Russians Bragged About Using Flynn To Influence Trump
New report details just how sure the Russians felt about influence over Trump.
Russian officials bragged during the campaign about being able to exert influence on Donald Trump because of having cultivated a cultivated a relationship with Micheal Flynn.
According to a report by CNN, “Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Donald Trump and his team, sources told CNN.”
The Russian bragging seemed to frighten United States intelligence officials so much that they began to limit how much sensitive information they shared with Flynn.
Trump later named Flynn as his national security adviser despite knowledge that Flynn was under investigation.
CNN went on to report a quote from a former Obama administration official saying “This was a five-alarm fire from early on, the way the Russians were talking about him.”
The conversations of Russians bragging about their influence over Trump through his adviser Flynn was picked up by U.S. intelligence officials who said that the Russians considered Flynn to be an ally.
Flynn is one of the central figures in the FBI’s investigation into collusion between the Trump team and Russia. Flynn received payments from the Russian government through their state-run television network Russia Today.
Flynn also received almost $600,000 to act as a foreign agent for the country of Turkey. It has subsequently reported that the Turkish organization that paid Flynn has long-standing ties to Russia.
According to the CNN report, “Flynn also told Kislyak that the incoming Trump administration would revisit US sanctions on Russia once in office.”
