Flynn discussed how to 'whisk' away cleric wanted by Turkey: report
By Megan R. Wilson - 03/24/17
Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, reportedly discussed ways to take a man wanted by the Turkish government out of the United States without going through the legal extradition process, according to The Wall Street Journal .
The conversation, which took place during the presidential race while Flynn was serving as an unpaid adviser to Trump, centered around Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
The Turkish government has long wanted to take custody of Gulen, 75, who has been exiled in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Among other things, Turkey blames him for orchestrating the deadly and unsuccessful military coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year. The country has pressed the U.S. for his extradition.
The Journal report cites former CIA Director James Woolsey, who attended the meeting with Flynn and high-level Turkish officials, and others with details on what happened. Woolsey and the sources said the ideas that were discussed for dealing with Gulen were hypothetical.
However, one plan was “a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away,” Woolsey told the Journal. He said he had walked into the middle of the conversation and reportedly “found the topic startling and the actions being discussed possibly illegal.”
A spokesman for Flynn on Friday pushed back on the accusation and the Wall Street Journal report.
"The claim made by Mr. Woolsey that General Flynn, or anyone else in attendance, discussed physical removal of Mr. Gulen from the United States during a meeting with Turkish officials in New York is false. No such discussion occurred. Nor did Mr. Woolsey ever inform General Flynn that he had any concerns whatsoever regarding the meeting, either before he chose to attend, or afterwards," Price Floyd said in an emailed statement to The Hill.
Earlier this month, Flynn filed paperwork with the Justice Department retroactively disclosing work he did last year that may have benefited the government of Turkey.
From August through mid-November, the Flynn Intel Group received $530,000 from a Dutch consulting firm run by a Turkish businessman, according to the disclosure forms. Flynn shut down his firm in November.
The filings, signed by Flynn himself, say the three-month contract included conducting “investigative research” and retaining “an experienced filming and production crew in order to develop a short film piece on the results of its investigation, and a public affairs firm to utilize for public affairs as needed.”
The documentary, which focused on Gulen, was reportedly never finished or distributed.
On Sept. 19, Flynn’s firm met with a “group of government officials from Turkey for the purpose of understanding better the political climate in Turkey at the time, as background for the project.”
It was on that day that Flynn made the suggestion to take Gulen to Turkey from the United States, the Journal article says. One of the officials in the meeting was Erdogan’s son-in-law, disclosure forms reveal.
In November, Flynn penned an op-ed article in The Hill that called Gulen a “radical Islamist” who “portrays himself as a moderate.” Justice Department forms say the op-ed came from the research he did for the consulting firm.
Flynn was fired from his White House post last month for allegedly misleading Vice President Pence and other senior officials about his communications with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. after the presidential election.
Flynn also made contradictory statements to FBI investigators about whether he discussed sanctions with the Russian envoy, according to The Washington Post.
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So while he was the National Security Advisor to the Trump campaign, Micheal Flynn held a meeting with some high Turkish officials that he was working for as an agent, at which ex-Director James Woolsey attended at least part of, that discussed "whisking away in the middle of the night" a Turkish cleric named Fethullah Gulen. Woolsey says the actual word kidnapping was not used, however it was obvious enough to him that what was being discussed was illegal enough for him to walk out of the meeting.
And Trump made this guy the National Security Advisor! A person who was advocating kidnapping and extraditing illegally a person living in the U.S. as a legal resident with a Green Card to Turkey! Micheal Flynn needs to be in prison!
I watched the interview with Woolsey yesterday. He also said that Flynn used his name without his permission when Flynn register as a foreign agent.
Three people associated with the Russian probe have volunteered to appear before the commission..Thus far Flynn has not.
How the fuck did this clown get to be a general? If this is the kind of incompetent, crook, liar, and cheat the army breeds and nurtures, no wonder we cannot get and formulate a plan to defeat ISIS. Is there no oversight in the military or is it just a cash cow for so called 'lifers' to get on the gov't. dole.
''"The claim made by Mr. Woolsey that General Flynn, or anyone else in attendance, discussed physical removal of Mr. Gulen from the United States during a meeting with Turkish officials in New York is false. No such discussion occurred. Nor did Mr. Woolsey ever inform General Flynn that he had any concerns whatsoever regarding the meeting, either before he chose to attend, or afterwards," Price Floyd said in an emailed statement to The Hill.''
This was addressed by Mr. Woolsey in the interview...He stated that he did not inform Flynn. He did report this to people outside of the Flynn camp...He was very clear on that.
Conspiring with a foreign government to commit a felony … FOR MONEY … that's the minimal charge possible!
Conspiring with a foreign government to commit a felony … FOR MONEY … that's the minimal charge possible!
It is a felony and I would think that since it was being done for a foreign power, it would also be treason. At the very least a reason to strip Flynn of his rank and pension, if not time in prison.
If Flynn is an example of the ''extreme vetting'' that Trump keeps talking about?
Gulen is a very real player, and an important asset...
Muhammed [4] Fethullah Gülen ( Turkish: [fetuɫˈɫɑh ɟyˈlen] ; born 27 April 1941) is a Turkish preacher , [5] former imam , [5] [6] writer , [7] and political figure. [8] He is the founder of the Gülen movement (known as Hizmet meaning service in Turkish), and the inspiration figure for its largest organization, the Alliance for Shared Values . He currently lives in exile in the United States , residing in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania . [9] [10] [11] He is reportedly sought by the Turkish government for alleged involvement in the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. [12]
Gülen is actively involved in the societal debate concerning the future of the Turkish state, and Islam in the modern world. He has been described in the English-language media as an imam "who promotes a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education" and as "one of the world's most important Muslim figures." [13] [14] However, James Jeffrey, former American ambassador in Ankara, has claimed that the Gülen movement, aside from its "legal and visible" activities, had infiltrated the Turkish armed forces, police and judiciary. [15]
Gülen was an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before 2013. The alliance was destroyed after the 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey . [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] Erdogan accused Gülen of being behind the corruption investigations. [21] He is currently on Turkey's most-wanted-terrorist list and is accused of leading what the current Turkish officials call the Gülenist Terror Organisation (Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü, FETÖ) . [22] A Turkish criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Gülen. [23] [24] Turkey is demanding the extradition of Gülen from the United States. [17] [25] [26] However, U.S. figures in general do not believe he is associated with any terrorist activity , and have requested evidence to be provided by the Turkish Government to substantiate the allegations in the warrant requesting extradition. [27] [28] [29]
Gulen has been described as a Kurdophobic preacher by Erdogan supporters. He was accused of being against the peace process which had aimed to resolve the long-running Kurdish-Turkish conflict . However, Gulen's supporters dismiss this claim, citing his work with many Kurds. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]
~WIKI~
If colluding with Russia is ok, why not with an asshole government that wants a political prisoner?
Manafort in the pay of Russia. Flynn in the pay of Turkey. Both advising Trump on foreign policy. Who in the hell was advising Trump on who his advisors should be? Putin?
Who in the hell was advising Trump on who his advisors should be? Putin?
One needs to consider if it's possible that these actors were hand picked for the very purposes they played.
?
I believe that they were. I mean look at our current Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Former CEO of EXXON/Mobil. A company tat along with the official Russian oil company, Rosneft, has a lease to drill in nearly 64 million acres of arctic Russian land, that is projected to have a pool of some 85 billion barrels of oil, but can't because of sanctions imposed on Russia by President Obama because of their annexation of Crimea and their war making in Eastern Ukraine. Now if Trump manages to lift those sanctions somehow then Vladimir Putin stands to make billions of dollars and you can bet the family dog that there will be a big kickback for Tillerson, Trump and our current Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross. Why Wilbur Ross? Because before he joined the Trump administration he was a vice chairman at a bank in Cypress that specialized, in fact only exists to, launder illegal Russian money.
All of the pieces are in lace for one of the greatest crimes in the history of humanity. IF we let it happen.
I suppose we could use all that oil for lubing-up; we're gonna need it.
;^(