred to Blagojevich during the event as a "great friend" and "close associate." Ristic said that he himself had told Trump that during the 1991–95 Bosnian War, Bosnian Serbs had had to defend themselves against 3,000 mujahedeen.
Criticism of Kosovo's prime minister
Blagojevich met President Vucic in Belgrade in early February. During his visit, he was highly critical in the media of Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, saying that Serbs in Kosovo were the target of "ethnic cleansing" that was taking place there.
In 1999, the USA and other NATO countries bombarded Serbia to force it to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which was then part of Serbia, to prevent the expulsion of the majority ethnic Albanian population from the province.
25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
05:06
Blagojevich apologized to Vucic for the USA's involvement in this intervention in the Kosovo War. "My country did a terrible thing to your country in the 1990s," Trump's potential ambassador to Serbia told Vucic, adding: "It's no different from what Russia is doing in Ukraine (...) I think President Trump will work on improving our countries' relations."
Trump's confidant Grenell has also criticized Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti on multiple occasions. In addition, he met with an archenemy of Kurti, former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, in Washington the day before Trump's inauguration.
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According to a post by KosovoOnline on X, Haradinaj said that Grenell had confirmed to him that it would "not be good for Kosovo if Kurti remains in power."
Kurti has been in Grenell's bad books since 2020 when he rejected an ethnically motivated exchange of territory between Kosovo and Serbia proposed by Grenell. Kurti's Vetevendosje party won Kosovo's parliamentary election on February 9.
More radical rhetoric on Kosovo
These developments, which are extremely positive for Vucic, stand in stark contrast to the mass protests that have been rocking Serbia since early November.
In recent weeks, the Serbian president's rhetoric regarding Kosovo has taken a more radical turn, undoubtedly to divert attention from his obvious domestic problems.
In an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric referred to Kosovo as "our southern province," where Serbs were exposed to "permanent discrimination and harassment."
A man (Albin Kurti) dressed in a dark green winter coat smiles broadly as he speaks into a microphoneA man (Albin Kurti) dressed in a dark green winter coat smiles broadly as he speaks into a microphone
The party of Albin Kurti (pictured here) won the parliamentary election in Kosovo on February 9Image: Florion Goga/REUTERS
Milan Mojsilovic, chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, told the Serbian daily newspaper Vecernje novosti that Serbia's armed forces were at the ready to "protect Serbs and other non-Albanians on the territory of our southern province." There were, he said, "indicators for potential destabilization" in Kosovo.
Vucic, who has in the past referred to Kurti as "terrorist scum," described him recently on Serbia's Happy TV as a "villain" who "hates Serbs."
What does this mean for Bosnia?
Kurt Bassuener, director of the Berlin think tank Democratization Policy Council, told DW that Greater Serbian aspirations pose a threat not only to the territorial integrity of Kosovo but also to that of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The EU could, he said, respond to Belgrade's aggression toward its neighbors by "significantly beefing up" the EUFOR Althea mission, which protects peace in Bosnia, with combat troops.
Were this to happen, a US-Balkan team comprising Grenell, Kushner and Blagojevich — including a direct line to the White House — would be a gift for Belgrade. It would also mean that an improvement in Serbia-Kosovo relations — already unlikely as it is — would slip further away.
A large crowd fills a square in Nis, Serbia. Several people are holding up Serbian flags A large crowd fills a square in Nis, Serbia. Several people are holding up Serbian flags
Protests have been taking place across Serbia at regular intervals since last NovemberImage: Jelena Djukic Pejic/DW
The EU responded in 2023 to the last Kosovo Serb attacks on NATO and Kosovo security forces and a Serb military buildup on the Serbia-Kosovo border with sanctions — paradoxically, against Kosovo.
It was only the personal intervention of the then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke to President Vucic, and the enormous pressure exerted by NATO that were able to get Serbian tanks to turn back.
Today, both Western Balkans experts Serwer and Bassuener doubt that the US would stop Vucic's army should the worst come to the worst. Serwer also warns that even the discussion of the breakup of Kosovo or Ukraine would animate Serbian secessionists in Bosnia to take corresponding action.
"It will be up to Bosnians to react to that," Serwer told DW. "The Javelins are Kosovo's best defense at this point." Without the delivery of the highly effective US Javelin anti-tank weapon system, Ukraine's successful resistance to Russia's all-out invasion in 2022 would have been inconceivable.
In view of the current security policy situation, an escalation of potential conflicts in the Western Balkans is certainly becoming increasingly likely.
This article was originally published in German.
Head shot of a man (Alexander Rhotert) with glasses in front of a pale wallHead shot of a man (Alexander Rhotert) with glasses in front of a pale wall
Alexander Rhotert Political scientist, author and expert on the Western Balkans
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an 6 26
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is among the MAGA Republicans who faced federal criminal charges during Donald Trump's first presidency; in 2017, he pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, then Russian ambassador to the United States. Now, 16 and one-half months into Trump's second presidency, Flynn is drawing vehement criticism from MAGA Republicans for registering as a foreign agent.
The New Republic's Edith Olmsted reports, "Far-right blogger Scott McMahan posted a Foreign Agents Registration Act form Monday that was dated October 2025, and stated that Donald Trump's former national security adviser was now making $100,000 per month from the Republic of Srpska. The confederated entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina is run by Milorad Dodik, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin."
On X, formerly Twitter, McMahan, posted, "Dodik's proximity to Putin is not conjecture. Dodik personally met with Putin on Russia's May 9 Victory Day. Putin said, 'It's very important that you all think alike ... we commonly advocate for a more fair world order ... free of any external intervention.'"
McMahan isn't the only MAGA Republican who is commenting on Flynn registering as a foreign agent.
MAGA influencer Sebastian Gorka tweeted, "A reminder: When I joined the first Trump administration, I was asked to sign two documents. In one I promised to not work as a lobbyist for a decade. In the second, I promised to never work for another government. I was happy to do sign both. I presume GEN Flynn also signed similar documents."
Phillip Buchanan, who goes by Catturd on X and has 4 million followers on that platform, responded to McMahan's tweets, posting, "100,000 per month?"
Olmsted comments, "If MAGA is upset that Flynn is working on behalf of a Russian ally, just wait until they realize all the ways Trump has stuck his neck out for Putin — and he's doing it for free!"
Despite the criticism from McMahan, the far-right Flynn is known for being a longtime Trump loyalist and an aggressive defender of the U.S. president. Much of the right-wing criticism of Flynn during Trump's first presidency came not from MAGA, but from a combination of Never Trump conservatives, neocons and libertarians.
Trump was only two days into his first presidency when Flynn, on January 22, 2017, became national security adviser. But he didn't stay in that position long, stepping down on February 13, 2017 because of the Kislyak controversy.
In December 2017, Flynn reached an agreement with then-special counsel Robert Mueller, pleading guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his communications with Kislyak and agreeing to cooperate with Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the United States' 2016 presidential election."
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:{:{OMG OPPOSITE OF RETALIATION; FASCISM CRONY CAP’L}:
AN 3 26}:
The Department of Justice has awarded Michael Flynn, the retired three-star Army general who served as Trump's National Security Advisor for less than a month, a $1.25 million settlement—a decision that legal experts are comparing to outright theft of taxpayer funds.
Flynn's settlement, announced this week, compensates him for what the Trump administration is characterizing as wrongful prosecution. The irony is stark: Flynn pleaded guilty under oath in 2017 to intentionally making false statements to the FBI. He admitted to the crime in court with a lawyer present, with a judge confirming his understanding of what he was confessing to. Trump later pardoned him in 2020.
Now, with a new Trump administration in place, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has agreed to hand over more than a million dollars in public money to a man who has already admitted guilt.
"I really do not understand how you justify this as anything but theft," said Andrew Weissmann, a former DOJ prosecutor who spent 20 years at the Department of Justice and served as general counsel at the FBI,during an appearance on "The Illegal News" podcast this week. "To make this a legitimate settlement, there would have to be a good faith belief that he has a meritorious argument and that there might be some downside in litigating this."
Weissmann's critique goes to the heart of how government settlements are supposed to work. When the DOJ settles a case, there must be a reasonable belief that the other side might actually win if the case went to trial—a genuine legal dispute, in other words. But in Flynn's case, Weissmann argues, there is no such ambiguity.
"I don't see the downside of having taken it to court," Weissmann said. "The issues here seem so completely one-sided that I really do not understand how you justify this as anything but theft."
The case against Flynn was straightforward. As National Security Advisor, Flynn had engaged in back-channel communications with Russian officials during the transition period. When FBI agents questioned him about these contacts, he lied. Vice President Mike Pence later went public saying he had repeated Flynn's denials on air, only to discover they were false—a betrayal that led directly to Flynn's firing after just 24 days in the job.
Flynn initially tried to withdraw his guilty plea, leading to years of litigation, but ultimately the legal process confirmed the guilty plea stood. There was no meritorious legal argument waiting to be discovered. There was no ambiguity about whether Flynn had committed the crime he admitted to committing.
Yet Bondi and Blanche signed off on the settlement anyway.
Weissmann raised additional concerns about the precedent this sets. "This is something that Michael Flynn admitted under oath he did, which was lied to the FBI. Now he then moved to withdraw his guilty plea. There was lots and lots of litigation back and forth, and that ultimately ended up with Donald Trump pardoning him," Weissmann explained.
The settlement also raises questions about potential conflicts of interest. Blanche was Trump's personal criminal defense attorney during his hush money trial and conviction. Now, as Deputy Attorney General, he's using government resources to benefit his former client.
"The next administration can look into this as an ethics issue," Weissmann said. "Remember, they represented Donald Trump individually. And they have to be looking out for the interests of the public, not for the interests of Donald Trump."
Perhaps most troubling to Weissmann is what this settlement signals about future Trump administration conduct. "This is the harbinger of more to come," he said, "because we know that Donald Trump wants to do this. And for all we know, this has been happening with other people doing this without bringing a lawsuit—just having a private agreement with the Department of Justice where they give out money and we just don't know."
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an 3 26
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports a network of far-right actors are working with President Donald Trump to derail elections in Georgia and cast doubt on any vote that removes Republicans from power.
“The meeting and the call recounting it offer a glimpse at how activists, once on the fringe of the conservative movement, are now trying to overhaul elections in Georgia and across the country,” reports AJC. “Now several are in the Trump administration, and Fulton County is firmly in their sights ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
For years, the AJC reports a “network of activists has cast doubt on Georgia’s 2020 election, questioning the integrity of the state’s voting machines and the voter rolls that determine who can vote.”
Legitimate election officials dismissed their challenges and investigators debunked their fraud claims, said AJC. But now several are in the Trump administration, “and Fulton County is firmly in their sights ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
The AJC reports a recent Zoom call revealed conservative activists eagerly sharing tips and tricks for election engineering, which they learned at a February summit in Washington with several Trump administration officials, including Kurt Olsen, Trump’s director of election security and integrity, who played a key role in the FBI’s January raid on an election warehouse in Fulton County.
“Kurt is leading a team and leading a charge of great people that are working together,” said Holly Kesler, a Georgia conservative activist, during a recent “election integrity” meeting of the Georgia Constitution Party, audio of which was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It is a multiagency approach,” she said, reports AJC. “And there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes. I’ve been a part of some of that.”
“Others involved in the Election Integrity Summit included Brad Carver of the Georgia Republican Party; Marci McCarthy, a former DeKalb Republican official who now oversees public affairs at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and Clay Parikh, a cybersecurity expert whose expertise was used by the U.S. Department of Justice to justify seizing troves of Fulton County’s 2020 election records,” said AJC.
The AJC adds that Carver currently leads the “Election Confidence Task Force” within the Georgia GOP and was one of the 16 Trump fake electors in 2020. More recently he called Georgia “the biggest topic” at the Washington summit and expressed frustration with people in the Trump administration who were not pursuing Trump’s attacks on elections with proper vigor.
“But some of those involved in efforts to overhaul elections have been careful about how much they reveal to the public,” reports AJC. “In the Zoom, Carver said meetings like the ones hosted by the Georgia Constitution Party and Signal group chats are helpful because they allow information to be shared without ending up ‘on the front page of liberal media.’”
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OMFG
AN PP 3 26
Several high-ranking federal election officials attended a summit last week at which prominent figures who worked to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election pressed the president to declare a national emergency to take over this year’s midterms.
According to videos, photos and social media posts reviewed by ProPublica, the meeting’s participants included Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer charged with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security official in charge of election integrity. The event was convened by Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, and attended by Cleta Mitchell, who directs the Election Integrity Network, a group that has spread false claims about election fraud and noncitizen voting.
Election experts say that the meeting reflects an intensifying push to persuade Trump to take unprecedented actions to affect the vote in November. Courts have largely blocked his efforts to reshape elections through an executive order, and legislation has stalled in Congress that would mandate strict voter ID requirements across the country.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that activists associated with those at the summit have been circulating a draft of an executive order that would ban mail-in ballots and get rid of voting machines as part of a federal takeover. Peter Ticktin, a lawyer who worked on the executive order and had a client at the summit, told ProPublica these actions were “all part of the same effort.”
The summit followed other meetings and discussions between administration officials and activists — many not previously reported — stretching back to at least last fall, according to emails and recordings obtained by ProPublica. The coordination between those inside and outside the government represents a breakdown of crucial guardrails, experts on U.S. elections said.
“The meeting shows that the same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have only grown better organized and are now embedded in the machinery of government,” said Brendan Fischer, a director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization. “This creates substantial risk that the administration is laying the groundwork to improperly reshape elections ahead of the midterms or even go against the will of the voters.”
Five of six federal officials who attended the summit didn’t answer questions about the event from ProPublica.
A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said federal officials’ attendance at the gathering shouldn’t be construed as support for a national emergency declaration and that it was “common practice” for staffers to communicate with outside advocates who want to share policy ideas. The official pointed to comments Trump made to PBS News denying he was considering a national emergency or had read the draft executive order. “Any speculation about policies the administration may or may not undertake is just that — speculation,” the official said.
In the past, Trump has expressed an openness to a federal takeover as a way to stem projected Republican losses in November. This month, he said in an interview with conservative podcaster Dan Bongino that Republicans need “to take over” elections and “to nationalize the voting.”
Mitchell did not respond to questions from ProPublica about the summit. A spokesperson for Flynn responded to detailed questions from ProPublica by disparaging experts who expressed concerns, texting, “LOL ‘EXPERTS.’”
The 30-person roundtable discussion on Feb. 19, at an office building in downtown Washington, D.C., was sponsored by the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a conservative think tank. Afterward, activists and government officials dined together, photos reviewed by ProPublica showed.
Flynn, the institute’s chair, told a social media personality why he’d arranged the event.
“I wanted to bring this group together physically, because most of us have met online” while “fighting battles” in swing states from Arizona to Georgia, Flynn said to Tommy Robinson on the gathering’s sidelines. Robinson
of these
. “The overall theme of this event was to make sure that all of us aren’t operating in our own little bubbles.”
Flynn has repeatedly advocated for Trump to declare a national emergency and posted on social media after the event addressing Trump, “We The People want fair elections and we know there is only one office in the land that can make that happen given the current political environment in the United States.”
In addition to Olsen and Honey, four other federal officials from agencies that will shape the upcoming elections attended the event. At least four of the six attended the dinner.
One is Clay Parikh, a special government employee at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who’s helping Olsen with the 2020 inquiry. A spokesperson at ODNI said Parikh had attended the summit “in his personal capacity.”
Another, Mac Warner, handled election litigation at the Justice Department. A department spokesperson said that Warner had resigned the day after the event and had not received the required approval from agency ethics officials to participate.
The department “remains committed to upholding the integrity of our electoral system and will continue to prioritize efforts to ensure all elections remain free, fair, and transparent,” the spokesperson said in an email.
A third administration official who attended the summit, Marci McCarthy, directs communications for the nation’s cyber defense agency, which oversees the security of elections infrastructure like voting machines.
Kari Lake, whom Trump appointed as senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, was a featured speaker. Lake worked with Olsen and Parikh in her unsuccessful bid to overturn her loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election.
Lake said in an email that she “showed up to the event, spoke for about 20 minutes about the overall importance of election integrity, a non-partisan issue that matters to all citizens — both in the United States and abroad. I left without listening to any other speeches.”
“Elections should be free from fraud or any other malfeasance that subverts the will of the people,” she added.
At the meeting, activists presented on ways to transform American elections that would help conservatives, according to social media posts and interviews they gave on conservative media, such as LindellTV, a streaming platform created by the pillow mogul Mike Lindell. They said the group broke down into two camps: those who wanted to pursue a more incremental legal and legislative strategy and those who wanted Trump to declare a national emergency.
Multiple activists left the meeting convinced Trump should do the latter, a step they believe would allow the president to get around the Constitution’s directive that elections should be run by states.
Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a prominent funder of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, told LindellTV that Trump has “played nice” so far in not seizing control of American elections. “But at some point,” Byrne said, “he’s got to do something, the muscular thing: declare a national emergency.”
Byrne responded to questions from ProPublica by sending a screenshot of a poll that he said suggested “2/3 of Americans correctly do not trust” voting machines, which the proposed national emergency declaration aims to do away with.
Will Huff, who has advocated for doing away with voting machines, told a conservative vlogger that Olsen, the White House lawyer, and other administration representatives would take the “consensus” from the gathering back to Trump. “It’s got to be a national emergency,” said Huff, the campaign manager for a Republican candidate for Arkansas secretary of state.
In response to questions from ProPublica, Huff said in an email that Olsen and Trump would use their judgment to decide whether to declare a national emergency.
“The President has been briefed on findings of shortcomings in election infrastructure,” Huff wrote. “I believe there are steady hands around the President wanting to ensure that any action taken is, first, constitutional and legal, but also backed by evidence.”
McCarthy, the cybersecurity official, expressed more general solidarity with fellow attendees in a post on social media about the summit. “Grateful for friendships forged through years of standing shoulder-to-shoulder, united by purpose and conviction,” she wrote. “The mission continues… and so does the fellowship.”
Last week’s gathering was the latest in a string of private interactions between conservative election activists and administration officials, according to emails, documents and recordings obtained by ProPublica. Many have involved Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network. Before taking her government post, Honey was a leader in the Election Integrity Network, ProPublica has reported, as was McCarthy.
Previously unreported emails obtained by ProPublica show that just weeks after Honey started at the Department of Homeland Security, she briefed election activists, a Republican secretary of state and another federal official on a conference call arranged by her former boss, Mitchell.
“We are excited to welcome her on our call this morning to hear about her work for election integrity inside DHS,” Mitchell wrote in an email introducing presenters on the call.
Honey didn’t respond to questions from ProPublica about the call. Experts said Honey’s briefing gave her former employer access that likely would have violated ethics rules in place under previous administrations, including the first Trump administration — though not this one.
The prior “ethics guardrails would have prevented some of the revolving door issues we’re seeing between the election denial movement and the government officials,” said Fischer, the Campaign Legal Center director. Those prior rules “were supposed to prevent former employers and clients from receiving privileged access.”
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TNR
Michael Flynn is seeking restitution from the government to the tune of $50 million.
Donald Trump’s onetime national security adviser is now negotiating a settlement with his Department of Justice, claiming that he was unjustly prosecuted by former special counsel Robert Mueller for lying to the FBI about conversations with a Russian official. Flynn initially pleaded guilty and then fought the prosecution, eventually receiving a pardon from Trump in 2020.
Flynn later filed a lawsuit against the government for damages, only to have a federal judge dismiss the case in December last year. While the Biden administration fought Flynn’s case, the Trump administration seems open to a settlement.
The move mirrors Trump’s attempt to get $240 million from the DOJ to settle his own claims of politically motivated prosecution. Flynn notoriously lasted only 22 days as Trump’s first national security adviser in 2017, resigning over his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Sergey Kislyak.
Since then, Flynn has been one of the leading evangelists of the QAnon conspiracy theory and has also pushed Christian nationalism. If he actually gets his hefty settlement (with Trump’s approval), it’ll show that he’s still friendly with the president and the Republican Party, leaving the door open for conspiracy theorists to push their agenda.
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ABC VID
https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-adviser-mike-flynn-dod-investigation-warned-foreign/story?id=47054714
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was warned by the Pentagon against receiving payments from foreign governments in 2014 after leaving the Defense Intelligence Agency, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., revealed today.
Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, released three documents on Flynn, including a letter from the DIA counsel's office in response to an inquiry from Flynn in October 2014.
The letter, a primer on ethics restrictions that apply to retired military officers, warned that Flynn was prohibited from receiving foreign payments without prior approval, under the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"The Pentagon's warning to Gen. Flynn was bold, italicized and could not have been clearer," Cummings said at a news conference today.
After the release of the letter, Rep, Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, formally requested that the secretary of the Army make a final determination on whether Flynn broke the law and, if he has, then initiate the process to get Flynn to repay the money.
Flynn, who was President Trump's first national security adviser, was fired after it was discovered that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with a Russian official.
Cummings also revealed today that the Defense Department's inspector general has opened an investigation into whether Flynn sought permission to receive foreign payments, including payments in exchange for an appearance in Russia.
### Mike Flynn may have violated law over Russia payments, House investigators say
### Former national security adviser Flynn didn't initially disclose Russia speeches
Another document, an unclassified letter from the Defense Intelligence Agency, indicates that the DIA "did not locate any records" relating to his receiving foreign payments or any records that he sought permission to do so.
"These documents raise grave questions about why Gen. Flynn concealed the payments he received from foreign sources after he was warned explicitly by the Pentagon," Cummings said in a statement.
Cummings called on the White House to provide documents on Flynn requested by the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into him.
"There's obviously a paper trail," Cummings said.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that on April 4 the Defense Department's inspector general began an investigation into Flynn's alleged violations of the emoluments clause.
Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner said in a statement, "We respectfully disagree with Representative Cummings’ characterization of the April 7, 2017 letter from DIA to the Committee. DIA’s letter actually confirms, in a terse section that is partly redacted, that General Flynn provided information and documents on a thumb drive to the Department of Defense concerning the RT speaking event in Moscow, including documents reflecting that he was using a speakers’ bureau for the event.”
"General Flynn provided two briefings to the Department -- one before and one after the event. The Department was fully aware of the trip. We urge DIA and the Committee to release the full, unredacted letter, along with the documents that General Flynn provided to DIA during the briefings and details concerning the in-person briefings provided by General Flynn to DIA.”
*ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
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NO LNX VID? ABC
What Trump has said about Michael Flynn since firing him
He has been positive and, at times, protective in public comments about Flynn.
ByMEGHAN KENEALLY
:{:{December 4, 2017,}:
Trump: 'I feel badly' for Michael FlynnThe president's comments to the press included an attack of Hillary Clinton.
— -- "Wonderful" and "fine" are among the adjectives President Donald Trump has used to describe his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump has also defended Flynn as someone who "was just doing his job,” despite his asking for Flynn's resignation earlier this year.
Trump's public comments about Flynn have been overwhelmingly positive, even sometimes protective.
Just this morning, Trump said he feels "badly" for Flynn, who he said has "led a very strong life."
Here are Trump's public comments about the retired Army lieutenant general since his departure from the administration Feb. 13, when Flynn resigned at the president’s urging, writing in a letter that he had “inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump shake hands during a joint news conference at the East Room of the White House, Feb. 15, 2017.
"Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media -- as I call it, the fake media, in many cases. And I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly," Trump said.
"I think it’s very, very unfair what’s happened to General Flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally -- I stress that -- illegally leaked. Very, very unfair," he said.
Feb. 16 -- White House news conference
PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on Feb. 16, 2017, at the White House in Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference, Feb. 16, 2017, at the White House.
Trump was directly asked whether he fired Flynn.
"Mike Flynn is a fine person, and I asked for his resignation. He respectfully gave it. He is a man who -- there was a certain amount of information given to Vice President Pence, who is with us today, and I was not happy with the way that information was given," Trump said.
"The first thing I thought of when I heard about it [Flynn's call with the Russians during the transition] is, how does the press get this information that’s classified? How do they do it? You know why? Because it’s an illegal process, and the press should be ashamed of themselves. But, more importantly, the people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves. Really ashamed," Trump said.
When asked why he kept Pence "in the dark for almost two weeks" about Flynn's conversations with Russians, Trump said, "when I looked at the information, I said, ‘I don’t think he did anything wrong.’ If anything, he did something right. He was coming into office, he looked at the information. He said, huh, that’s fine, that’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re supposed to be -- and he didn’t just call Russia. He called and spoke to, both ways -- I think there were 30-some-odd countries. He’s doing the job."
"He was just doing his job. The thing is he didn’t tell our Vice President properly, and then he said he didn’t remember. So either way, it wasn’t very satisfactory to me. And I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position, and that also helps, I think, in the making of my decision. But he didn’t tell the Vice President of the United States the facts, and then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me," Trump said.
Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn at the White House, Feb. 13, 2017.
Asked again later whether he thought there was any wrongdoing in Flynn's calls, Trump reiterated that, "when I first heard about it, I said, ‘Huh, that doesn't sound wrong.’ My counsel came -- Don McGahn, White House Counsel -- and he told me.... He said, he doesn't think anything is wrong."
Trump was also asked whether he directed Flynn to make the calls, and while he denies having done so, he said he would have no problem if he did.
"I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence, very simple. Mike [Flynn] 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," Trump said.
March 31 -- Twitter
The day after Flynn's lawyer released a statement asking for "assurances against unfair prosecution" if he were to testify in front of the Senate and House Russia investigations, Trump weighed in on Twitter.
"Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!" he wrote.
Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2017
April 30 -- Interview with CBS News
Trump pointed to the Obama administration for giving Flynn security clearance in the first place.
"I didn't realize this, when he went to Russia, it was 2015 and he was on the Obama clearance. When General Flynn came to us, as you now know, he already had the highest clearance you can have. I think the same clearance as the president of the United States would have. He had this really high clearance," Trump told CBS News’ John Dickerson.
May 8 -- Twitter
He reiterated that line of argument a week later.
"General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration - but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that," Trump wrote in a tweet.
General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration - but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017
May 11 -- NBC News interview
In an interview two days after firing FBI Director James Comey, Trump told NBC News’ Lester Holt that Flynn was "fired ... because of lying to the vice president."
Trump was asked whether he knew that Flynn had received payments from the Russian and Turkish governments, and Trump said no, but suggested that "Obama perhaps knew" because Flynn's security clearance was granted during that administration.
July 19 -- Interview with New York Times reporters
During an interview with The New York Times, Trump recounted a controversial comment he allegedly made to Comey before he was fired.
"He [Comey] said I said 'hope' — 'I hope you can treat Flynn good” or something like that. I didn’t say anything," Trump told the paper.
PHOTO:Former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, left, with his attorney Robert Kelner, center, as he arrives for a plea hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington,D.C., Dec. 1, 2017.
Former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, left, with his attorney Robert Kelner, center, as he arrives for a plea hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Dec. 1, 2017.
Dec. 2 -- Fielding questions
The day after Flynn entered a guilty plea for lying to the FBI, Trump was asked by a reporter whether he was concerned about what Flynn might tell special counsel Robert Mueller.
"No, I'm not," Trump said. "What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion. There has been absolutely no collusion."
"So we're very happy and, frankly, last night was one of the big nights," he added, apparently referring to the Senate's overnight passage of the GOP tax overhaul.
Asked then whether he still stood behind Flynn, Trump said: "We'll see what happens."
Dec. 2 -- Twitter
That same day, a tweet was shared on Trump's account that his personal lawyer John Dowd said he wrote. The tweet read that Trump "had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI" which would suggest that Trump knew Flynn had lied to the FBI when he had asked Comey to "treat Flynn good."
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017
He posted another tweet wherein Trump wrote that "Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday “interrogation” with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times...and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?"
So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday âinterrogationâ with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times...and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Dec. 3 -- Twitter
"I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn. Just more Fake News covering another Comey lie!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn. Just more Fake News covering another Comey lie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Dec. 4 -- Weighing in
President Donald Trump today again addressed the guilty plea by his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he feels "badly" for him.
"Well, I feel badly for General Flynn. I feel very badly. He's led a very strong life. I feel very badly," Trump said when reporters asked about Flynn on the White House South Lawn.
He also compared Flynn to Hillary Clinton, saying Flynn is receiving far worse treatment for what Trump described as similar actions by Clinton.
"I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and they destroyed his life," Trump said.
"Hillary Clinton, on the Fourth of July weekend, went to the FBI, not under oath. It was the most incredible thing anyone's ever seen. She's lied many times; nothing happened to her,” he alleged. “Flynn lied and it's like they ruined his life. It's very unfair.”
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GGL 3 26
[
The National News Desk
Gen. Michael Flynn says he will run for president if former Vice President Pence runs
Gen. Michael Flynn said that if former Republican Vice President Mike Pence runs for president in 2028, he would run.
.
Nov 10, 2025](https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/gen-michael-flynn-says-he-will-run-for-president-if-former-vice-president-pence-runs-donald-trump-jan-6-2016-2024)
ABC News
Former Trump adviser Mike Flynn under DOD investigation, had been warned not to take foreign payments
Rep. Elijah Cummings released three documents on Mike Flynn today.
.
3 weeks ago](https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-adviser-mike-flynn-dod-investigation-warned-foreign/story?id=47054714)
[
The New Republic
Justice Department Prepares to Pay Trump Ally Michael Flynn Millions
The DOJ wants to give Michael Flynn a hefty settlement, even though he once pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
.
Nov 14, 2025](https://newrepublic.com/post/203226/justice-department-prepares-pay-trump-ally-michael-flynn-millions)
ABC News
What Trump has said about Michael Flynn since firing him
— -- "Wonderful" and "fine" are among the adjectives President Donald Trump has used to describe his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
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1 month ago](https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-michael-flynn-firing/story?id=51561733)
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Axios
Trump's next national security adviser will be his sixth
President Trump's first national security adviser quickly resigned and later ended up in court. His next two clashed with him while in office and harshly...
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May 1, 2025](https://www.axios.com/2025/05/01/trump-five-national-security-advisers-waltz)
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Go Local Prov
Rhode Island’s Flynn to Trump: Epstein Affair Not Going Away
Rhode Island native Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump, has said that the issue of the late...
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Jul 14, 2025](https://www.golocalprov.com/news/rhode-islands-flynn-to-trump-epstein-affair-not-going-away)
Politico
How Mike Flynn Became America’s Angriest General
He was one of the most respected intelligence officers of his generation. Now he's Donald Trump's national security alter ego, goading a crowd to lock Hillary...
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Oct 16, 2016](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/how-mike-flynn-became-americas-angriest-general-214362)
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The Singju Post
Transcript: Michael Flynn on the Russia Investigation on American Thought Leaders Show
Read the full transcript of former Trump national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in conversation with host Jan Jekielek of...
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Jul 28, 2025](https://singjupost.com/transcript-michael-flynn-on-the-russia-investigation-on-american-thought-leaders-show/)
The New Yorker
Michael Flynn, General Chaos
To invigorate the D.I.A., Flynn wanted to break down the barriers between collectors and analysts; enhance the stable of clandestine case...
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Feb 18, 2017](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/michael-flynn-general-chaos)
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The Times of India
This is not about Epstein: Trump's former NSA General Flynn reacts to 'hoax' amid MAGA meltdown
Trump's former NSA writes open letter to President after he called Epstein case a hoax. Amidst the Epstein controversy, General Mike Flynn penned an open...
.
Jul 19, 2025](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/this-is-not-about-epstein-trumps-former-nsa-general-flynn-reacts-to-hoax-amid-maga-meltdown/articleshow/122592404.cms)
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