ATLANTA — Editor's note: 11Alive is publishing online stories about key figures in Fulton County's 2020 election investigation. These people have been asked to testify, are targets of the investigation, or could be indicted as part of the probe.
Weeks after receiving a presidential pardon from his old boss, Michael Flynn allegedly worked to keep Donald Trump in the White House.
The former president was contesting his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden in Georgia and other battleground states, and documents released by the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack allege that Flynn helped craft plans to influence the election’s ultimate outcome.
Those efforts caught the attention of Fulton County prosecutors working to determine if Trump and his allies violated state law. The retired Army lieutenant general and former National Security Advisor may be a key fixture in future Atlanta proceedings.
Who is Michael Flynn?
Before becoming a Trump ally, Flynn spent more than three decades in the U.S. Army.
Flynn joined the branch in 1981 as a second lieutenant following his graduation from the University of Rhode Island. His first assignment was as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg — one of multiple tours at the North Carolina installation.
Flynn’s most noteworthy work came during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From July 2004 to June 2007, Flynn served as intelligence director of a special operations task force. The group was drawn from the most elite units in the Joint Special Operations Command and led by Stanley McChrystal, who would go on to lead all forces in Afghanistan. According to a lengthy Atlantic Magazine article on Flynn, the force tracked and killed insurgent fighters in Iraq, and Flynn played a key role in intelligence operations.
When McChrystal took command of troops in Afghanistan in 2009, Flynn went with him. Flynn’s high-ranking roles during that period included a stint as head of intelligence for the entire NATO force in Afghanistan.
In 2012, President Barack Obama tapped Flynn to serve as Director of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. However, Flynn was forced out of the post. He retired from the military in 2014 after allegedly clashing with superiors and being abusive to staff members, various media outlets reported.
Flynn left the military with a list of accolades that include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, and the NATO Service Medal.
As a civilian, Flynn used his prior military connections to secure consulting work and speaking gigs. He founded Flynn Intel Group with his son, and in 2015, Flynn agreed to give a speech at a gala honoring RT, a news organization run by the Russian state, for $45,000, the New York Times reported.
In 2016, Flynn made at least $1.8 million from private intelligence/security services, consulting, and speeches. About $530,000 came from work to discredit an enemy of Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, the Times reported.
During the same time, Flynn entered Trump’s orbit. The pair met in mid-2015, and the meeting went so well that Flynn joined the campaign as an advisor.
Trump vetted the former Army intelligence leader as a possible vice presidential candidate but eventually selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Following Trump’s victory, Flynn was offered the post of National Security Advisor, but it wasn't a role he'd hold long.
Flynn was under federal investigation for his previous lobbying work in Turkey, and the problems worsened after the Obama administration learned of Flynn’s contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn spoke with Kislyak in the days after the U.S. announced sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. The pair discussed the sanctions, and Flynn asked that Russia not escalate the situation. It became a part of the FBI’s larger 2016 Russia interference investigation and the country's contacts with the Trump campaign.
Flynn lied to FBI officials and others within the Trump camp such as Pence, telling them that the sanctions weren’t discussed. However, U.S. intelligence sources intercepted the conversations as part of their surveillance of Russian agents.
Pressure mounted, and concerns about Flynn being blackmailed by Russian assets surfaced. Trump asked Flynn to resign, and his 24-day tenure as National Security Advisor was the shortest in history.
On Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI. Flynn received a presidential pardon on Nov. 25, 2020.
What did Flynn do in Georgia?
Less than a month after the pardon, Flynn was working with the Trump campaign as they challenged the outcome of the 2020 election.
Fulton County prosecutors laid out their allegations in a court filing seeking Flynn's testimony before a special purpose grand jury investigating potential election interference.
On Dec. 18, 2020, Flynn attended a White House meeting with Trump, attorney Sidney Powell and others associated with the Trump campaign. Topics of the meeting included “invoking martial law, seizing voting machines and appointing Powell as special counsel to investigate the 2020 election,” according to the court filing.
That meeting came one day after Flynn appeared on media outlet Newsmax, claiming that Trump could use “military capabilities” in swing states to “re-run an election in each of those states,” prosecutors said.
Fulton County prosecutors said a draft executive order published by news outlet Politico matched statements made by Flynn and others at the White House meeting. The order, which was not issued, directed the Secretary of Defense to seize certain voting machines and appoint a special counsel to “institute all criminal and civil proceedings as appropriate.”
Flynn also attended a meeting at a South Carolina plantation hosted by attorney L. Lin Wood along with Powell and other Trump allies. The group met to discuss plans for influencing the 2020 election, prosecutors said.
Flynn unsuccessfully attempted to avoid testifying before the special purpose grand jury. He gave his testimony in December 2022, the Associated Press reported.
Evidence from the 2020 election investigation will be presented before one of the two Fulton County regular grand juries currently meeting. Potential indictments are expected to come sometime between July 31 and Aug. 18, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said.