1
00:00:01,835 --> 00:00:03,671
[Aquidneck Island Productions
introductory theme]
2
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX
3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
4
00:00:16,284 --> 00:00:18,952
[faint cawing of seagulls]
5
00:00:21,289 --> 00:00:23,057
[Flynn] Water has always
been a big part of our--
6
00:00:23,257 --> 00:00:25,126
of our lives
in the Flynn family.
7
00:00:25,859 --> 00:00:28,196
We all grew up surfing,
we all grew up
around the ocean.
8
00:00:30,331 --> 00:00:32,133
If you don't
respect the ocean,
9
00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:35,636
if you don't have a respect
for this, this, this thing,
10
00:00:35,836 --> 00:00:40,474
which is alive,
the ocean is alive.
11
00:00:40,641 --> 00:00:42,576
[blowing bubbles]
12
00:00:48,849 --> 00:00:51,419
I went into the service
because I love our country.
13
00:00:51,619 --> 00:00:57,024
[choral music playing]
14
00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,537
[Devin] He was one
of the most respected generals
in the military.
15
00:01:13,541 --> 00:01:15,943
[Flynn] And I come home,
and I find out
16
00:01:16,144 --> 00:01:19,012
that the worst enemy
that I'm going to face
in my life
17
00:01:19,213 --> 00:01:21,249
is right here in America.
18
00:01:21,415 --> 00:01:23,384
[somber music playing]
19
00:01:23,484 --> 00:01:26,687
[reporter] President Obama said,
"But I do have one specific
recommendation.
20
00:01:26,887 --> 00:01:29,690
Stay away from Michael Flynn.
He's bad news."
21
00:01:30,591 --> 00:01:33,127
[somber music keeps playing]
22
00:01:38,766 --> 00:01:42,470
They're calling me a traitor.
They're saying
I committed treason.
23
00:01:42,670 --> 00:01:43,937
They're saying
I'm a Russian spy.
24
00:01:44,672 --> 00:01:47,107
That Obama was involved
in the targeting of Flynn.
25
00:01:47,308 --> 00:01:49,310
[reporter] He was,
by definition,
26
00:01:49,510 --> 00:01:52,146
the most dangerous
possible person.
27
00:01:52,346 --> 00:01:55,883
- I had to fire...
- [overlapping chatter]
28
00:01:59,587 --> 00:02:02,290
[choral music playing]
29
00:02:03,591 --> 00:02:06,494
There was a moment
where I just felt
like I was drowning.
30
00:02:06,694 --> 00:02:10,931
And all of a sudden,
a whole series of things
started happening.
31
00:02:11,098 --> 00:02:13,767
[choral music keeps playing]
32
00:02:18,806 --> 00:02:21,475
[Flynn] I actually feel blessed
to be alive right now.
33
00:02:21,642 --> 00:02:23,311
And I can tell my story.
34
00:02:23,477 --> 00:02:27,181
[emotional music playing]
35
00:02:41,395 --> 00:02:44,465
If we're going to war,
that means we failed.
36
00:02:45,299 --> 00:02:48,669
That's the-- that's
the fascinating thing about war.
37
00:02:48,836 --> 00:02:53,140
It is a absolute
failure of policy.
38
00:02:53,307 --> 00:02:57,278
It's a failure of diplomacy.
It's a failure of leadership.
39
00:02:57,445 --> 00:03:00,781
[bombs exploding]
40
00:03:00,948 --> 00:03:02,783
[insidious sound playing]
41
00:03:02,983 --> 00:03:05,753
[Flynn] Probably one
of the greatest sacrifices
42
00:03:05,953 --> 00:03:09,657
is when one lays down
their life for this country
43
00:03:09,857 --> 00:03:12,593
for reasons that they
don't even understand,
44
00:03:12,793 --> 00:03:15,162
and they do it
45
00:03:15,363 --> 00:03:18,266
trying to help people
that don't even care
if they're there.
46
00:03:18,466 --> 00:03:21,502
And... and they're dead.
47
00:03:23,671 --> 00:03:28,409
We are A-plus, gold star
for participating in war.
48
00:03:30,043 --> 00:03:32,145
We are a failure
at winning wars.
49
00:03:32,313 --> 00:03:34,448
[menacing music playing]
50
00:03:34,648 --> 00:03:38,252
[Flynn] Peace is the aberration
and war is the norm.
51
00:03:40,488 --> 00:03:44,425
No matter
how many times I've deployed
52
00:03:44,625 --> 00:03:47,428
to different places
where there was
some aspect of danger,
53
00:03:47,628 --> 00:03:49,697
you always feel
a sense of fear.
54
00:03:49,897 --> 00:03:53,200
Your experiences
help you overcome that,
55
00:03:53,401 --> 00:03:55,736
but you never are without it.
56
00:03:55,936 --> 00:03:58,706
- [tank fires]
- [Flynn] You know,
coming off of a truck
57
00:03:58,906 --> 00:04:01,041
or getting off of a helicopter
or getting off of a plane
58
00:04:01,241 --> 00:04:03,611
in a place
where you can smell...
59
00:04:04,678 --> 00:04:05,879
death.
60
00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:08,282
You can smell fear.
61
00:04:10,718 --> 00:04:12,353
War is
like this massive racket.
62
00:04:14,355 --> 00:04:16,790
I mean, we are at war
constantly.
63
00:04:17,558 --> 00:04:19,192
At the end of the day,
it's about making money.
64
00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,061
[tank fires]
65
00:04:21,228 --> 00:04:22,896
[music fades]
66
00:04:25,098 --> 00:04:27,901
[lights clicking]
67
00:04:28,068 --> 00:04:30,704
[soft music playing]
68
00:04:50,223 --> 00:04:52,826
[director] Sound's rolling,
all three cameras. We're good.
69
00:04:53,026 --> 00:04:54,061
[producer] I need speed.
70
00:04:55,262 --> 00:04:58,532
Okay. We're ready when you are.
71
00:04:58,732 --> 00:05:03,170
[Flynn] I had just taken
command of a battalion
72
00:05:03,371 --> 00:05:06,774
of about between
500 and 600 people,
73
00:05:06,874 --> 00:05:09,042
and my operations NCO
comes in and says,
74
00:05:09,242 --> 00:05:13,280
"Hey, sir, we just had
a helicopter go down."
75
00:05:13,447 --> 00:05:16,283
This is where I really learned
about being steady.
76
00:05:18,218 --> 00:05:21,689
Because when I think about that,
I mean, nine people. Poof.
77
00:05:22,390 --> 00:05:26,827
So as I'm walking up the road,
I-- I see the smoke,
78
00:05:26,994 --> 00:05:28,862
and I look,
and I walked right up to it.
79
00:05:29,062 --> 00:05:31,765
I mean, I was standing
right next to it.
80
00:05:31,932 --> 00:05:37,705
And... and it was just
one black patch
81
00:05:37,905 --> 00:05:40,340
that was like the outline
of a helicopter.
82
00:05:41,274 --> 00:05:44,945
Just a black patch in the--
on the ground,
83
00:05:45,112 --> 00:05:49,349
all burnt up,
with a bunch of bumps. Okay?
84
00:05:49,517 --> 00:05:51,652
Bumps that were probably
no more than,
85
00:05:51,819 --> 00:05:55,188
like, two feet high, okay,
and those were the bodies.
86
00:05:55,355 --> 00:05:59,527
And, you know, obviously,
the, the smell of the fuel
87
00:05:59,693 --> 00:06:02,029
that was burning,
the bodies that had burned.
88
00:06:02,195 --> 00:06:03,531
And so, there they are.
89
00:06:03,697 --> 00:06:06,233
They're just...
you're standing right there,
90
00:06:06,434 --> 00:06:09,570
you're standing there going,
"Holy crap."
91
00:06:09,770 --> 00:06:12,773
On my orders, coalition forces
have begun striking
92
00:06:12,973 --> 00:06:15,308
selected targets
of military importance
93
00:06:15,509 --> 00:06:18,879
to undermine Saddam Hussein's
ability to wage war.
94
00:06:19,046 --> 00:06:22,850
[dramatic music playing]
95
00:06:23,050 --> 00:06:24,985
[man] When war
broke out in Iraq,
96
00:06:25,152 --> 00:06:27,988
I was sort of like, well,
I guess we have to do this.
97
00:06:28,155 --> 00:06:29,857
But hold on a second.
98
00:06:30,023 --> 00:06:32,893
I didn't see,
I didn't connect the dots
99
00:06:33,060 --> 00:06:34,528
as to the reason why we didn't--
100
00:06:34,695 --> 00:06:37,264
we would invade
a sovereign nation like Iraq.
101
00:06:37,465 --> 00:06:39,567
I always questioned
the necessity of that war.
102
00:06:39,733 --> 00:06:41,435
I thought it was crazy,
103
00:06:41,635 --> 00:06:42,903
and I thought
the Bush administration
104
00:06:43,070 --> 00:06:44,371
managed it very poorly.
105
00:06:44,538 --> 00:06:47,541
The amount of money
that we spent
106
00:06:47,708 --> 00:06:52,846
in Afghanistan
for a losing cause
is more money,
107
00:06:53,013 --> 00:06:56,216
is more than was spent
on the Marshall Plan
108
00:06:56,383 --> 00:06:59,720
to rebuild Europe,
all of Europe,
109
00:06:59,887 --> 00:07:01,121
after World War II.
110
00:07:01,321 --> 00:07:03,957
[dramatic music playing]
111
00:07:28,849 --> 00:07:29,917
[Flynn] Let me show you...
112
00:07:30,718 --> 00:07:32,820
I gave you a little bit
of explanation.
113
00:07:33,020 --> 00:07:35,088
- [laughs] This is wild.
- So Tucker...
114
00:07:35,255 --> 00:07:39,760
Tucker, I brought--
I'm brought in here
like about, I don't know,
115
00:07:39,927 --> 00:07:41,795
it was over a year,
a year and a half ago.
116
00:07:41,962 --> 00:07:45,766
I'm brought into this room,
and I meet these two moms.
117
00:07:45,933 --> 00:07:47,668
And I-- I was like,
"What caused you,
118
00:07:47,868 --> 00:07:50,003
what possessed you
to do something like this?"
119
00:07:50,203 --> 00:07:53,907
And it was basically,
"We believed so much
120
00:07:54,074 --> 00:07:56,677
in what was happening to you
that-- that it was wrong."
121
00:07:56,877 --> 00:07:59,379
And they said
on their spare time,
they put this together.
122
00:07:59,580 --> 00:08:03,016
[Tucker] I personally
grew up in a completely
different world,
123
00:08:03,216 --> 00:08:06,419
where I didn't question
a lot of the big lies
124
00:08:06,620 --> 00:08:08,689
because I didn't realize
that they were lies.
125
00:08:08,889 --> 00:08:11,491
I was complicit in the lying
without knowing it.
126
00:08:12,259 --> 00:08:16,897
I supported the war in Iraq
and argued on behalf of it
before it started.
127
00:08:17,097 --> 00:08:21,602
And it wasn't until
I went to Iraq myself
in the winter of 2003
128
00:08:21,769 --> 00:08:23,937
that I realized
how wrong I had been,
129
00:08:24,104 --> 00:08:26,439
the degree to which
I had been lied to.
130
00:08:26,607 --> 00:08:29,176
- [Flynn] That was a big
turning point for you.
- It changed my life completely.
131
00:08:29,309 --> 00:08:31,178
And I realized I'd been
complicit in this lie.
132
00:08:31,344 --> 00:08:33,213
[piano music playing]
133
00:08:33,413 --> 00:08:35,215
[Flynn] I don't care
what party you're in.
134
00:08:35,415 --> 00:08:37,484
They're in Washington, DC,
that's the party.
135
00:08:37,651 --> 00:08:39,152
They have
their black-tie affairs,
136
00:08:39,319 --> 00:08:41,354
their little clubs,
their little cliques,
137
00:08:41,521 --> 00:08:43,624
and they got their little
business enterprise that--
138
00:08:43,791 --> 00:08:46,694
that floats around
in these events.
139
00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:48,962
I would, I would be
sick to my stomach
in some of those things
140
00:08:49,129 --> 00:08:50,530
because you're
looking around going,
141
00:08:50,698 --> 00:08:52,365
"You know, these are
the son of a bitches
142
00:08:52,532 --> 00:08:55,035
that are just, you know."
I mean, we're still at war.
143
00:08:55,202 --> 00:08:56,837
There's people overseas
being killed.
144
00:08:57,004 --> 00:09:01,508
And I'm thinking to myself,
this is just not right.
145
00:09:01,675 --> 00:09:03,677
If you have the same people
146
00:09:03,844 --> 00:09:06,179
in charge of a series
of counterproductive wars
147
00:09:06,346 --> 00:09:08,215
from which the United States
derives nothing,
148
00:09:08,381 --> 00:09:13,921
only, you know, loss of life,
draining of the Treasury,
149
00:09:14,888 --> 00:09:17,658
evaporation of our prestige
and power abroad.
150
00:09:17,825 --> 00:09:19,359
The U.S. is much weaker
151
00:09:19,526 --> 00:09:22,362
because of the last
four wars we fought.
152
00:09:22,529 --> 00:09:25,565
Beginning in Vietnam in 1964,
from Tonkin Gulf to here.
153
00:09:25,733 --> 00:09:27,534
Fifty-nine years.
154
00:09:27,701 --> 00:09:31,438
We have not fought a war
that made the U.S. stronger.
155
00:09:31,639 --> 00:09:33,607
[Colin Powell]
When we confront a regime
156
00:09:33,807 --> 00:09:35,976
that harbors ambitions
for regional domination,
157
00:09:36,176 --> 00:09:38,145
hides weapons
of mass destruction,
158
00:09:38,345 --> 00:09:40,547
and provides haven
and active support
for terrorists,
159
00:09:40,748 --> 00:09:43,450
we're not confronting the past.
160
00:09:44,151 --> 00:09:46,119
We are confronting the present.
161
00:09:46,319 --> 00:09:49,122
And unless we act,
we are confronting
162
00:09:49,322 --> 00:09:51,859
an even more frightening
future.
163
00:09:52,059 --> 00:09:53,761
[Flynn] Powell will be
remembered for a lot of things;
164
00:09:53,927 --> 00:09:55,729
you know, they make him out
to be a saint.
165
00:09:57,097 --> 00:09:59,299
That's what he'll be
remembered for in history.
166
00:09:59,933 --> 00:10:03,536
As a junior officer,
I couldn't really articulate it.
167
00:10:03,704 --> 00:10:05,739
But there was something there
that I felt, you know,
168
00:10:05,906 --> 00:10:07,941
it seemed as though
it's just a perpetual
169
00:10:08,108 --> 00:10:11,945
fraud, waste, and abuse...
life cycle.
170
00:10:12,112 --> 00:10:13,881
Yeah, we're gonna go
after terrorists,
171
00:10:14,047 --> 00:10:16,149
but you don't need
an entire machine,
172
00:10:16,349 --> 00:10:19,552
conventional machine,
to be in place constantly
173
00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,157
at all times in Afghanistan
or in Iraq, for that matter,
174
00:10:24,357 --> 00:10:26,426
and-- or really any other place
175
00:10:26,626 --> 00:10:30,230
because we have
strategic capability
176
00:10:30,430 --> 00:10:34,101
to go in and out surgically
to address certain issues,
177
00:10:34,301 --> 00:10:38,739
literally within a few hours,
maximum one day, globally.
178
00:10:39,439 --> 00:10:41,508
So, why not use that methodology
179
00:10:41,709 --> 00:10:43,276
rather than constantly
pumping in
180
00:10:43,443 --> 00:10:44,945
billions of dollars a month?
181
00:10:45,112 --> 00:10:46,814
They want the problem
to exist, so that--
182
00:10:46,980 --> 00:10:49,950
that money flow
and the constant defense budget
183
00:10:50,150 --> 00:10:53,153
can go ahead and fund
the military-industrial
complex.
184
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,723
[soft music playing]
185
00:10:55,923 --> 00:10:58,258
[Jack Flynn] He became very
close to Stanley McChrystal.
186
00:10:58,892 --> 00:11:00,527
From what I read,
McChrystal told Michael,
187
00:11:00,728 --> 00:11:02,195
"You need to come in; I need--
we need to clean this up;
188
00:11:02,395 --> 00:11:03,663
we need to fix this thing."
189
00:11:03,831 --> 00:11:05,632
For whatever reason
we were there,
190
00:11:05,799 --> 00:11:09,469
we were able to get Iraq
under control
191
00:11:09,636 --> 00:11:12,773
because of the efforts
of Joint Special Operations
Command,
192
00:11:12,973 --> 00:11:16,810
and specifically,
Michael's acumen
193
00:11:17,010 --> 00:11:21,815
in what he had been trained for
throughout his career in Intel.
194
00:11:25,986 --> 00:11:28,321
[Ivan] There are
193 countries on the planet,
195
00:11:28,521 --> 00:11:29,890
according to the United Nations.
196
00:11:30,090 --> 00:11:35,963
The most premier unit
within the world
197
00:11:36,129 --> 00:11:38,365
to fight against terror,
198
00:11:38,531 --> 00:11:43,270
General Flynn was
the senior-ranking intelligence
officer in that unit.
199
00:11:43,470 --> 00:11:46,740
You literally have to be
the number one intel officer
200
00:11:46,940 --> 00:11:50,210
for that year's cohort,
impeccable background,
201
00:11:50,377 --> 00:11:54,214
not like a single blemish
in your entire military file,
202
00:11:55,182 --> 00:11:57,017
to be selected
for that position.
203
00:11:57,885 --> 00:12:00,653
[Joe] Mike's, you know,
pretty senior in rank
at that point.
204
00:12:00,854 --> 00:12:03,456
He's maybe a two-star general,
one-or two-star general.
205
00:12:03,656 --> 00:12:07,094
And Charlie's there as well.
And what they're seeing is,
206
00:12:07,861 --> 00:12:10,097
the information
that they're getting
207
00:12:10,297 --> 00:12:12,065
about who the Taliban were,
how they were fighting,
208
00:12:12,232 --> 00:12:14,902
where they were getting their,
their ammunition and so forth,
209
00:12:15,068 --> 00:12:18,105
that they were getting
from the intel community
was a bunch of bullshit.
210
00:12:18,305 --> 00:12:20,207
It was-- it was
poorly served up,
211
00:12:20,407 --> 00:12:23,844
and there was no
interagency coordination.
212
00:12:24,044 --> 00:12:25,779
I think Mike knew,
213
00:12:25,979 --> 00:12:27,514
and I think
a lot of those guys knew
214
00:12:27,714 --> 00:12:29,282
that if something drastic
wasn't done,
215
00:12:29,482 --> 00:12:31,018
they were going to be there
for a long time.
216
00:12:33,921 --> 00:12:35,155
[Devin] I actually met
General Flynn
217
00:12:35,355 --> 00:12:36,589
for the first time,
218
00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:40,560
uh, around 2005 or 2006,
in Iraq.
219
00:12:40,727 --> 00:12:42,863
We would go to areas
where they'd train
220
00:12:43,030 --> 00:12:45,765
military and military
intelligence.
221
00:12:45,933 --> 00:12:48,969
And General Flynn was,
oftentimes,
222
00:12:49,169 --> 00:12:50,804
they'll put up on the screen,
223
00:12:51,004 --> 00:12:53,406
as someone who had done
a superior job.
224
00:12:53,606 --> 00:12:57,244
I mean, he was treated
as the greatest
225
00:12:57,444 --> 00:13:01,581
intelligence general
for his generation.
226
00:13:01,748 --> 00:13:07,320
Everybody respected his ability
to really perfect intelligence.
227
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,056
The objectives, the overall,
228
00:13:09,222 --> 00:13:15,762
our overarching objectives,
we got so far astray.
229
00:13:15,929 --> 00:13:18,298
The Bush administration,
the Obama administration,
230
00:13:18,465 --> 00:13:21,835
I mean, we just lost sight,
and you're like,
231
00:13:22,035 --> 00:13:24,637
you're in this constant war,
you know,
232
00:13:25,305 --> 00:13:27,007
and we would be having
these conversations going,
233
00:13:27,207 --> 00:13:28,775
"Jesus, you know,
when is this going to end?"
234
00:13:28,942 --> 00:13:30,677
When, you know,
I mean, it can end.
235
00:13:30,878 --> 00:13:33,313
It can actually end,
and it can end on our terms.
236
00:13:35,248 --> 00:13:37,417
[producer] The report
you wrote in 2010...
237
00:13:37,584 --> 00:13:39,519
- [Flynn] Right. Mm-hm.
- [producer] "Fixing Intel."
238
00:13:39,719 --> 00:13:41,855
- [Flynn]
In fact, it's right here.
- [producer] Let's see it.
239
00:13:42,055 --> 00:13:44,992
[Flynn] The full title:
"A Blueprint for Making
240
00:13:45,158 --> 00:13:47,594
Intelligence Relevant
in Afghanistan."
241
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,630
I was a senior intel officer
out in Afghanistan.
242
00:13:50,830 --> 00:13:53,700
I mean, I went around
Afghanistan to,
243
00:13:53,901 --> 00:13:56,536
to damn near every
little town and village and--
244
00:13:56,736 --> 00:13:58,771
and I did my own assessment.
245
00:13:58,972 --> 00:14:01,041
And there was a lot of people
that didn't like that
246
00:14:01,241 --> 00:14:02,642
back in Washington, DC,
because--
247
00:14:02,842 --> 00:14:04,344
but I'm on the battlefield.
248
00:14:05,312 --> 00:14:09,449
This is an indictment
of the intelligence community.
249
00:14:10,150 --> 00:14:13,653
And, and to a degree--
and I'm a part of it,
250
00:14:13,820 --> 00:14:17,024
so it wasn't like,
I'm not indicting them.
251
00:14:17,190 --> 00:14:19,359
I'm indicting something
that I'm a part of.
252
00:14:19,526 --> 00:14:24,564
What's in here are solutions,
and in a way, you know,
253
00:14:24,764 --> 00:14:28,001
I'm hoping
that it's not too late.
254
00:14:28,168 --> 00:14:30,070
[soft music playing]
255
00:14:32,339 --> 00:14:34,407
[Lee Smith]
What General Michael Flynn
found out ,
256
00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:40,213
all sorts of intelligence
that was necessary for soldiers
257
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:43,150
as they were fighting
in Afghanistan,
258
00:14:43,350 --> 00:14:46,153
it was all getting lost
259
00:14:46,353 --> 00:14:48,521
because it was being
collected in Afghanistan
260
00:14:48,721 --> 00:14:50,523
and having to go
through Washington
261
00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:52,325
before it could come back
to Afghanistan.
262
00:14:52,492 --> 00:14:54,194
I mean, there were lives
being lost.
263
00:14:54,794 --> 00:14:58,431
You know, there were missions
that were botched,
and lives lost.
264
00:14:59,166 --> 00:15:02,835
There's an example
in our family of this in Iraq.
265
00:15:03,003 --> 00:15:04,871
Charlie was deployed in Iraq.
266
00:15:05,072 --> 00:15:08,075
And Charlie was taking care
of the highways out of Baghdad
267
00:15:08,241 --> 00:15:11,478
down into the gulf
through Kuwait.
268
00:15:12,245 --> 00:15:13,680
Charlie had a bunch of guys
269
00:15:13,846 --> 00:15:15,548
that were fighting
as an infantryman,
270
00:15:15,715 --> 00:15:17,550
and Mike's running intel
over there.
271
00:15:18,718 --> 00:15:21,421
So they're brothers.
There's a chain of command.
272
00:15:22,155 --> 00:15:23,890
But they're brothers.
273
00:15:24,591 --> 00:15:27,227
So Charlie's able to tell Mike,
"Hey, this is
what I'm seeing down here."
274
00:15:27,394 --> 00:15:29,196
Not having it filtered to Mike.
275
00:15:29,362 --> 00:15:32,465
If Charlie told him what was
going on down the street,
276
00:15:32,665 --> 00:15:35,668
okay, south of him,
and what they were seeing
down there,
277
00:15:35,868 --> 00:15:37,704
that he was going to get
accurate information
278
00:15:37,904 --> 00:15:39,872
and be able to use that
and act on it.
279
00:15:40,873 --> 00:15:42,475
[Flynn] This gets published,
280
00:15:42,675 --> 00:15:45,278
huge outcry in Washington, DC,
281
00:15:45,445 --> 00:15:50,283
the heads of the,
of all this just giant monolith
282
00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:53,220
called
the intelligence community,
all the agency heads were like,
283
00:15:53,386 --> 00:15:55,222
they wanted my head.
284
00:15:55,422 --> 00:15:59,026
Ten years of war.
I stick my name
on that assessment.
285
00:15:59,759 --> 00:16:01,861
And I'm saying
to the intelligence community,
286
00:16:02,062 --> 00:16:03,530
we're still not
able to do our job,
287
00:16:03,730 --> 00:16:05,198
we're not doing our job.
288
00:16:05,398 --> 00:16:07,000
There's so many things
that are--
289
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,835
that are addressed in here
290
00:16:09,036 --> 00:16:12,339
from the perspective
of understanding your enemy,
291
00:16:12,539 --> 00:16:15,275
and understanding
the environment,
and understanding yourself.
292
00:16:15,442 --> 00:16:18,945
It's a very basic statement
about warfare.
293
00:16:22,282 --> 00:16:25,085
For the officers,
the last promotion
is to major general.
294
00:16:25,285 --> 00:16:27,420
Everything after that
is an appointment
295
00:16:27,620 --> 00:16:29,356
by the president
of the United States.
296
00:16:29,556 --> 00:16:32,392
Jim Clapper wanted me,
he went to the president
297
00:16:32,592 --> 00:16:34,027
and the president appointed me.
298
00:16:34,227 --> 00:16:36,363
So in this case,
it's President Obama.
299
00:16:36,563 --> 00:16:37,764
[somber music playing]
300
00:16:39,466 --> 00:16:42,702
So President Obama
appoints me into that job
301
00:16:42,902 --> 00:16:45,505
as the assistant director
of National Intelligence,
302
00:16:45,672 --> 00:16:48,941
and then I have to go through
a full Senate confirmation.
303
00:16:49,109 --> 00:16:51,111
So I'm coming back
to Washington, DC,
304
00:16:51,278 --> 00:16:53,446
we're going to be able to keep
our family there, you know,
305
00:16:54,114 --> 00:16:56,216
this is good,
I'm going to get promoted.
306
00:16:56,416 --> 00:16:57,284
[soft music playing]
307
00:17:04,324 --> 00:17:06,759
[click]
308
00:17:06,959 --> 00:17:10,830
Many recall the famous article
Mike Flynn wrote,
309
00:17:11,030 --> 00:17:14,501
called "A Blueprint for Making
Intelligence Relevant,"
310
00:17:15,368 --> 00:17:18,738
which is one of the reasons
why I brought Mike to ODNI ,
311
00:17:19,439 --> 00:17:21,441
to fix
all the intelligence issues
312
00:17:21,641 --> 00:17:24,144
- that he'd been
complaining about.
- [audience laughing]
313
00:17:24,311 --> 00:17:25,845
There's a phrase
in the military,
314
00:17:26,012 --> 00:17:28,815
and I don't use my Irish
too often, but,
315
00:17:28,981 --> 00:17:31,751
you know, they say, "Fuck up
and move up." Right?
316
00:17:31,951 --> 00:17:34,854
And, you know, and I'm thinking,
317
00:17:35,021 --> 00:17:37,157
"Oh, maybe, maybe
I fucked up so bad
318
00:17:37,324 --> 00:17:40,427
that they're just going
to move me up to shut me up."
319
00:17:40,627 --> 00:17:44,897
It may very well be a case
of bringing your enemies
320
00:17:45,064 --> 00:17:46,833
as close as you can
so you can control them.
321
00:17:49,636 --> 00:17:51,438
[Joe] Big title, and a big job.
322
00:17:51,638 --> 00:17:53,005
Big job, huge job.
323
00:17:53,173 --> 00:17:55,442
I mean, the pinnacle
of someone's career
324
00:17:56,042 --> 00:17:57,477
as an intelligence officer
in the United States Army,
325
00:17:57,677 --> 00:17:59,146
it's like almost
the number one--
326
00:17:59,346 --> 00:18:00,947
it is the number one job,
in fact,
327
00:18:01,148 --> 00:18:03,015
unless you're the National
Security Advisor,
328
00:18:03,216 --> 00:18:04,617
which he ended up
becoming as well.
329
00:18:07,053 --> 00:18:09,756
[Flynn] I've had a lot
of time in combat,
probably more--
330
00:18:09,922 --> 00:18:12,259
more time in combat
than most people, you know,
331
00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:15,228
that were
in my sort of category.
332
00:18:15,428 --> 00:18:17,730
And I've had a lot of time,
you know, in the field, in--
333
00:18:17,930 --> 00:18:20,400
in operational assignments.
334
00:18:20,567 --> 00:18:25,138
And, and I'm also a Democrat.
335
00:18:25,238 --> 00:18:27,240
[Jack]
So we're Kennedy Democrats,
336
00:18:27,940 --> 00:18:29,142
never Republicans.
337
00:18:31,911 --> 00:18:34,647
Your blue-collar
Kennedy Democrats.
338
00:18:35,582 --> 00:18:37,384
[Joe] And the media
loved Mike at that time,
339
00:18:37,584 --> 00:18:39,719
interestingly enough,
because again,
340
00:18:39,919 --> 00:18:42,054
the Obama administration's
saying, "Hey, this is our guy.
341
00:18:42,255 --> 00:18:45,225
He's a Democrat. He comes
from a Democrat family.
342
00:18:45,392 --> 00:18:47,794
This guy has been in combat
for six, seven years,"
343
00:18:48,628 --> 00:18:52,365
all this stuff, but,
you know what,
kid from a small town,
344
00:18:52,565 --> 00:18:55,368
who grew up in a huge
poor family, you know,
345
00:18:55,568 --> 00:18:58,137
something like that,
you know, it's a big deal.
346
00:19:00,407 --> 00:19:02,609
So there was a lot of problems
when he took over DIA.
347
00:19:02,809 --> 00:19:04,544
The establishment,
especially the,
348
00:19:04,744 --> 00:19:08,047
what they call the SES,
the senior executive staff,
349
00:19:08,248 --> 00:19:11,284
in the Department of Defense,
was like, "Oh, this guy.
350
00:19:11,484 --> 00:19:14,754
This is, you know, we've seen
these types before.
351
00:19:14,921 --> 00:19:17,123
We're going
to railroad him out of here."
352
00:19:17,290 --> 00:19:19,992
I've kept every--
I'm like a pack rat
with stuff, you know:
353
00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:24,431
awards, decorations, gifts
that were given to me.
354
00:19:24,597 --> 00:19:26,933
And I've kept binders of them,
you know, different things.
355
00:19:27,133 --> 00:19:29,769
[Adam Lovinger] And so,
what really drew me
to General Flynn,
356
00:19:29,936 --> 00:19:32,839
even though we had not
started working together
formally at that point,
357
00:19:33,005 --> 00:19:34,974
is that in all
the meetings we had,
358
00:19:35,141 --> 00:19:40,447
he, his moral compass
was very clear,
359
00:19:40,647 --> 00:19:46,286
and that was that,
as an American
government official,
360
00:19:46,486 --> 00:19:49,356
one must put the interests
of the United States first.
361
00:19:49,522 --> 00:19:53,226
It's the mission which matters,
not the individual,
362
00:19:53,426 --> 00:19:56,463
not lining your pockets
for your career
363
00:19:56,629 --> 00:19:58,298
after you retire
from government,
364
00:19:58,465 --> 00:20:01,200
not building your empire
to get to the next,
365
00:20:01,368 --> 00:20:03,336
you know, rung
within the federal government.
366
00:20:03,503 --> 00:20:06,239
That this is what matters,
and it was wonderful to see
367
00:20:06,439 --> 00:20:09,175
that someone could rise
to such heights
368
00:20:09,342 --> 00:20:11,077
while keeping so true
369
00:20:11,278 --> 00:20:13,713
to these values
that made America great.
370
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,748
He was one
of the most respected generals
371
00:20:15,948 --> 00:20:18,150
in the military,
plain and simple.
372
00:20:18,318 --> 00:20:21,721
And so, you know,
what more can we ask for
373
00:20:21,888 --> 00:20:24,190
than to have one
of our most successful generals
374
00:20:24,357 --> 00:20:28,194
be at the top
of the intelligence apparatus
for our military?
375
00:20:28,361 --> 00:20:30,497
And that's why
he had strong support.
376
00:20:30,697 --> 00:20:32,499
But in January,
President Obama told
377
00:20:32,699 --> 00:20:35,201
the New Yorker magazine's
David Remnick that ISIS,
378
00:20:35,402 --> 00:20:38,338
which was then still considered
a part of Al-Qaeda
379
00:20:38,538 --> 00:20:41,874
fighting in Syria,
was like a JV basketball team.
380
00:20:42,041 --> 00:20:43,610
These guys are--
381
00:20:43,810 --> 00:20:48,748
they want him to say
that the ISIS is the JV team,
382
00:20:48,915 --> 00:20:53,219
and-- and he's like,
that's not what--
that's not going to happen.
383
00:20:53,386 --> 00:20:54,954
They wanted
that narrative to show
384
00:20:55,154 --> 00:20:59,258
that we were being tough
on the enemy overseas
385
00:20:59,426 --> 00:21:01,561
that we were fighting,
and that we were winning.
386
00:21:01,761 --> 00:21:04,797
We weren't winning.
And in fact,
the enemy is growing.
387
00:21:04,997 --> 00:21:05,932
They're expanding.
388
00:21:08,901 --> 00:21:10,337
Now, the way
I remember it is...
389
00:21:10,537 --> 00:21:12,372
we're getting ready
to go testify
390
00:21:12,572 --> 00:21:14,741
to Congress
in an open hearing,
391
00:21:14,941 --> 00:21:18,511
and I get my statement
that had been vetted
392
00:21:18,711 --> 00:21:21,314
through the National
Intelligence Community,
393
00:21:21,514 --> 00:21:24,317
and through the DNI and also
over to the White House.
394
00:21:24,517 --> 00:21:28,321
It's basically got red lines
to change my testimony there, right?
395
00:21:28,521 --> 00:21:31,391
Everybody wants to hear
all the different perspectives
396
00:21:31,591 --> 00:21:33,192
from these different
organizations.
397
00:21:33,393 --> 00:21:35,027
So mine was changed.
398
00:21:35,227 --> 00:21:38,431
And I told my Congressional
Affairs officer,
399
00:21:38,631 --> 00:21:40,099
I said, "I'm not
going to change it.
400
00:21:40,299 --> 00:21:42,001
That's not...
that's not right."
401
00:21:42,969 --> 00:21:47,106
A lot of people on the inside
that were the underperformers
402
00:21:47,273 --> 00:21:51,611
had a lot of institutional clout
that pushed for that as well.
403
00:21:51,778 --> 00:21:54,947
It was literally
a, an organization
404
00:21:55,114 --> 00:21:56,783
that had rot in it,
405
00:21:56,949 --> 00:21:59,586
that wanted to keep
that rot in place.
406
00:21:59,752 --> 00:22:01,788
I know what the CIA's reporting,
407
00:22:01,954 --> 00:22:05,157
I know what the National
Geospatial Agency, you know,
408
00:22:05,324 --> 00:22:07,259
National Security Agency, FBI,
409
00:22:07,427 --> 00:22:08,928
all these different
organizations are reporting.
410
00:22:09,095 --> 00:22:11,097
But I'm responsible
for my agency,
411
00:22:11,263 --> 00:22:12,699
and I'm responsible
to tell the truth
412
00:22:12,899 --> 00:22:15,668
for what my agency,
you know, believes.
413
00:22:15,835 --> 00:22:18,270
This, this organization
called ISIS
414
00:22:18,438 --> 00:22:21,441
was expanding rapidly
and they were in like
415
00:22:21,608 --> 00:22:25,745
20-, you know,
- four or -five nations
around the greater region from,
416
00:22:25,945 --> 00:22:28,047
from literally
from West Africa,
all the way over to,
417
00:22:28,247 --> 00:22:30,950
in some cases, Indonesia
and the Philippines.
418
00:22:32,151 --> 00:22:36,823
I'm called into a,
an office call with Jim Clapper.
419
00:22:36,989 --> 00:22:38,357
So he goes, "We're gonna
ask you to step down,"
420
00:22:38,525 --> 00:22:40,159
and immediately,
immediately, I said,
421
00:22:40,326 --> 00:22:41,961
"Is it because
of my leadership?"
422
00:22:42,128 --> 00:22:43,896
He says, "Oh, no,
it's not your leadership.
423
00:22:44,096 --> 00:22:46,232
If it was, I'd cut you off
at the knees right now
424
00:22:46,433 --> 00:22:48,000
and you wouldn't go back
into the job."
425
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,669
That was my interpretation.
426
00:22:50,937 --> 00:22:52,038
He said, "It's because of--"
427
00:22:52,204 --> 00:22:54,607
and he used the word "attitude."
428
00:22:55,207 --> 00:22:56,643
That's how I remember it.
429
00:22:58,511 --> 00:22:59,979
And I walked out of that room.
430
00:23:00,146 --> 00:23:03,382
And I called my wife,
and I said, you know,
431
00:23:03,550 --> 00:23:05,852
"Honey, things are gonna
change again," you know.
432
00:23:06,018 --> 00:23:08,254
And, and, you know,
in a funny way,
433
00:23:08,455 --> 00:23:10,657
even got a story about it,
you know,
434
00:23:10,823 --> 00:23:13,092
if she even remembers
that, that part,
'cause there was so many.
435
00:23:13,292 --> 00:23:15,327
But she was probably relieved,
436
00:23:15,495 --> 00:23:18,197
I was, you know,
finally gonna retire.
437
00:23:18,364 --> 00:23:21,000
I never changed.
I never changed.
438
00:23:21,167 --> 00:23:24,236
People that know me
from the time I was a kid,
439
00:23:24,403 --> 00:23:27,874
to the people that worked
with me as a young officer
440
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,511
and all throughout my career,
I never changed.
441
00:23:31,678 --> 00:23:34,714
So what changed in Jim Clapper,
who brought me in and hired me?
442
00:23:34,914 --> 00:23:38,451
What changed, Jim?
What changed?
443
00:23:38,651 --> 00:23:44,457
Was it because
I wasn't toeing the line
for the administration?
444
00:23:44,657 --> 00:23:46,926
I wasn't toeing the line
for the,
445
00:23:47,093 --> 00:23:49,929
the "intelligence community's",
you know,
446
00:23:50,096 --> 00:23:53,733
incorrect, false narrative.
447
00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:58,538
And, and, sadly,
you know, tragically,
448
00:24:01,073 --> 00:24:04,877
you know,
when I think about, God,
like, fuck, that was 2014.
449
00:24:06,045 --> 00:24:09,982
When I think
about six more years of fighting
450
00:24:10,182 --> 00:24:13,385
and dying and the bullshit.
451
00:24:15,688 --> 00:24:20,226
You know? I mean, my--
my responsibility as a--
452
00:24:20,392 --> 00:24:22,394
as a senior officer
in the military,
453
00:24:22,562 --> 00:24:24,396
and definitely as a senior
intelligence officer,
454
00:24:24,564 --> 00:24:29,669
is to protect, save,
and, and win.
455
00:24:29,869 --> 00:24:35,141
These assholes are toeing
a political narrative
456
00:24:35,307 --> 00:24:37,109
that was total bullshit.
457
00:24:38,277 --> 00:24:40,513
Something
didn't smell right for me.
458
00:24:40,713 --> 00:24:46,185
And the very next day,
I sent a direct message
459
00:24:46,385 --> 00:24:49,255
and it said, "Sir, I think
I know what happened to you.
460
00:24:50,422 --> 00:24:52,324
Unacceptable.
461
00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:56,428
You have a loyal soldier
for the rest of your life.
462
00:24:56,596 --> 00:24:59,966
Let me know if you ever need to,
like utilize me to help out."
463
00:25:00,132 --> 00:25:02,301
Because I thought
that that was, uh,
464
00:25:02,468 --> 00:25:04,771
him being resigned
was totally unacceptable.
465
00:25:04,937 --> 00:25:05,938
[sad music playing]
466
00:25:14,947 --> 00:25:16,616
I loved DC. I loved Virginia.
467
00:25:16,783 --> 00:25:18,618
We loved being there,
we loved living there,
468
00:25:18,785 --> 00:25:23,055
we had happy times there
until this all happened
469
00:25:23,255 --> 00:25:26,559
when he retired
and then decided to go
and work on his own.
470
00:25:26,759 --> 00:25:30,229
In your career,
I have always found,
whether it's in your service,
471
00:25:30,429 --> 00:25:32,832
or if you spent a lot of time
in a joint community,
472
00:25:33,032 --> 00:25:38,004
you will
run across individuals,
and you will say to yourself,
473
00:25:38,204 --> 00:25:40,640
"That guy is amazing."
474
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:45,011
And early on, when I met Mike,
I thought to myself,
"That guy is amazing."
475
00:25:45,712 --> 00:25:47,513
Today, as we would say
in the Navy,
476
00:25:47,714 --> 00:25:49,649
we watch pass over the side,
477
00:25:50,482 --> 00:25:53,252
probably the most visible
intelligence professional
478
00:25:53,452 --> 00:25:55,755
that we have generated
within this department
479
00:25:55,955 --> 00:25:57,690
in the last ten or 20 years.
480
00:25:58,357 --> 00:26:00,593
So Mike, we all want to say
thank you for a great job.
481
00:26:00,793 --> 00:26:03,763
We want to thank you for making
a great, great difference.
482
00:26:03,963 --> 00:26:05,798
Lori, we wish you
only the best.
483
00:26:06,532 --> 00:26:08,668
We know there's a lot
of opportunities ahead of you.
484
00:26:08,868 --> 00:26:11,437
I can't wait to see where
the journey is gonna take you.
485
00:26:11,638 --> 00:26:13,906
I don't think we've heard
the last of the Flynns.
486
00:26:14,073 --> 00:26:19,578
That was, without a doubt,
a real test of the relationship
487
00:26:19,746 --> 00:26:25,351
and, um, and she was patient.
488
00:26:25,517 --> 00:26:29,021
And I saw her get mad.
But she knew he was right.
489
00:26:29,188 --> 00:26:30,890
And I knew, we all knew
he was right.
490
00:26:31,057 --> 00:26:34,861
Lori was a stabilizing force
in his life.
491
00:26:35,027 --> 00:26:36,362
She's a special gal.
492
00:26:36,528 --> 00:26:40,833
She's strong,
unwavering commitment.
493
00:26:41,033 --> 00:26:44,503
I think Lori saved his life
actually, as a teenager,
if you ask me.
494
00:26:44,704 --> 00:26:48,708
I think that if Michael
hadn't really, you know,
495
00:26:48,908 --> 00:26:51,878
been kind of swept up
in that relationship
as a teenager--
496
00:26:52,078 --> 00:26:55,982
you're talking 14,
15 years old,
that's a young person--
497
00:26:56,716 --> 00:26:58,050
I think that Michael
could have gone
498
00:26:58,217 --> 00:27:00,052
a completely different
direction.
499
00:27:00,219 --> 00:27:01,954
Probably God at work there,
honestly,
500
00:27:02,121 --> 00:27:03,756
whith that relationship
blooming.
501
00:27:03,923 --> 00:27:06,726
And who would have thought
that at 14 and 15 years old,
502
00:27:06,893 --> 00:27:08,627
you know,
they'd be married today,
503
00:27:08,795 --> 00:27:10,797
40-- after all they've been
through, I don't know,
504
00:27:10,963 --> 00:27:13,465
48 years,
almost going on 50 years.
505
00:27:13,632 --> 00:27:16,568
But that relationship
at that time in Michael's life
506
00:27:17,436 --> 00:27:19,706
gave him a reason
to get focused on something.
507
00:27:19,906 --> 00:27:23,209
He did better in school.
He did better in sports.
508
00:27:23,409 --> 00:27:25,678
He got really into really
playing sports in school.
509
00:27:25,878 --> 00:27:28,147
Of course,
then when he went into,
510
00:27:28,314 --> 00:27:30,516
when he went
to University of Rhode Island,
511
00:27:30,717 --> 00:27:34,253
the army and the ROTC program
was another godsend for him,
512
00:27:34,420 --> 00:27:38,257
you know, for a rambunctious guy
like Mike Flynn. [laughs]
513
00:27:38,424 --> 00:27:40,760
[laughing]
514
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,196
[Lori] I went to kindergarten
through eighth grade
in one Catholic school,
515
00:27:44,396 --> 00:27:46,465
and then didn't go
to a public school
516
00:27:46,632 --> 00:27:48,434
till I was in the ninth grade.
517
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,839
That was a big eye-opener
for me, for sure.
518
00:27:52,939 --> 00:27:54,774
And that's when
I first met Mike, too,
519
00:27:54,974 --> 00:27:57,276
that summer
going into the ninth grade.
520
00:27:57,476 --> 00:28:00,046
You know, we didn't date
in ninth grade or anything.
521
00:28:00,246 --> 00:28:03,149
We just kind of
went steady for two weeks,
522
00:28:03,349 --> 00:28:05,785
and then we went
our separate ways.
523
00:28:05,985 --> 00:28:07,754
I mean, I always saw him
in the halls in high school,
524
00:28:07,954 --> 00:28:09,956
but we kind of had our own life
the next two years,
525
00:28:10,156 --> 00:28:12,792
and then our senior year,
we got back together again.
526
00:28:12,992 --> 00:28:15,061
We both said that night
527
00:28:15,261 --> 00:28:17,163
that if we go out
with each other again,
this is it.
528
00:28:17,329 --> 00:28:19,298
You're not, you know,
no, no straying.
529
00:28:19,498 --> 00:28:21,100
[Flynn] So when Lori and I
were married,
530
00:28:21,300 --> 00:28:23,770
during the wedding ceremony,
the priest,
531
00:28:23,970 --> 00:28:27,073
who was also a cousin of ours,
Philip, Father Philip.
532
00:28:27,273 --> 00:28:29,475
There's a part of the beach
and we call it the Rock.
533
00:28:29,675 --> 00:28:32,078
We would go spend
a lot of time surfing there.
534
00:28:32,278 --> 00:28:35,848
He described Lori
as that rock, unmovable.
535
00:28:36,783 --> 00:28:39,451
He described me as the tide.
536
00:28:40,452 --> 00:28:43,255
I think my husband
is the rock, really.
537
00:28:44,523 --> 00:28:48,227
I think we're a great team
together.
538
00:28:48,394 --> 00:28:53,132
I can't say that I never lost it
during this whole thing.
539
00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:59,538
There were times
that I was pretty rock-bottom.
540
00:28:59,638 --> 00:29:04,376
And he always was the strength
that I needed to go on.
541
00:29:04,543 --> 00:29:07,713
I mean, he always had
the best-case scenarios
that we would, you know,
542
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:09,782
he would always put it
in a better light than I could.
543
00:29:09,982 --> 00:29:13,619
And there could have been
no better description
in our marriage.
544
00:29:13,820 --> 00:29:16,923
You know, we're getting ready
to go into 42 years
of marriage.
545
00:29:17,857 --> 00:29:20,659
You know,
we've known each other
since we were 13 years old.
546
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:27,633
A steady rock
in this ebb and flow of life.
547
00:29:28,667 --> 00:29:32,671
And I knew
that I could depend on her
to do a lot of things that--
548
00:29:32,872 --> 00:29:34,673
that I was not
going to be able to do.
549
00:29:34,874 --> 00:29:36,943
And many of the times
'cause I'm deployed.
550
00:29:37,977 --> 00:29:42,314
[Lori] Uh, prayer and God
came back into my life,
into both of our lives,
551
00:29:42,514 --> 00:29:45,084
because we were
at wit's end sometimes.
552
00:29:45,251 --> 00:29:49,889
And that was
one of the only things
that we knew we had.
553
00:29:50,056 --> 00:29:53,659
[Flynn] May the rain
fall soft upon your fields,
and until we meet again--
554
00:29:53,860 --> 00:29:56,662
[all] May God hold
you in the palm of his hand.
555
00:29:56,863 --> 00:29:59,298
- Amen. Amen.
- Sláinte. Sláinte. Sláinte.
556
00:29:59,465 --> 00:30:01,600
The house that we ended up
growing up in,
557
00:30:01,767 --> 00:30:05,237
in Rhode Island,
belonged to my grandfather.
558
00:30:05,404 --> 00:30:07,773
We came back to this house
that had one bedroom,
559
00:30:07,940 --> 00:30:10,342
one little tiny bathroom,
a little tiny kitchen.
560
00:30:10,542 --> 00:30:13,312
All the boys were in, uh,
were in bunk beds,
561
00:30:13,479 --> 00:30:15,347
and my parents slept
in the living room--
562
00:30:15,547 --> 00:30:17,783
there was a pullout couch--
for a while.
563
00:30:17,950 --> 00:30:21,187
There were three oldest,
three middle,
and three youngest.
564
00:30:21,387 --> 00:30:23,289
And I was part
of the three youngest,
565
00:30:23,455 --> 00:30:25,424
so I would be in the bathroom,
566
00:30:25,591 --> 00:30:28,427
and I would never
get like it alone.
567
00:30:28,594 --> 00:30:31,430
I would be scrubbing my teeth
and so the boys would come in,
568
00:30:31,597 --> 00:30:33,832
you know, "I gotta go,"
because it was one bathroom.
569
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,369
But that bathroom door,
it got knocked down a few times.
570
00:30:37,569 --> 00:30:38,704
[laughs]
571
00:30:38,905 --> 00:30:40,339
[soft music playing]
572
00:30:46,312 --> 00:30:51,150
[Clare] Here's, you know,
nine kids, 11 people
in a 1,200-square-foot house.
573
00:30:52,318 --> 00:30:54,286
So our backyard,
our playground,
574
00:30:54,486 --> 00:30:56,488
was the ocean,
was the Atlantic Ocean.
575
00:30:58,357 --> 00:31:01,994
My parents were great.
They just let us go.
576
00:31:04,263 --> 00:31:06,665
[Flynn] The beach was there.
577
00:31:06,865 --> 00:31:09,902
The water was an outlet for us.
578
00:31:10,102 --> 00:31:13,072
[Jack] I mean, I'm paddling out
when I was seven
or eight years old,
579
00:31:13,272 --> 00:31:16,875
in the lineup in big waves
off Ruggles Avenue.
580
00:31:18,110 --> 00:31:21,213
It was literally, you could
run out in our backyard,
581
00:31:21,380 --> 00:31:23,715
pick up a, you know,
a throwin' rock,
582
00:31:23,882 --> 00:31:26,152
and you could throw it
into the ocean.
It was that close.
583
00:31:26,352 --> 00:31:30,622
[Joe] And we started to realize,
"Hey, there's guys
out there surfing."
584
00:31:30,722 --> 00:31:33,159
And we could swim like fish.
585
00:31:35,094 --> 00:31:37,663
[Mary] And the kids would
be swarming all over the beach.
586
00:31:37,863 --> 00:31:41,333
I mean, there'd be like
five or six of them.
That, that was a lot of fun.
587
00:31:41,533 --> 00:31:43,202
It really was a lot of fun.
588
00:31:43,402 --> 00:31:45,371
[Clare] You know,
we would go surf all winter,
589
00:31:45,571 --> 00:31:46,672
surf in hurricanes.
590
00:31:46,872 --> 00:31:49,275
And so, it taught us a lot
591
00:31:49,475 --> 00:31:53,045
about endurance,
being in the ocean for hours.
592
00:31:53,245 --> 00:31:55,614
[Flynn] There's
a lot of people that surf,
593
00:31:55,814 --> 00:31:59,385
but those of us that find it
as a spiritual thing...
594
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,090
In our family,
it's a spiritual thing.
595
00:32:05,657 --> 00:32:06,959
It's very, very powerful.
596
00:32:07,159 --> 00:32:08,594
You have to respect the power.
597
00:32:09,561 --> 00:32:11,830
What is it telling you
at times?
598
00:32:12,698 --> 00:32:14,200
If you're out in big surf,
that, you know,
599
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:16,402
your life could turn
in a second.
600
00:32:16,602 --> 00:32:20,006
Taking off on a wave,
wiped out...
601
00:32:20,106 --> 00:32:23,642
been dragged down
and felt like,
602
00:32:23,842 --> 00:32:25,311
I'm out here all alone.
603
00:32:27,679 --> 00:32:31,750
That is a respect
that I learned,
604
00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:34,086
and I still have it
to this day.
605
00:32:40,226 --> 00:32:42,728
[Joe] You got to remember,
your entire adult life
is in the military.
606
00:32:42,928 --> 00:32:45,497
All you know is a command
structure like the military.
607
00:32:45,697 --> 00:32:49,268
You don't have a lot
of experience in business.
You're getting things set up.
608
00:32:49,468 --> 00:32:50,769
[Clare] You know,
he wants to work.
609
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:52,771
He still wants to have,
you know,
610
00:32:52,971 --> 00:32:55,107
service to country again.
611
00:32:55,274 --> 00:32:58,310
Michael Jr. was actually
working for a company
that I was running at the time,
612
00:32:58,477 --> 00:33:00,812
and he came to me and said,
"I'm going to go work
for my dad,
613
00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:02,814
we're going to start
a consulting group."
614
00:33:02,981 --> 00:33:05,817
Companies were hiring him
for advisory work.
615
00:33:05,984 --> 00:33:08,620
I think he was on some boards
of some private equity groups.
616
00:33:08,787 --> 00:33:12,024
Normal stuff that generals do
when they get out of service.
617
00:33:12,224 --> 00:33:14,860
We essentially formed
a business together.
618
00:33:15,061 --> 00:33:16,595
He was just like, "You want
to go into business together?"
619
00:33:16,762 --> 00:33:18,764
I said, "Absolutely."
I mean, this was a guy
620
00:33:18,930 --> 00:33:22,834
that I had grown up
idolizing my entire life,
621
00:33:23,001 --> 00:33:24,970
and this was a chance for me to,
622
00:33:25,137 --> 00:33:28,540
to get to know my father,
you know? And...
623
00:33:32,444 --> 00:33:37,983
No, it was-- it was...
It was, uh...
624
00:33:38,150 --> 00:33:39,651
it was an opportunity
I knew I had to take,
625
00:33:39,818 --> 00:33:41,187
that I wanted to take.
626
00:33:42,421 --> 00:33:45,291
I love the idea
of being able to work with him
627
00:33:45,457 --> 00:33:48,960
because for many, many years
of his life, I wasn't around,
628
00:33:49,128 --> 00:33:52,631
with military and deployments
and moves and, and,
629
00:33:52,798 --> 00:33:55,834
and schools and high schools
and baseball games and--
630
00:33:56,001 --> 00:33:57,503
and birthdays and hell,
631
00:33:57,669 --> 00:33:59,871
I almost didn't make it
to his wedding.
632
00:34:00,038 --> 00:34:02,874
I flew in from Afghanistan
the night before his wedding.
633
00:34:03,642 --> 00:34:06,912
And I was lucky that I made it.
634
00:34:07,813 --> 00:34:10,316
I was so happy that I was going
to be able to do that with him
635
00:34:10,516 --> 00:34:14,186
to be closer to him,
work with him on a daily basis.
636
00:34:15,687 --> 00:34:19,091
People started
to reach out to him
to ask him for his advice
637
00:34:19,291 --> 00:34:21,627
on a lot of the foreign, um,
638
00:34:21,827 --> 00:34:24,130
you know, what was happening
in foreign countries.
639
00:34:24,330 --> 00:34:27,099
And so, he was
advising everybody.
640
00:34:27,299 --> 00:34:29,268
[Flynn] When I looked
at what the country needed,
641
00:34:29,468 --> 00:34:32,571
the country didn't need
another Clinton or another Bush.
642
00:34:33,739 --> 00:34:34,740
That was clear.
643
00:34:38,210 --> 00:34:40,612
[Michael Jr.] I am pretty
sure that he knew then
644
00:34:40,812 --> 00:34:44,416
that Donald Trump
was going to be the nominee.
645
00:34:44,583 --> 00:34:47,018
We did meet
with other candidates.
646
00:34:47,186 --> 00:34:51,357
I mean, I remember sitting down
with Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina,
Ted Cruz.
647
00:34:51,523 --> 00:34:56,762
Probably why I wasn't
asked to help those,
Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton.
648
00:34:56,928 --> 00:34:59,931
But also I never said no,
I was just never asked.
649
00:35:00,098 --> 00:35:03,402
You know, I was--
I was praying that there was
going to be somebody
650
00:35:03,569 --> 00:35:09,408
that rose out of the ashes
who wasn't a typical politician.
651
00:35:09,575 --> 00:35:12,244
And I looked at him
and I go, "Donald Trump?
Are you out of your mind?"
652
00:35:12,411 --> 00:35:14,380
And he goes,
"I'm telling you right now,
653
00:35:14,546 --> 00:35:16,248
Donald Trump
can beat Hillary Clinton."
654
00:35:16,415 --> 00:35:17,916
I said, "Why?"
655
00:35:18,083 --> 00:35:19,985
He goes,
"Because the country is--
656
00:35:20,186 --> 00:35:22,454
the country's ready
for something different."
657
00:35:22,621 --> 00:35:25,023
[triumphant music playing]
658
00:35:25,224 --> 00:35:29,761
[Michael Jr.] He met Trump
for the first time in 2015.
659
00:35:29,928 --> 00:35:33,799
He expected it to only be like
maybe a 20-to 30-minute meeting.
660
00:35:33,965 --> 00:35:36,168
It turned into like
a two-and-a-half-hour-long
meeting.
661
00:35:36,368 --> 00:35:40,105
If we can end these,
these wars that we are in,
662
00:35:40,272 --> 00:35:42,007
we're-- where we're pouring
trillions and trillions
of dollars,
663
00:35:42,208 --> 00:35:43,809
and we're not winning.
664
00:35:43,975 --> 00:35:46,312
And Trump was the one
that had that, that's,
665
00:35:46,478 --> 00:35:49,315
that was the conversation
that I initially had with him.
666
00:35:49,481 --> 00:35:52,818
I was happy
to support Trump as well
667
00:35:52,984 --> 00:35:55,153
because I just wanted to see,
I wanted--
668
00:35:55,321 --> 00:35:57,356
I didn't see all the hope
and change as much as I wanted,
669
00:35:57,556 --> 00:35:59,625
you know, with Obama.
670
00:35:59,791 --> 00:36:01,593
And I wanted to see
what would happen with Trump.
671
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:03,362
My first bombshell.
672
00:36:04,330 --> 00:36:07,699
My first, [inhales deeply]
"Uh-oh," was,
673
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,035
and I was proud of him.
674
00:36:10,236 --> 00:36:14,306
I was, it's true, but was
at that Republican convention.
675
00:36:14,473 --> 00:36:18,043
But I was concerned
about that with him
676
00:36:18,244 --> 00:36:23,315
because he was now in a--
in another world with politics.
677
00:36:23,515 --> 00:36:26,952
- [audience cheering]
- Elect Donald Trump
678
00:36:27,152 --> 00:36:30,722
as the next president
of the United States
of America.
679
00:36:30,922 --> 00:36:33,625
Thank you very much,
and God bless America.
680
00:36:33,825 --> 00:36:35,894
[Flynn] From that moment on,
I really,
681
00:36:36,094 --> 00:36:39,665
I started to ride with,
with, with Donald Trump,
682
00:36:39,831 --> 00:36:41,300
literally ride with him.
683
00:36:41,467 --> 00:36:43,001
And we'd fly
all over the country
684
00:36:43,168 --> 00:36:45,371
and go to these different
campaign rallies.
685
00:36:45,537 --> 00:36:48,507
We'd do three or four cities
in a day.
686
00:36:48,674 --> 00:36:52,110
And every place that we went to
would have no less than
687
00:36:52,311 --> 00:36:55,947
10,000 people,
and in most cases,
they had 20-, 30,000 people.
688
00:36:56,147 --> 00:36:59,751
- Unbelievable.
- [crowd cheering and applauding]
689
00:37:01,853 --> 00:37:03,589
[crowd chanting] USA!
690
00:37:03,789 --> 00:37:05,424
[Trump] We are going
to win back the White House.
691
00:37:05,624 --> 00:37:08,193
[Flynn] It reinforced
for me the sentiment
692
00:37:08,394 --> 00:37:11,530
that I felt about the direction
of the country.
693
00:37:11,697 --> 00:37:14,700
These big institutions,
these complexes, right?
694
00:37:14,866 --> 00:37:16,602
I call it the security
state complex,
695
00:37:16,802 --> 00:37:20,105
the military-industrial complex,
where they were leading us.
696
00:37:21,273 --> 00:37:24,776
And they're leading us
down a path that,
697
00:37:24,976 --> 00:37:26,912
that nobody wants to go down.
698
00:37:27,078 --> 00:37:28,914
You know, it's like
they say, right,
699
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:30,849
Flynn knows where
the bodies are buried.
700
00:37:31,016 --> 00:37:34,853
That's a metaphor
for understanding how dangerous
701
00:37:35,020 --> 00:37:38,490
our system of government
has, has become.
702
00:37:38,690 --> 00:37:42,794
And now I'm advising a guy
who looks to be, you know, a,
703
00:37:42,994 --> 00:37:45,631
he's the front runner
for one of the major parties.
704
00:37:46,565 --> 00:37:48,300
And he's gonna, you know,
he has a shot at being
705
00:37:48,500 --> 00:37:50,469
president of the United States
of America.
706
00:37:50,669 --> 00:37:53,038
Big deal, right?
It's huge. It's a start.
707
00:37:53,939 --> 00:38:00,312
And so you fast forward into,
into June of 2016.
708
00:38:00,512 --> 00:38:02,781
And now I get a phone call
from Corey Lewandowski saying,
709
00:38:02,948 --> 00:38:06,051
"Hey, we're going to vet you
for vice president
of the United States."
710
00:38:06,685 --> 00:38:10,055
I says, "Wow."
That's-- that was like--
711
00:38:10,221 --> 00:38:11,590
I didn't expect that.
712
00:38:11,757 --> 00:38:15,026
I'm saying it. I don't-- I think
713
00:38:15,226 --> 00:38:17,563
Pence envied
Mike's relationship
with Donald Trump.
714
00:38:18,964 --> 00:38:23,335
Trump respects people
that know how to work.
715
00:38:23,535 --> 00:38:26,271
Pence was
a lifetime politician.
716
00:38:26,472 --> 00:38:29,641
Priebus was
a lifetime politician .
717
00:38:29,808 --> 00:38:32,911
They're GOP party hacks.
718
00:38:33,078 --> 00:38:38,183
Mike was
a dyed-in-the-wool soldier.
719
00:38:39,485 --> 00:38:45,491
Trump traveled
with Michael for months
before he was elected.
720
00:38:46,425 --> 00:38:48,326
Pence was pulled in politically.
721
00:38:48,494 --> 00:38:53,365
Mike became close to Trump
as a friend and trusted...
722
00:38:54,332 --> 00:38:58,370
I don't know, advisor,
ally in the trenches through--
723
00:38:58,570 --> 00:39:01,039
through the election process.
724
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:06,311
[Flynn] Mike Pence,
Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie,
and Mike Flynn.
725
00:39:06,512 --> 00:39:08,547
You know, and it's humbling.
726
00:39:08,747 --> 00:39:10,916
It's a humbling,
humbling experience,
727
00:39:11,116 --> 00:39:14,586
to even be considered, to be
thought about like that.
728
00:39:14,786 --> 00:39:17,456
The fascinating thing
about that is
729
00:39:18,123 --> 00:39:20,726
that, of those four people,
three of them were,
730
00:39:20,926 --> 00:39:23,328
I would call,
hardcore Republicans.
731
00:39:23,495 --> 00:39:27,165
One, Mike Flynn,
is a registered Democrat.
732
00:39:28,634 --> 00:39:31,570
I went into the White House
as a-- as a Democrat, right,
733
00:39:31,770 --> 00:39:33,338
because I didn't give
a shit about the politics.
734
00:39:33,505 --> 00:39:35,841
What I cared about
was our country.
735
00:39:36,542 --> 00:39:39,010
So I get a phone call, you know,
from Trump, you know,
736
00:39:39,177 --> 00:39:40,646
"How you doing, Donald,
what's going on?"
737
00:39:40,812 --> 00:39:42,748
He goes, "Well, you know,
you've seen everything."
738
00:39:42,948 --> 00:39:45,183
He goes, "I'm not gonna
go with you as,
739
00:39:45,350 --> 00:39:47,586
as the vice president,"
and he, and he kind of,
740
00:39:47,786 --> 00:39:49,855
you know,
flippantly jokes, says,
741
00:39:50,021 --> 00:39:53,224
"In another time, you know,
maybe being a Democrat
742
00:39:53,391 --> 00:39:55,193
would be a good thing, but,"
he goes, "but it's, you know,
743
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:56,528
it's not going
to work out this time."
744
00:39:56,695 --> 00:39:58,029
And I said, "No problem.
745
00:39:58,196 --> 00:40:00,365
I'm, I'm, you know,
I'm here to help.
746
00:40:00,532 --> 00:40:02,233
However I can,
you know, help out."
747
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,170
And, and he told me
he was going to Indiana
748
00:40:05,336 --> 00:40:07,272
and Mike Pence was
going to be his-- his choice.
749
00:40:07,473 --> 00:40:11,042
The next vice president
of the United States,
750
00:40:11,242 --> 00:40:13,011
Governor Mike Pence.
751
00:40:13,211 --> 00:40:16,181
- Thank you, everybody,
thank you.
- [cheering]
752
00:40:16,381 --> 00:40:17,883
[Flynn] All these
other sycophants
753
00:40:18,083 --> 00:40:20,318
and all these people
that are consultants
754
00:40:20,519 --> 00:40:22,187
and, and part of the campaign,
they're, like, getting paid.
755
00:40:22,353 --> 00:40:23,855
They're on a payroll,
big payroll.
756
00:40:24,022 --> 00:40:25,423
I never took a dime, not a dime.
757
00:40:25,591 --> 00:40:27,926
I didn't get paid a cent.
758
00:40:28,093 --> 00:40:30,729
I did that because that's what
I felt like was my--
759
00:40:30,929 --> 00:40:33,364
my, like, responsibility.
760
00:40:36,334 --> 00:40:37,803
[Trump on TV] They spied
on my campaign.
761
00:40:38,003 --> 00:40:39,471
[Leslie on TV] There's
no evidence of that.
762
00:40:39,705 --> 00:40:41,673
- [Trump] Of course there is.
- [Leslie] No.
763
00:40:41,873 --> 00:40:43,374
- Leslie,
they spied on my campaign--
- [Leslie] Sir...
764
00:40:43,575 --> 00:40:44,976
And then they got caught.
765
00:40:45,176 --> 00:40:47,445
The government,
the federal government,
766
00:40:47,613 --> 00:40:49,280
the United States
intelligence community,
767
00:40:49,447 --> 00:40:51,717
elements within it,
768
00:40:51,883 --> 00:40:54,586
the most senior
law enforcement organization
769
00:40:54,753 --> 00:40:56,722
in the country, the FBI,
770
00:40:56,888 --> 00:40:59,157
was spying
on a presidential campaign.
771
00:40:59,357 --> 00:41:00,826
We didn't know it.
772
00:41:01,026 --> 00:41:02,561
We can't put on things
we can't verify.
773
00:41:02,761 --> 00:41:04,563
Leslie,
they spied on my campaign.
774
00:41:04,763 --> 00:41:06,364
- Well, we can't verify that.
- It's been totally verified.
775
00:41:06,598 --> 00:41:08,066
No.
776
00:41:08,266 --> 00:41:10,035
[reporter] Donald J. Trump
will become
777
00:41:10,235 --> 00:41:13,038
the 45th president
of the United States,
778
00:41:13,238 --> 00:41:15,273
defeating Hillary Clinton
in a campaign
779
00:41:15,473 --> 00:41:19,410
unlike anything we've seen
in our lifetime.
780
00:41:19,578 --> 00:41:20,746
And I'd be lying if I--
781
00:41:20,912 --> 00:41:23,281
if I didn't admit that,
like, you know,
782
00:41:23,481 --> 00:41:26,251
I, I didn't really think
Trump was gonna win either.
783
00:41:26,451 --> 00:41:29,087
But then he got elected.
784
00:41:29,287 --> 00:41:31,089
[Obama] As I said last night,
785
00:41:31,289 --> 00:41:34,560
my number one priority
in the coming two months
786
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:38,964
is to try to facilitate
a transition
787
00:41:39,164 --> 00:41:41,967
that ensures our president-
elect is successful.
788
00:41:42,167 --> 00:41:45,470
[Flynn] Obama talks
to Trump about two people.
789
00:41:45,637 --> 00:41:49,975
Threats, apparently,
to him, certainly to,
790
00:41:50,141 --> 00:41:52,110
at least one
to the United States,
791
00:41:52,277 --> 00:41:54,546
and one of them was Kim Jong Un,
792
00:41:54,746 --> 00:41:57,649
the dictator
over in North Korea,
793
00:41:57,816 --> 00:42:01,152
and the other was
General Mike Flynn.
794
00:42:01,953 --> 00:42:04,890
You know, the one thing
Obama tells Trump is,
795
00:42:05,090 --> 00:42:07,893
don't hire,
don't hire General Flynn.
796
00:42:08,093 --> 00:42:10,428
I mean, you can't
make this stuff up.
797
00:42:10,629 --> 00:42:13,398
[Flynn] So I go
upstairs to Trump's office,
798
00:42:13,599 --> 00:42:15,533
and he started telling me
about this conversation
799
00:42:15,701 --> 00:42:18,570
that he had had with--
with Barack Obama.
800
00:42:18,770 --> 00:42:20,138
And I said, "Really?"
801
00:42:20,305 --> 00:42:21,539
And he goes,
"What do you think about that?"
802
00:42:21,707 --> 00:42:22,974
And I said, "You know something?
803
00:42:23,141 --> 00:42:25,677
I've never met the guy."
Never met him.
804
00:42:25,844 --> 00:42:27,378
Never met Barack Obama.
805
00:42:27,545 --> 00:42:29,180
Although he picked me twice
for two key jobs.
806
00:42:29,347 --> 00:42:32,017
I said, "I never had
the opportunity to meet the guy,
807
00:42:32,183 --> 00:42:33,551
so why-- why he would say
something like that,
808
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:35,353
I have no idea."
809
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:36,822
And he goes,
"Yeah, neither do I."
810
00:42:36,988 --> 00:42:39,257
And he goes,
"I don't trust the guy."
811
00:42:40,726 --> 00:42:42,260
[somber music playing]
812
00:42:45,163 --> 00:42:47,332
[Flynn] I stood up for him,
I stood up with him.
813
00:42:47,532 --> 00:42:49,000
We won.
814
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,036
And he turns around and goes,
815
00:42:51,236 --> 00:42:53,138
"Want you to come in and be
my National Security Adviser."
816
00:42:53,338 --> 00:42:55,707
That's a really difficult
question to say no to.
817
00:42:59,177 --> 00:43:01,012
So I said yes.
818
00:43:01,212 --> 00:43:04,315
We shook hands, we took a--
took some photos,
819
00:43:04,515 --> 00:43:08,386
we put out a press release
about it,
820
00:43:08,586 --> 00:43:11,189
and it just seemed like
all hell broke loose.
821
00:43:11,389 --> 00:43:13,725
I mean, it just really seemed
like all hell broke loose.
822
00:43:13,892 --> 00:43:15,593
There's going to be
823
00:43:15,761 --> 00:43:19,030
a complete cleansing
of the fraud, waste, and abuse,
824
00:43:19,230 --> 00:43:20,966
because there was indications
that he was going to do
825
00:43:21,166 --> 00:43:23,835
a look and audit into
the National Security System
826
00:43:24,035 --> 00:43:25,837
to root out the rot,
827
00:43:26,037 --> 00:43:28,740
but not just
in one little agency.
828
00:43:28,907 --> 00:43:30,709
The National Security Advisor
829
00:43:30,876 --> 00:43:33,879
is essentially above
the Intelligence Community,
830
00:43:34,045 --> 00:43:36,147
the Department of Defense,
831
00:43:36,347 --> 00:43:38,383
and the Foreign Policy
Community,
832
00:43:38,549 --> 00:43:40,618
the State Department.
833
00:43:40,786 --> 00:43:44,422
So they have purview over
all those three kind of areas
834
00:43:44,589 --> 00:43:48,459
within our entire
national security,
835
00:43:48,626 --> 00:43:52,130
foreign policy-making community.
836
00:43:52,297 --> 00:43:54,265
That's big.
837
00:43:54,432 --> 00:43:56,835
I didn't run the Defense
Intelligence Agency.
838
00:43:57,035 --> 00:43:59,805
But if a guy stands up
who did, and says,
839
00:43:59,971 --> 00:44:02,407
"Well, actually, I sort of--
I sort of know a lot about this
840
00:44:02,573 --> 00:44:05,243
because I ran the Defense
Intelligence Agency,"
841
00:44:05,410 --> 00:44:07,746
that's a voice
with weight and authority.
842
00:44:07,913 --> 00:44:10,181
That is a massive threat
to them.
843
00:44:11,382 --> 00:44:13,184
[Flynn] Probably one of
the most powerful positions
844
00:44:13,384 --> 00:44:16,454
in the entirety
of the government.
845
00:44:17,055 --> 00:44:21,126
Because you are a close personal
advisor on a daily basis.
846
00:44:21,292 --> 00:44:23,161
You continue to travel
with the president, you know,
847
00:44:23,328 --> 00:44:26,732
you are there in all of
the critical meetings,
848
00:44:26,932 --> 00:44:29,634
all the critical decisions
for the country.
849
00:44:29,835 --> 00:44:31,837
You know,
I was incredibly honored.
850
00:44:32,003 --> 00:44:35,774
I felt, I felt
very well prepared.
851
00:44:35,941 --> 00:44:41,713
Um, and I was brutally,
brutally attacked.
852
00:44:42,814 --> 00:44:46,284
The bureaucracy
targeted those of us
853
00:44:46,451 --> 00:44:48,153
who supported
the president's mission
854
00:44:48,319 --> 00:44:50,221
of making
the federal bureaucracy
855
00:44:50,421 --> 00:44:51,890
accountable
to the American people.
856
00:44:52,090 --> 00:44:53,458
From the outcome of the election
857
00:44:53,624 --> 00:44:56,527
until the Inauguration Day,
there is a,
858
00:44:56,694 --> 00:44:59,697
there is an entire
operation ongoing
859
00:44:59,865 --> 00:45:02,333
that the government
actually plans for.
860
00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:04,169
But-- but now,
it was a bit different.
861
00:45:04,335 --> 00:45:07,672
The-- the transition
that we had,
862
00:45:07,873 --> 00:45:12,443
it was like we were at war,
and it was being made so hard
863
00:45:12,643 --> 00:45:15,747
by elements
within our own government.
864
00:45:19,851 --> 00:45:22,253
So this is now
the Christmas holidays.
865
00:45:22,453 --> 00:45:24,189
My wife Lori and I said,
866
00:45:24,355 --> 00:45:26,324
before I go back
into the White House,
867
00:45:26,491 --> 00:45:28,760
let's go take one last vacation.
868
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:31,029
And so we decided we're gonna go
down to the Dominican Republic.
869
00:45:31,196 --> 00:45:33,564
We went down there
for basically a short week,
870
00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:35,834
and I ended up having to
shorten it because of
871
00:45:36,001 --> 00:45:38,837
all of the craziness
that was happening up in DC.
872
00:45:39,037 --> 00:45:40,505
[reporter]
It's an unprecedented strike;
873
00:45:40,705 --> 00:45:42,707
the White House
punishing Russia,
874
00:45:42,908 --> 00:45:45,143
in part for interfering
in the US election.
875
00:45:45,343 --> 00:45:46,978
[reporter] The US is ordering
876
00:45:47,178 --> 00:45:49,180
35 Russian intelligence
operatives
877
00:45:49,380 --> 00:45:52,217
and their families
in California
and Washington D.C.
878
00:45:52,417 --> 00:45:54,019
out of the country.
879
00:45:54,185 --> 00:45:56,955
So a couple of
different phone calls,
880
00:45:57,155 --> 00:46:00,859
but one of whom was with
Ambassador Kislyak, right,
881
00:46:01,026 --> 00:46:03,561
the very famous
Russian ambassador.
882
00:46:03,728 --> 00:46:06,531
I probably made him more,
more famous, right?
883
00:46:06,697 --> 00:46:08,666
Amba-- you know,
Ambassador Kislyak,
884
00:46:08,867 --> 00:46:10,568
he's just like,
he looks like a grandfather
885
00:46:10,768 --> 00:46:14,272
who smokes too many cigars
and probably,
886
00:46:14,439 --> 00:46:16,574
you know, sniffs a little bit
too much whiskey, right?
887
00:46:16,774 --> 00:46:19,744
Tonight, a Kremlin spokesman
is accusing President Obama
888
00:46:19,945 --> 00:46:22,147
of trying to spoil
U.S.-Russian relations.
889
00:46:22,347 --> 00:46:24,883
Look, Russia.
890
00:46:25,050 --> 00:46:28,119
I know you're going to
have to do something.
891
00:46:28,286 --> 00:46:30,588
I don't appreciate
what happened.
892
00:46:30,755 --> 00:46:34,059
So I'm being honest with them.
Because it wasn't our call,
893
00:46:34,225 --> 00:46:36,594
it was the current
administration's call.
894
00:46:36,794 --> 00:46:39,197
I don't appreciate
what happened, but--
895
00:46:39,397 --> 00:46:43,201
and I know that you're going to
have to take some measures,
896
00:46:43,401 --> 00:46:44,435
but let's not have
a tit-for-tat,
897
00:46:44,635 --> 00:46:46,271
because we don't want to--
898
00:46:46,471 --> 00:46:48,073
we don't want to lose our minds
over this and-- and--
899
00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:50,475
and cause some greater--
some greater outcome,
900
00:46:50,641 --> 00:46:52,177
like going to war.
901
00:46:52,377 --> 00:46:55,280
But I get a phone call
a couple of days later,
902
00:46:55,446 --> 00:46:57,682
and he says, "Message received."
903
00:46:57,883 --> 00:47:00,451
They're not going to take
any extreme action.
904
00:47:00,618 --> 00:47:03,688
Talk about, you know,
being able to settle down
905
00:47:03,889 --> 00:47:06,524
something that could have
gotten vastly worse.
906
00:47:06,724 --> 00:47:09,627
Why do we have
a State Department?
907
00:47:09,794 --> 00:47:12,297
Why do we have all these
intelligence agencies?
908
00:47:12,463 --> 00:47:15,500
It's to, you know,
to protect America,
909
00:47:15,666 --> 00:47:17,635
protect American interests,
910
00:47:17,802 --> 00:47:22,640
and to keep dialogue open
between our adversaries,
911
00:47:22,807 --> 00:47:26,111
our allies, anyone in between.
912
00:47:26,277 --> 00:47:29,314
So the whole idea
that General Flynn
913
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:32,717
was doing something wrong
was ridiculous.
914
00:47:32,918 --> 00:47:36,187
He was doing exactly what
he should have been doing
at the time.
915
00:47:36,354 --> 00:47:38,556
He was the incoming
National Security Advisor.
916
00:47:38,756 --> 00:47:42,060
His job, his role,
was to help to coordinate
917
00:47:42,260 --> 00:47:44,930
that whole strategy
across all of government
918
00:47:45,130 --> 00:47:48,566
to try to do what?
Prevent war.
919
00:47:48,766 --> 00:47:55,506
January 20, 2017,
will be remembered as the day
920
00:47:55,706 --> 00:48:01,179
the people became the rulers
of this nation again.
921
00:48:01,379 --> 00:48:02,680
[Flynn]
We were ready for change
922
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:04,682
and we needed to
get things moving.
923
00:48:04,882 --> 00:48:07,052
One of the things
I was looking to do was to
924
00:48:07,218 --> 00:48:11,689
dig in and take a hard look
at some of the programs
925
00:48:11,856 --> 00:48:16,361
that the U.S. intelligence
community was involved in
926
00:48:16,527 --> 00:48:22,000
that I felt
were useless, costly,
927
00:48:22,167 --> 00:48:24,369
and, uh, and corrupt.
928
00:48:24,535 --> 00:48:28,373
And in fact, I sat through
a presentation with
929
00:48:28,539 --> 00:48:31,109
the incoming
vice president, Mike Pence,
930
00:48:31,309 --> 00:48:34,412
in the, in the transition
headquarters.
931
00:48:34,579 --> 00:48:37,382
As we're being presented it,
I started asking questions like,
932
00:48:37,548 --> 00:48:41,019
"Well, okay, this program
that's been going on
933
00:48:41,186 --> 00:48:44,289
for a long time,
what has it accomplished?"
934
00:48:44,489 --> 00:48:45,690
"Oh, we're gonna have to..."
935
00:48:45,856 --> 00:48:47,692
I mean, then you get this.
936
00:48:47,858 --> 00:48:51,262
Again, these are senior guys.
These are like the top,
937
00:48:51,429 --> 00:48:53,698
top people in the CIA.
938
00:48:53,864 --> 00:48:55,300
They're like this,
and they're like,
939
00:48:55,500 --> 00:48:57,302
"Well, we're gonna
have to come back
940
00:48:57,502 --> 00:48:59,637
and we're gonna have to give you
a separate briefing on that."
941
00:48:59,837 --> 00:49:03,574
I ended up calling
to have that briefing again.
942
00:49:03,741 --> 00:49:06,144
The next time
I called for it was--
943
00:49:06,344 --> 00:49:09,447
it was in the first week
I was there, and it was me
944
00:49:09,614 --> 00:49:13,218
as the National Security Advisor
now inside the White House.
945
00:49:13,384 --> 00:49:15,987
I got the same briefing,
but this time they sent
946
00:49:16,187 --> 00:49:17,989
a whole bunch more people, right?
947
00:49:18,189 --> 00:49:19,724
Because like, they knew,
948
00:49:19,890 --> 00:49:22,727
because now I'm starting to,
to dig in.
949
00:49:22,893 --> 00:49:24,295
[slow music playing]
950
00:49:28,366 --> 00:49:31,436
[Flynn] Thousands and thousands
of years ago,
951
00:49:31,636 --> 00:49:36,074
guys like Sun Tzu,
famous military theoretician,
952
00:49:36,241 --> 00:49:38,076
studied him.
953
00:49:38,243 --> 00:49:41,512
Everybody that's ever served
in the military at some level,
954
00:49:41,712 --> 00:49:43,348
stayed in long enough,
has-- has...
955
00:49:43,548 --> 00:49:44,682
Hell, even a lot of
people in business
956
00:49:44,882 --> 00:49:47,985
study Sun Tzu's Art of War.
957
00:49:48,153 --> 00:49:51,022
Well, what did Sun Tzu
say about war?
958
00:49:51,222 --> 00:49:53,458
War is deception.
959
00:49:55,293 --> 00:49:58,296
A war can be a war
in the narratives,
960
00:49:58,963 --> 00:50:02,067
in how information is deployed
961
00:50:02,767 --> 00:50:06,804
in order to manipulate
the belief system of people.
962
00:50:08,639 --> 00:50:12,277
And so now, instead of,
[imitates gunshot] you know,
963
00:50:12,443 --> 00:50:14,279
putting a bullet
through somebody's head,
964
00:50:14,445 --> 00:50:18,616
you assassinate them
by narrative.
965
00:50:18,783 --> 00:50:21,986
And for a guy by the--
by the name of Sun Tzu,
966
00:50:22,153 --> 00:50:25,356
who wrote about
all wars are deception
967
00:50:25,523 --> 00:50:27,325
thousands of years ago, right?
968
00:50:28,459 --> 00:50:30,561
Nothing's changed.
969
00:50:30,761 --> 00:50:34,132
The intelligence agencies are
970
00:50:35,100 --> 00:50:38,803
working with the legacy media
971
00:50:38,969 --> 00:50:41,306
to shape public perception
of world events.
972
00:50:41,472 --> 00:50:44,008
That is not speculation.
973
00:50:44,175 --> 00:50:46,010
I'm not some outsider
who's guessing at this
974
00:50:46,177 --> 00:50:47,478
because they read about it
on the internet.
975
00:50:47,645 --> 00:50:49,013
I've spent my whole life
working,
976
00:50:49,180 --> 00:50:50,648
my father worked at ABC News
977
00:50:50,815 --> 00:50:52,717
before going to work
for the government;
978
00:50:52,883 --> 00:50:54,385
you know, engaged
in the Cold War.
979
00:50:54,552 --> 00:50:57,522
So I've seen both sides
of this my whole life,
980
00:50:57,688 --> 00:50:59,324
for 53 years.
981
00:50:59,490 --> 00:51:03,228
So I can say
with authority and certainty
982
00:51:03,394 --> 00:51:07,698
that the intel agencies shape
news coverage of world events.
983
00:51:07,865 --> 00:51:09,600
And the more significant
the world event,
984
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:13,704
the more meaningful it is,
the higher the consequences are,
985
00:51:13,871 --> 00:51:15,440
the more aggressively
they shape it.
986
00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:18,376
Because the CIA's,
they're masters at propaganda,
987
00:51:18,543 --> 00:51:20,911
they're masters at,
at, at what's called
988
00:51:21,078 --> 00:51:24,849
covert influence,
covert operations. Right?
989
00:51:25,015 --> 00:51:28,419
Hollywood, the media.
990
00:51:28,586 --> 00:51:32,089
You're not
a conspiracy theorist.
991
00:51:32,257 --> 00:51:35,626
You're an observer
of verifiable reality
992
00:51:35,826 --> 00:51:39,864
if you state factually,
the news,
993
00:51:40,030 --> 00:51:41,299
organizations of record--
994
00:51:41,499 --> 00:51:42,967
Washington Post
and New York Times--
995
00:51:43,168 --> 00:51:45,403
are working with
the intel agencies
996
00:51:45,570 --> 00:51:47,372
to lie to the public
997
00:51:47,538 --> 00:51:49,807
and to hide relevant information
from the public. That is a fact.
998
00:51:50,007 --> 00:51:51,376
Eisenhower
had his own imperfections,
999
00:51:51,542 --> 00:51:53,244
JFK had his own imperfections,
1000
00:51:53,411 --> 00:51:56,447
but they, you know,
but they understood
1001
00:51:56,614 --> 00:51:58,583
that there was
something not right.
1002
00:51:58,749 --> 00:52:00,918
And Eisenhower
was really the first
1003
00:52:01,085 --> 00:52:03,188
in a very somber warning.
1004
00:52:03,388 --> 00:52:07,392
In the councils of government,
we must guard against
1005
00:52:07,592 --> 00:52:09,694
the acquisition
of unwarranted influence,
1006
00:52:09,894 --> 00:52:11,229
whether sought or unsought,
1007
00:52:11,429 --> 00:52:14,899
by the military-industrial
complex.
1008
00:52:15,065 --> 00:52:16,567
He used this term
1009
00:52:16,734 --> 00:52:18,403
"the military-industrial
complex."
1010
00:52:18,569 --> 00:52:21,506
And back then,
in Eisenhower's era,
1011
00:52:21,706 --> 00:52:24,342
it was not very well developed.
1012
00:52:24,542 --> 00:52:28,646
Uh, now we have a
services complex as well.
1013
00:52:28,813 --> 00:52:32,683
And it seems that there are
too many of our leaders
1014
00:52:32,883 --> 00:52:36,521
in the federal government,
in the Department of Defense,
1015
00:52:36,721 --> 00:52:41,192
that really put
the interests of themselves,
1016
00:52:41,392 --> 00:52:45,496
their crony contractor friends,
and, and their careers
1017
00:52:45,663 --> 00:52:47,632
over the national interest.
1018
00:52:47,798 --> 00:52:50,968
Why did a guy
like John F. Kennedy
get assassinated?
1019
00:52:51,168 --> 00:52:55,773
He got assassinated because
he called out something
1020
00:52:55,973 --> 00:53:01,479
that he knew to be a corrupt
component of the government
1021
00:53:01,679 --> 00:53:04,382
that was trying to usurp
his authority
1022
00:53:04,582 --> 00:53:06,116
as the duly elected
1023
00:53:06,284 --> 00:53:08,719
president of the United States
of America.
1024
00:53:08,919 --> 00:53:11,822
I-- I think the assassinations
1025
00:53:12,022 --> 00:53:16,794
of the 1960s
are worth reassessing
1026
00:53:16,994 --> 00:53:21,332
because they tell you
what the system is capable of.
1027
00:53:21,499 --> 00:53:23,033
Not just individuals,
1028
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,571
but the system in which
they live, work, and thrive.
1029
00:53:26,771 --> 00:53:30,007
The imperative to preserve
that system is so overwhelming
1030
00:53:30,641 --> 00:53:32,977
that individual players
in the system
1031
00:53:33,143 --> 00:53:36,247
can be sacrificed
in the name of preserving it.
1032
00:53:36,447 --> 00:53:38,483
Like, you just need to
understand the stakes here.
1033
00:53:38,649 --> 00:53:39,884
So, if you're Flynn
and you're standing up
1034
00:53:40,050 --> 00:53:41,986
and saying, "Wait a second."
1035
00:53:42,152 --> 00:53:44,088
You know, in retrospect,
I think it's fair to,
1036
00:53:44,289 --> 00:53:48,025
to expect that they would
effectively try to kill you.
1037
00:53:48,192 --> 00:53:51,696
You know, maybe not shoot you
in Dealey Plaza,
1038
00:53:51,862 --> 00:53:53,731
but put you in prison,
impoverish your family,
1039
00:53:53,898 --> 00:53:58,035
silence you, dismiss you in
the eyes of most as ridiculous.
1040
00:53:58,202 --> 00:54:01,606
I thought it was
an opportunity to, to take
1041
00:54:01,806 --> 00:54:04,208
a look, a hard look
at organizations,
1042
00:54:04,375 --> 00:54:06,243
one of which I ran.
1043
00:54:06,411 --> 00:54:10,014
And I knew a lot about other
aspects of the security state
1044
00:54:10,180 --> 00:54:11,782
because it's not just
the intelligence community.
1045
00:54:11,982 --> 00:54:13,183
It's the Department of Defense
1046
00:54:13,351 --> 00:54:14,752
and includes
the Department of State,
1047
00:54:14,919 --> 00:54:17,254
includes places like
the White House itself,
1048
00:54:17,422 --> 00:54:19,223
and includes
the Department of Justice,
1049
00:54:19,390 --> 00:54:21,258
includes the FBI.
1050
00:54:21,426 --> 00:54:23,060
And that revolving door
in the intelligence community,
1051
00:54:23,227 --> 00:54:25,863
with social media companies,
with big banks,
1052
00:54:26,030 --> 00:54:27,865
with big corporations,
1053
00:54:28,032 --> 00:54:29,767
has been going on
for years and years and years.
1054
00:54:29,934 --> 00:54:32,236
They recruit people
out of those agencies
1055
00:54:32,403 --> 00:54:33,804
to come work for them.
1056
00:54:34,004 --> 00:54:35,873
It's grotesque.
1057
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:41,111
I mean, that's when you know,
when you turn on CNN or MSNBC,
1058
00:54:41,278 --> 00:54:43,514
and you see an endless parade
1059
00:54:43,714 --> 00:54:45,182
of former
federal law enforcement
1060
00:54:45,383 --> 00:54:47,852
or federal intelligence
officials paid,
1061
00:54:48,052 --> 00:54:50,855
coming on the air
to analyze politics,
1062
00:54:51,055 --> 00:54:52,890
then you know
that this organization
1063
00:54:53,090 --> 00:54:54,825
has been captured
by those agencies.
1064
00:54:55,360 --> 00:54:58,128
I mean, these are not just
former government employees;
1065
00:54:58,295 --> 00:55:00,431
these are people with
active security clearances.
1066
00:55:00,631 --> 00:55:03,200
Still, they retain
their security clearances.
1067
00:55:03,401 --> 00:55:05,603
So they are
in continuous communication
1068
00:55:05,803 --> 00:55:07,772
with their former colleagues
at these agencies,
1069
00:55:07,972 --> 00:55:09,974
because it's legal, because
they have the clearance.
1070
00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:13,511
And so, they are acting
effectively as spokesmen
1071
00:55:13,711 --> 00:55:15,112
for these federal agencies,
1072
00:55:15,279 --> 00:55:17,682
and they're on the air
as news analysts.
1073
00:55:17,882 --> 00:55:22,353
I cannot think of
a more perverse system.
1074
00:55:22,553 --> 00:55:24,121
I think, I think
there were conversations
1075
00:55:24,321 --> 00:55:26,391
and messages between
Peter Strzok and someone
1076
00:55:26,591 --> 00:55:28,058
inside of the office of
1077
00:55:28,258 --> 00:55:29,527
the Vice President
of the United States.
1078
00:55:32,630 --> 00:55:37,502
In retrospect,
it's pretty obvious to me
1079
00:55:37,668 --> 00:55:43,273
that Mike Pence was brought in
and presented to Donald Trump,
1080
00:55:43,474 --> 00:55:44,909
who probably didn't know,
wouldn't know Mike Pence
1081
00:55:45,109 --> 00:55:47,277
if he got in the shower
with him.
1082
00:55:47,478 --> 00:55:49,213
He didn't really know
that Mike Pence
was the governor of Indiana.
1083
00:55:49,414 --> 00:55:53,984
Pence is a career politician,
Trump is a casino promoter;
1084
00:55:54,151 --> 00:55:56,120
like, they haven't had
a lot of overlap in their lives.
1085
00:55:56,286 --> 00:55:58,322
How did he wind up
getting chosen vice president?
1086
00:55:58,523 --> 00:56:01,726
And I think it's
very obviously an effort
1087
00:56:01,926 --> 00:56:05,896
by Republicans in Washington,
permanent Washington,
1088
00:56:06,096 --> 00:56:08,833
to put some kind of moderating
force right next to Trump.
1089
00:56:08,999 --> 00:56:11,335
"You know, you need him
to win the evangelicals."
1090
00:56:11,502 --> 00:56:13,638
That's how they sold him.
"He's an evangelical."
1091
00:56:13,804 --> 00:56:15,906
Trump has no idea
what an evangelical is.
1092
00:56:16,507 --> 00:56:18,042
And so, they tell him,
"You gotta have this guy.
1093
00:56:18,208 --> 00:56:19,977
You can't win without this guy."
1094
00:56:20,144 --> 00:56:22,146
And I'm not saying
Pence is a secret agent,
1095
00:56:22,312 --> 00:56:25,983
but clearly,
and I watched it firsthand,
1096
00:56:26,150 --> 00:56:29,153
Pence believed that his role
was to get Trump,
1097
00:56:29,319 --> 00:56:30,988
to the extent he could,
1098
00:56:31,155 --> 00:56:32,923
to go along with
the conventions of,
1099
00:56:33,123 --> 00:56:35,192
of Washington as it existed
before Trump got there.
1100
00:56:35,359 --> 00:56:37,495
Obviously.
1101
00:56:37,662 --> 00:56:39,263
Again, I'm not calling him
a secret agent.
1102
00:56:39,464 --> 00:56:42,032
But I am saying from day one,
1103
00:56:42,199 --> 00:56:47,705
Pence saw his job
as influencing Trump
1104
00:56:47,872 --> 00:56:49,874
to kind of let things
continue to go
1105
00:56:50,040 --> 00:56:51,609
roughly the way
they were going before.
1106
00:56:51,809 --> 00:56:54,044
That's true.
1107
00:56:54,211 --> 00:56:57,381
I think Pence played an
enormously destructive role.
1108
00:56:57,548 --> 00:57:00,851
I know that the-- I know
that there were people
1109
00:57:01,018 --> 00:57:04,221
in Pence's office
who hated Trump,
1110
00:57:04,388 --> 00:57:05,690
because they told me.
1111
00:57:05,856 --> 00:57:07,792
And if we look at RussiaGate,
1112
00:57:07,992 --> 00:57:10,461
we see different people
operating out of Pence's office
1113
00:57:10,661 --> 00:57:11,962
who are part of RussiaGate.
1114
00:57:12,162 --> 00:57:14,264
But just going by the timeline
1115
00:57:14,431 --> 00:57:17,234
and going by
what we knew happened,
1116
00:57:17,401 --> 00:57:18,469
I'm like, Pence
is making this up.
1117
00:57:18,669 --> 00:57:20,638
[reporter on TV] Good morning.
1118
00:57:20,838 --> 00:57:23,140
Retired General Michael Flynn
was during the campaign
1119
00:57:23,340 --> 00:57:25,409
and is now one of
the president's top advisors,
1120
00:57:25,610 --> 00:57:27,177
and he has acknowledged
1121
00:57:27,377 --> 00:57:30,014
having contacts with
top Russian officials.
1122
00:57:30,214 --> 00:57:33,383
But over the last several
weeks, investigators led
by the FBI
1123
00:57:33,584 --> 00:57:35,185
have been taking a closer look
1124
00:57:35,385 --> 00:57:37,021
at his calls
to the Russian ambassador.
1125
00:57:37,221 --> 00:57:39,223
[Flynn] We had
the Japanese delegation
1126
00:57:39,423 --> 00:57:42,326
down at Mar-a-Lago
for very serious meetings.
1127
00:57:42,527 --> 00:57:45,796
And-- and while, all while
that was going on that weekend,
1128
00:57:46,731 --> 00:57:50,267
Kim Jong Un, over in Korea,
starts firing some missiles.
1129
00:57:50,434 --> 00:57:53,771
This is the first time
that the Trump administration
1130
00:57:53,938 --> 00:57:57,908
is going to be tested on,
on how we respond to that.
1131
00:57:58,809 --> 00:58:01,011
And by the way,
1132
00:58:01,211 --> 00:58:03,447
Rocket Man should have been
handled a long time ago.
1133
00:58:03,614 --> 00:58:05,516
[audience applauding wildly]
1134
00:58:05,716 --> 00:58:06,951
[Flynn] They were doing it
because Abe of Japan
1135
00:58:07,618 --> 00:58:09,754
is visiting President Trump
that weekend.
1136
00:58:12,990 --> 00:58:18,328
I-- I took Abe and Trump
into a, a skiff,
1137
00:58:18,495 --> 00:58:21,431
a secure facility
that we set up at Mar-a-Lago.
1138
00:58:21,599 --> 00:58:23,768
I took those two in there
1139
00:58:23,934 --> 00:58:25,302
and briefed them
on what was happening,
1140
00:58:25,469 --> 00:58:26,837
and I showed them,
I showed them all the,
1141
00:58:27,004 --> 00:58:28,873
all the intelligence
that we had,
1142
00:58:29,073 --> 00:58:30,741
some photographs of
the missiles, all this stuff.
1143
00:58:30,941 --> 00:58:32,610
I went-- took them through
the whole thing like I,
1144
00:58:32,777 --> 00:58:35,279
like I'd briefed millions
of other intelligence briefings
1145
00:58:35,445 --> 00:58:36,513
in the past.
I laid it out in front of them.
1146
00:58:36,681 --> 00:58:39,149
The next day, we st--
1147
00:58:39,316 --> 00:58:42,486
we had more, more talks
with the Japanese
1148
00:58:42,653 --> 00:58:44,521
and we're still,
you know, reeling,
1149
00:58:44,689 --> 00:58:47,491
and the media is going crazy
about all this stuff.
1150
00:58:47,658 --> 00:58:51,028
I took like 30 minutes
to go back over to my room
1151
00:58:51,195 --> 00:58:53,197
because we're going to get back
on Air Force One.
1152
00:58:53,363 --> 00:58:56,366
Packing my bags,
and I get a phone call
and it's Reince Priebus.
1153
00:58:56,533 --> 00:58:58,302
I said, "What can I do?
You know, how can I help?"
1154
00:58:58,468 --> 00:59:03,674
And Reince Priebus tells me that
I'm in the Situation Room
1155
00:59:03,841 --> 00:59:07,144
with Vice President Pence,
1156
00:59:07,344 --> 00:59:08,746
Deputy Director of the FBI
McCabe,
1157
00:59:09,379 --> 00:59:11,415
and Deputy Attorney General
1158
00:59:11,616 --> 00:59:14,151
of the Department of Justice,
Sally Yates.
1159
00:59:14,318 --> 00:59:16,320
And they just briefed us.
1160
00:59:16,486 --> 00:59:20,057
They just showed us a document
1161
00:59:20,224 --> 00:59:23,994
that you clearly talked
about sanctions.
1162
00:59:24,194 --> 00:59:26,030
This is one of
the surreal moments,
1163
00:59:26,230 --> 00:59:27,531
it's like things
you never forget,
1164
00:59:27,698 --> 00:59:30,034
because it was such a seminal
1165
00:59:30,200 --> 00:59:33,170
and significant
emotional event for me.
1166
00:59:33,337 --> 00:59:34,939
I said, "So what are you,
what are you telling me?"
1167
00:59:35,139 --> 00:59:38,042
"Well, you know,
the vice president is upset,
1168
00:59:38,208 --> 00:59:40,778
and we're gonna, you know,
we're, we're gonna have to,
1169
00:59:40,978 --> 00:59:42,379
you know, we're gonna be
talking to you
1170
00:59:42,546 --> 00:59:43,948
when you get back."
1171
00:59:44,148 --> 00:59:45,783
Like I'm a,
I'm a fucking schoolchild.
1172
00:59:45,983 --> 00:59:49,119
I show up to the White House
the next day.
1173
00:59:49,319 --> 00:59:53,057
All kinds of--
now there's all kinds of rumors
1174
00:59:53,257 --> 00:59:56,393
about Flynn's, you know, going
to be fired, resign, you know.
1175
00:59:56,593 --> 00:59:57,628
It's all flying
all over the place.
1176
00:59:57,828 --> 01:00:00,264
So it's all leaked.
1177
01:00:00,430 --> 01:00:03,367
The Situation Room
is a very secure facility.
1178
01:00:03,533 --> 01:00:05,703
We're talking about people
that should know better.
1179
01:00:05,870 --> 01:00:07,537
I mean,
if it just those four people
1180
01:00:07,705 --> 01:00:09,974
that were in that room,
and me on that conversation.
1181
01:00:10,174 --> 01:00:14,812
That day, Reince comes
into my office and says,
1182
01:00:15,012 --> 01:00:17,915
"The president wants you to--
he's gonna want you to resign."
1183
01:00:18,082 --> 01:00:20,050
And I looked at him
and I was like, "Really?"
1184
01:00:20,217 --> 01:00:23,620
I said, "Did he say that?
1185
01:00:23,788 --> 01:00:25,489
Is that coming from you
or is that coming from him?"
1186
01:00:25,690 --> 01:00:26,957
And he said, "Well,
that's coming from him."
1187
01:00:27,124 --> 01:00:28,592
And I said, "Okay."
1188
01:00:28,759 --> 01:00:30,728
I go, "Well, here's what
I want you to do, Reince.
1189
01:00:30,895 --> 01:00:32,730
I want you to go
let the president know
1190
01:00:32,897 --> 01:00:35,232
that I want to
hear it from him."
1191
01:00:35,900 --> 01:00:39,236
And he was like,
he kind of like, and he goes,
1192
01:00:39,403 --> 01:00:41,839
"You probably should put
together a resignation letter."
1193
01:00:42,039 --> 01:00:44,108
When he called to tell me
that he was resigning, you know,
1194
01:00:44,274 --> 01:00:46,110
he told me that
"I'm going to resign tonight."
1195
01:00:46,276 --> 01:00:48,245
And I was like,
"Oh, my God, really?"
1196
01:00:48,412 --> 01:00:51,415
And it was just sort of surreal.
1197
01:00:51,581 --> 01:00:53,283
And he said, "Yeah."
1198
01:00:53,450 --> 01:00:58,422
He goes, "I'm going to go see
the president right now."
1199
01:00:58,588 --> 01:01:00,657
I was like, "Okay. I'll be here
when you get home."
1200
01:01:03,928 --> 01:01:06,864
[Flynn] Who was in
the meeting was Reince Priebus,
1201
01:01:07,064 --> 01:01:10,400
Vice President Pence,
Steve Bannon,
1202
01:01:10,600 --> 01:01:12,636
and Jared Kushner
and the president.
1203
01:01:12,837 --> 01:01:14,972
And president, you know,
reads the letter.
1204
01:01:15,172 --> 01:01:17,107
H-- he's like, I--
I could tell
1205
01:01:17,307 --> 01:01:19,309
that he was--
he was visibly upset,
1206
01:01:19,476 --> 01:01:20,878
like, but not in an angry way.
1207
01:01:21,078 --> 01:01:23,480
He was like, just upset
about the whole thing
1208
01:01:23,647 --> 01:01:26,717
because he knew how hard
that I had worked my ass off
1209
01:01:26,917 --> 01:01:29,519
for him to win the presidency.
1210
01:01:29,686 --> 01:01:31,455
And I had-- you know,
and I just wasn't
1211
01:01:31,621 --> 01:01:34,058
a guy that--
that comes across as, you know,
1212
01:01:34,258 --> 01:01:36,493
a bullshitter, you know,
or a liar. Right?
1213
01:01:36,660 --> 01:01:38,362
He said, "You know..."
1214
01:01:38,528 --> 01:01:39,730
He kind of looked
around the room, goes,
1215
01:01:39,930 --> 01:01:41,465
you know, "We okay with this?"
1216
01:01:41,631 --> 01:01:45,169
And looking back,
it could have been,
1217
01:01:45,335 --> 01:01:47,537
a couple of things
could have happened.
1218
01:01:47,704 --> 01:01:48,839
He could have said,
1219
01:01:49,006 --> 01:01:50,841
"You know what,
this is bullshit.
1220
01:01:51,008 --> 01:01:52,509
You two guys kiss and make up,"
1221
01:01:53,443 --> 01:01:54,979
because I had already apologized
to the vice president
1222
01:01:55,179 --> 01:01:56,914
about whatever it was
that he felt like
1223
01:01:57,114 --> 01:01:58,248
I had misled him on.
1224
01:01:58,448 --> 01:02:00,650
I had already apologized
to him.
1225
01:02:01,151 --> 01:02:02,920
There was no, you know, hey,
let's kiss and make up.
1226
01:02:03,120 --> 01:02:05,389
We got a country to run here.
Nope.
1227
01:02:05,555 --> 01:02:08,058
Vice President Pence
didn't stand there and say,
1228
01:02:08,658 --> 01:02:11,361
you know, you know what,
I-- I can live with this.
1229
01:02:11,528 --> 01:02:13,931
You know, Mike, got it.
I understand that, you know,
1230
01:02:14,131 --> 01:02:15,532
the all the dynamics
of what was happening
1231
01:02:15,699 --> 01:02:17,267
and everybody's busy.
1232
01:02:17,467 --> 01:02:18,936
You know,
we have a country to run.
1233
01:02:19,136 --> 01:02:21,338
Before I left that--
that meeting,
1234
01:02:21,505 --> 01:02:23,974
the president got up, and
I walked up to the side
1235
01:02:24,174 --> 01:02:26,043
because I was kind of
standing at the corner.
1236
01:02:26,243 --> 01:02:27,744
And I walked up,
gave him a hug,
1237
01:02:27,912 --> 01:02:29,746
give him like a,
you know, big man hug.
1238
01:02:29,914 --> 01:02:32,616
And I stepped back
and I said to him,
1239
01:02:32,817 --> 01:02:35,585
"I'm just gonna give you
one warning about one person.
1240
01:02:39,723 --> 01:02:40,958
I'm going to tell you
that the person
1241
01:02:41,158 --> 01:02:42,559
that you need to watch out for
1242
01:02:42,759 --> 01:02:44,194
is the deputy director
of the FBI,
1243
01:02:44,361 --> 01:02:47,031
and his name is Andrew McCabe."
1244
01:02:47,197 --> 01:02:49,233
And I looked the president
dead in the eye.
1245
01:02:49,399 --> 01:02:50,801
And he said, "Okay."
1246
01:02:51,001 --> 01:02:52,937
He didn't really know
who he was.
1247
01:02:53,103 --> 01:02:56,240
Now, obviously,
Reince Priebus knew him,
1248
01:02:56,406 --> 01:02:59,043
and Pence knew him.
They said nothing.
1249
01:02:59,209 --> 01:03:01,078
So whatever they had said
to the president
1250
01:03:01,245 --> 01:03:03,747
prior to me going
in that meeting, you know,
1251
01:03:03,914 --> 01:03:06,984
I could tell
that from my departure,
1252
01:03:07,184 --> 01:03:10,654
you know, my departing,
sort of, you know,
1253
01:03:10,855 --> 01:03:15,559
man-love moment with--
with, uh, with President Trump,
1254
01:03:15,725 --> 01:03:17,461
where I could tell
that he was upset
1255
01:03:17,627 --> 01:03:21,598
that he had to do this
and accept my resignation.
1256
01:03:21,765 --> 01:03:23,934
And maybe he felt like
1257
01:03:24,101 --> 01:03:26,904
if I stepped away
from the White House,
1258
01:03:27,071 --> 01:03:28,939
the whole Russia thing
would go away.
1259
01:03:29,106 --> 01:03:31,741
And that's when it all began.
1260
01:03:31,942 --> 01:03:34,011
The information
was provided by,
1261
01:03:34,211 --> 01:03:36,346
who I don't know, Sally Yates.
1262
01:03:36,546 --> 01:03:40,617
And I was a little surprised
because I said,
1263
01:03:40,817 --> 01:03:43,620
"Doesn't sound like he did
anything wrong there."
1264
01:03:43,820 --> 01:03:46,023
But he did something wrong
1265
01:03:46,223 --> 01:03:48,458
with respect to
the vice president,
1266
01:03:48,658 --> 01:03:50,861
and I thought
that was not acceptable.
1267
01:03:51,061 --> 01:03:56,200
As far, as far as
the actual making the call,
1268
01:03:56,400 --> 01:03:58,568
he was just doing his job.
That was very normal.
1269
01:03:58,768 --> 01:04:00,304
You know, at first,
everybody got excited
1270
01:04:00,504 --> 01:04:01,771
because they thought
he did something wrong.
1271
01:04:01,972 --> 01:04:03,607
After they thought about it,
1272
01:04:03,807 --> 01:04:06,710
it turned out
he was just doing his job.
1273
01:04:06,911 --> 01:04:09,413
So, and I do-- and by the way,
with all of that being said,
1274
01:04:09,613 --> 01:04:11,681
I do think he's a fine man.
1275
01:04:11,848 --> 01:04:16,286
So, Reince Priebus told me
that they had just read
1276
01:04:16,486 --> 01:04:20,657
a document that Yates
and McCabe showed them
1277
01:04:20,857 --> 01:04:23,928
that said I talked about
sanctions.
1278
01:04:24,128 --> 01:04:26,730
And we now know that I never
talked about sanctions.
1279
01:04:26,931 --> 01:04:29,133
There's a transcript of it.
It's public information.
1280
01:04:33,437 --> 01:04:38,008
Okay, it was a,
it was a false document,
1281
01:04:38,175 --> 01:04:39,910
which is really bad
1282
01:04:40,110 --> 01:04:42,712
for two senior government
officials to create.
1283
01:04:42,879 --> 01:04:45,882
And that document
must exist somewhere. Okay?
1284
01:04:46,050 --> 01:04:50,921
Or, the only other
potential answer
1285
01:04:51,121 --> 01:04:56,260
is that Reince Priebus lied
about reading about sanctions.
1286
01:04:56,460 --> 01:04:58,262
I never talked about sanctions.
1287
01:04:58,462 --> 01:05:00,697
In fact, I, I told
the vice president that,
1288
01:05:00,864 --> 01:05:02,899
earlier on.
1289
01:05:03,067 --> 01:05:04,868
I said I didn't talk
about sanctions.
1290
01:05:05,035 --> 01:05:07,671
I told the FBI agents
that came to my office.
1291
01:05:07,871 --> 01:05:08,805
You look at
this White House now
1292
01:05:09,006 --> 01:05:10,474
and it's hard to imagine
1293
01:05:10,674 --> 01:05:11,841
two FBI agents ending up
in the same room.
1294
01:05:12,042 --> 01:05:13,677
How did that happen?
1295
01:05:13,877 --> 01:05:14,878
I sent them.
1296
01:05:15,045 --> 01:05:17,547
[audience laughing]
1297
01:05:17,747 --> 01:05:19,783
[Flynn]
Comey said in an interview,
1298
01:05:19,984 --> 01:05:21,885
the FBI wanted to send agents
over to the White House
1299
01:05:22,086 --> 01:05:23,287
to speak to me.
1300
01:05:25,655 --> 01:05:28,158
He admitted he did that
outside the proper channels
1301
01:05:28,358 --> 01:05:30,127
without any discussion
or approvals
1302
01:05:30,327 --> 01:05:31,428
from White House council.
1303
01:05:38,268 --> 01:05:41,571
[Adam]
This was clearly a setup.
1304
01:05:41,738 --> 01:05:44,941
The government will
frequently try to railroad
1305
01:05:45,109 --> 01:05:48,145
various individuals
by not having, um,
1306
01:05:48,345 --> 01:05:50,780
by just telling you, "This is
a friendly conversation.
1307
01:05:50,947 --> 01:05:54,418
No need to have your lawyer
in the office with us."
1308
01:05:54,584 --> 01:05:56,987
And so, what happens
in situations like that
1309
01:05:57,187 --> 01:06:02,426
is that the agents
who are corrupt
1310
01:06:02,592 --> 01:06:06,430
and, and have an agenda,
they're not,
1311
01:06:06,596 --> 01:06:09,566
it's not a genuine,
fair investigation.
1312
01:06:09,733 --> 01:06:11,968
They're free to make up
whatever they want
1313
01:06:12,136 --> 01:06:15,072
about what transpired
because there was no recording,
1314
01:06:15,239 --> 01:06:18,542
and there was no representative
of-- of their interviewee who,
1315
01:06:18,742 --> 01:06:20,710
you know, could make,
1316
01:06:20,910 --> 01:06:23,413
you know, a record of what,
what transpired.
1317
01:06:23,613 --> 01:06:25,549
[Tracy] A bunch of
the seventh-floor people,
1318
01:06:25,749 --> 01:06:27,684
they all got together
and had a meeting about this,
1319
01:06:27,884 --> 01:06:29,719
this interview they were going
to have with General Flynn,
1320
01:06:29,919 --> 01:06:33,390
the ambush interview.
And Bill Priestap in,
1321
01:06:33,590 --> 01:06:35,459
in handwritten notes
that looking back,
1322
01:06:35,659 --> 01:06:37,294
you have to wonder if
he wrote this down on purpose
1323
01:06:37,461 --> 01:06:39,263
as kind of like a flag,
1324
01:06:39,429 --> 01:06:40,797
because he knew
what they were doing was--
1325
01:06:40,964 --> 01:06:44,534
was wrong or if it was
just sheer happenstance
1326
01:06:44,734 --> 01:06:46,236
that he wrote down
a series of notes that said,
1327
01:06:46,436 --> 01:06:47,971
"What is the goal?
1328
01:06:48,172 --> 01:06:50,040
Is the goal to get him
to tell the truth,
1329
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:52,209
or to get them to lie
so we can get him fired
1330
01:06:52,409 --> 01:06:55,845
or, you know, hold him
accountable for lying?"
1331
01:06:56,012 --> 01:06:58,782
So they knew, going in,
what their motive like was.
1332
01:06:58,948 --> 01:07:00,517
Do we want him to
just tell us the truth,
1333
01:07:00,684 --> 01:07:02,619
or do we want to try
and get him to lie to us?
1334
01:07:03,320 --> 01:07:04,688
This is yet another example
1335
01:07:04,854 --> 01:07:09,693
of weaponization
of federal investigations.
1336
01:07:09,859 --> 01:07:12,329
Both Peter Strzok
and Joseph Bianca wrote
1337
01:07:12,496 --> 01:07:13,830
that he wasn't lying,
1338
01:07:14,030 --> 01:07:15,465
he didn't seem like
he was lying,
1339
01:07:15,665 --> 01:07:16,800
he seemed like
he was being truthful.
1340
01:07:17,000 --> 01:07:18,402
I mean, they wrote this down.
1341
01:07:18,602 --> 01:07:20,270
Which is why
when the DOJ came back
1342
01:07:20,470 --> 01:07:21,871
and said there was
no predicate for this...
1343
01:07:24,274 --> 01:07:26,310
they referenced these things
because there-- there--
1344
01:07:26,476 --> 01:07:29,045
they didn't even believe
he was lying.
1345
01:07:29,213 --> 01:07:30,514
When you go in
to an interview like this,
1346
01:07:30,680 --> 01:07:32,082
you're supposed to
document everything;
1347
01:07:32,282 --> 01:07:33,650
it's something called the 302.
1348
01:07:33,817 --> 01:07:35,585
That's the FBI-speak for a form
1349
01:07:35,785 --> 01:07:37,254
that you write down
your thoughts.
1350
01:07:37,454 --> 01:07:39,589
They didn't fill those out
for weeks.
1351
01:07:39,789 --> 01:07:41,425
And then
when Peter Strzok did,
1352
01:07:41,625 --> 01:07:43,493
he had somebody who wasn't
even in the interview,
1353
01:07:43,693 --> 01:07:46,096
wasn't even involved,
Lisa Page,
1354
01:07:46,296 --> 01:07:47,264
editing it for him.
1355
01:07:49,666 --> 01:07:51,701
You know, I just told them
once they fire,
1356
01:07:51,868 --> 01:07:55,105
once you fire Flynn,
all you guys are gonna go.
1357
01:07:55,305 --> 01:07:57,174
And that's exactly
what happened;
1358
01:07:57,374 --> 01:07:59,109
within, I think,
within a year's time,
1359
01:07:59,309 --> 01:08:01,478
they were all gone.
1360
01:08:01,678 --> 01:08:03,613
All the kind of the
top advisors
around the president.
1361
01:08:03,813 --> 01:08:06,850
As soon as they did that,
there'd be blood in the water.
1362
01:08:07,016 --> 01:08:09,085
I'm pretty sure that's what
I told to Priebus and--
1363
01:08:09,253 --> 01:08:10,954
and others.
1364
01:08:11,155 --> 01:08:13,157
[Lori] I really think
that those guys
1365
01:08:13,357 --> 01:08:15,359
that were in that White House
1366
01:08:15,559 --> 01:08:18,128
before Mike walked in
that room told him,
1367
01:08:18,328 --> 01:08:22,466
"If you get rid of Flynn,
the Russia thing will go away."
1368
01:08:22,666 --> 01:08:25,569
I guarantee that they tried to
convince him of that.
1369
01:08:25,735 --> 01:08:29,139
And as we know, it only
exacerbated after that.
1370
01:08:29,339 --> 01:08:30,907
[woman] Michael Flynn,
1371
01:08:31,107 --> 01:08:33,076
President Donald Trump's
National Security Advisor,
1372
01:08:33,277 --> 01:08:37,080
is under investigation by
U.S. counterintelligence agents
1373
01:08:37,281 --> 01:08:40,350
for communications he's had
with Russian officials.
1374
01:08:40,550 --> 01:08:42,919
[Adam] What Stefan Halper did
1375
01:08:43,119 --> 01:08:46,390
with the help of the leadership
of the Office of Net Assessment
1376
01:08:46,556 --> 01:08:48,458
between 2010 and 2016
1377
01:08:48,625 --> 01:08:51,728
was create the institutional
infrastructure
1378
01:08:51,895 --> 01:08:55,599
for what became known as
RussiaGate,
1379
01:08:55,765 --> 01:09:00,237
normalizing a known
Russian intelligence officer.
1380
01:09:00,437 --> 01:09:01,371
Okay, so here you have
Chris Steele
1381
01:09:01,571 --> 01:09:03,373
going around Washington saying,
1382
01:09:03,573 --> 01:09:05,709
"Oh yeah, this is
Russian intelligence
1383
01:09:05,909 --> 01:09:10,146
that says that Donald Trump
did these things."
1384
01:09:10,314 --> 01:09:13,417
That, you know, people wouldn't,
you know, take it seriously.
1385
01:09:13,583 --> 01:09:15,752
But we know it was
taken very seriously.
1386
01:09:15,919 --> 01:09:21,291
The Steele dossier
was used as the predicate
1387
01:09:21,458 --> 01:09:23,993
to launch these FISA
investigations.
1388
01:09:24,160 --> 01:09:25,995
The stories about the peeing.
1389
01:09:26,162 --> 01:09:28,565
The stories about
the drunkenness, the drug use.
1390
01:09:28,765 --> 01:09:30,700
It's all fake news.
1391
01:09:30,900 --> 01:09:33,437
It's phony stuff.
It didn't happen.
1392
01:09:33,603 --> 01:09:40,444
The Steele dossier was
sent by special courier
1393
01:09:40,610 --> 01:09:44,948
from John Brennan at CIA
to the White House
1394
01:09:45,114 --> 01:09:50,019
to President Obama and marked,
you know, eyes only.
1395
01:09:50,186 --> 01:09:52,789
This was Russian disinformation.
This is Russian propaganda.
1396
01:09:53,757 --> 01:09:55,659
They had to make Trump
look weird. Right?
1397
01:09:55,825 --> 01:09:57,827
Oh, he's freakish. He's bizarre.
1398
01:09:57,994 --> 01:09:59,396
He-- he, that's why he deserves
1399
01:09:59,596 --> 01:10:01,998
these extraordinary
punishments, right?
1400
01:10:02,165 --> 01:10:06,536
An indictment, an arraignment,
an FBI investigation.
1401
01:10:06,703 --> 01:10:08,472
Same with General Flynn, right?
1402
01:10:08,638 --> 01:10:13,977
This is all about normalizing
our enemies' propaganda
1403
01:10:14,143 --> 01:10:19,583
to stage political hit jobs on
American candidates for office,
1404
01:10:19,783 --> 01:10:22,185
for the highest office
in the country.
1405
01:10:22,352 --> 01:10:28,425
The Steele dossier, which,
of course by July of 2016,
1406
01:10:28,625 --> 01:10:32,061
Brennan knew was
Russian disinformation
1407
01:10:32,228 --> 01:10:35,164
that was generated by
Hillary Clinton
1408
01:10:35,332 --> 01:10:38,067
to smear Donald Trump
1409
01:10:38,234 --> 01:10:40,504
in order to sort of
hide her own misconduct.
1410
01:10:40,704 --> 01:10:42,372
Hillary Clinton
on the stump this week.
1411
01:10:42,572 --> 01:10:44,240
We're joined now by her
campaign manager, Robby Mook.
1412
01:10:44,441 --> 01:10:46,543
[reporter] Thank you
for joining us this morning.
1413
01:10:46,743 --> 01:10:49,479
The hand of the Kremlin
has been at work
in this campaign for some time,
1414
01:10:49,679 --> 01:10:52,716
it's clear that they are
supporting Donald Trump.
1415
01:10:52,882 --> 01:10:56,353
Brennan and Obama and Comey,
1416
01:10:57,321 --> 01:11:00,123
they inserted
the Steele dossier
1417
01:11:00,324 --> 01:11:06,463
into the 2017 Intelligence
Community Assessment
as a annex.
1418
01:11:07,397 --> 01:11:12,736
So, what they did is they took
Russian disinformation,
1419
01:11:12,902 --> 01:11:16,272
made it into a U.S.
intelligence product
1420
01:11:16,440 --> 01:11:21,478
for the purpose of being able
to cover themselves
1421
01:11:21,678 --> 01:11:24,814
if they were ever questioned
about this nonsense
1422
01:11:25,014 --> 01:11:26,816
in the Steele dossier.
1423
01:11:27,016 --> 01:11:28,418
Sourced the Russian
intelligence,
1424
01:11:28,585 --> 01:11:32,121
clear hit job
against candidate Trump
1425
01:11:32,288 --> 01:11:33,289
and then President Trump.
1426
01:11:33,457 --> 01:11:34,958
They could say, "Oh, look,
1427
01:11:35,124 --> 01:11:38,294
this is a U.S.
government document.
1428
01:11:38,462 --> 01:11:40,129
It's from the intelligence
community.
1429
01:11:40,296 --> 01:11:42,499
It is from
the 17 intelligence agencies
1430
01:11:42,699 --> 01:11:44,133
of the United States government.
1431
01:11:44,300 --> 01:11:47,771
Don't ask me about this.
It's been vetted."
1432
01:11:47,937 --> 01:11:53,076
It's this way of very cynically
covering up a horrendous crime
1433
01:11:53,242 --> 01:11:55,178
and normalizing it
retroactively.
1434
01:11:55,379 --> 01:11:59,315
It was an act of desperation
1435
01:11:59,483 --> 01:12:01,985
because the Obama administration
and the Biden administration
1436
01:12:02,151 --> 01:12:04,153
knew that if Michael Flynn
stayed there
1437
01:12:04,320 --> 01:12:08,658
as Trump's National
Security Advisor,
they were fucked.
1438
01:12:08,825 --> 01:12:10,760
Because he was
going to lash back
1439
01:12:10,927 --> 01:12:14,998
at all of what they did
in the Middle East,
1440
01:12:15,164 --> 01:12:17,166
what they did, or were doing
1441
01:12:17,333 --> 01:12:19,936
to compromise
the United States of America.
1442
01:12:20,103 --> 01:12:25,274
He was squeaky clean.
They couldn't find shit on him.
1443
01:12:25,442 --> 01:12:27,210
And they dug deep.
1444
01:12:27,411 --> 01:12:30,947
There was some story like,
oh, yeah, and then, and then
1445
01:12:31,147 --> 01:12:33,316
General Flynn left this event,
1446
01:12:33,517 --> 01:12:37,387
this dinner, with, um,
with this woman who is
1447
01:12:37,587 --> 01:12:39,623
half Russian, half British.
1448
01:12:39,789 --> 01:12:41,858
Well, of course,
nothing of the sort happened.
1449
01:12:42,025 --> 01:12:43,827
Nothing of the sort
could happen because here--
1450
01:12:43,993 --> 01:12:46,162
here is the director of the DIA,
1451
01:12:46,329 --> 01:12:48,197
a very important role,
1452
01:12:48,364 --> 01:12:52,869
and so he's not going anywhere
off on his own with anyone.
1453
01:12:53,036 --> 01:12:55,872
And she's just
this young woman who's married,
1454
01:12:56,039 --> 01:12:57,641
you know, I think at the time,
if I remember right,
1455
01:12:57,807 --> 01:13:00,209
she was pregnant
or getting ready to have a baby.
1456
01:13:00,376 --> 01:13:02,011
Her life was ruined.
1457
01:13:02,211 --> 01:13:05,982
All because of this guy named--
this-- the--
1458
01:13:06,182 --> 01:13:07,517
this guy they call Halper,
right?
1459
01:13:08,452 --> 01:13:10,153
His name is Halper,
Stefan Halper.
1460
01:13:10,319 --> 01:13:12,355
The Walrus, right?
1461
01:13:12,522 --> 01:13:14,524
Guy's a-- he's a--
he's a walking steam bath
1462
01:13:14,691 --> 01:13:17,260
because he sweats all the time.
1463
01:13:17,461 --> 01:13:22,398
And have to have your family
exposed to that kind of,
1464
01:13:22,566 --> 01:13:25,502
um, that kind of ugliness
1465
01:13:26,135 --> 01:13:28,438
because someone is determined
to destroy you,
1466
01:13:28,638 --> 01:13:30,239
these are very hard things.
1467
01:13:30,406 --> 01:13:32,876
But again, it comes back
to like why, you know,
1468
01:13:33,042 --> 01:13:34,611
why people are mad
about this story.
1469
01:13:34,811 --> 01:13:39,683
Why I'm mad about this story.
Why it hurt...
1470
01:13:39,849 --> 01:13:42,752
Why it was painful for
other families to watch too,
1471
01:13:42,919 --> 01:13:46,523
to imagine what it was like
for his family to, um,
1472
01:13:46,690 --> 01:13:50,426
to be targeted by
these animals like that.
1473
01:13:50,594 --> 01:13:52,028
They disparaged him
1474
01:13:52,195 --> 01:13:54,531
as much as they possibly could
in the media.
1475
01:13:54,698 --> 01:13:57,801
It was all bullshit.
It was all bullshit.
1476
01:13:58,001 --> 01:13:59,969
And we were sitting there
as family going,
1477
01:14:00,169 --> 01:14:01,404
"Michael fucking
has a girlfriend,
1478
01:14:01,571 --> 01:14:02,472
and get to hear he had an affair
1479
01:14:02,672 --> 01:14:04,107
with some Russian girl?"
1480
01:14:04,273 --> 01:14:08,645
I called her up.
I called her up.
1481
01:14:08,845 --> 01:14:11,214
I said, "Hey, tell me
about your relationship
1482
01:14:11,380 --> 01:14:13,049
with my brother Mike.
1483
01:14:13,216 --> 01:14:15,585
You're in trouble here.
You name is all over the place."
1484
01:14:15,752 --> 01:14:17,220
We kind of
endeared ourselves to her.
1485
01:14:17,386 --> 01:14:20,089
I wanted to find out.
Lori needed to know.
1486
01:14:20,256 --> 01:14:23,860
They were saying stuff about
Michael that he had an affair.
She knew it wasn't true.
1487
01:14:24,060 --> 01:14:26,229
But how do you think she felt
when she had to go
see her mother
1488
01:14:26,429 --> 01:14:27,864
and they read it in the paper?
1489
01:14:28,064 --> 01:14:29,499
They didn't give a shit
about how he felt
1490
01:14:29,699 --> 01:14:30,934
or how that affected
his family.
1491
01:14:33,236 --> 01:14:37,741
Obama and Biden
did not want General Flynn
1492
01:14:37,907 --> 01:14:44,147
giving them a proctology exam
without any kind of anesthesia.
1493
01:14:45,148 --> 01:14:47,817
I've said that I'm surprised
that they haven't killed me,
1494
01:14:47,984 --> 01:14:50,754
surprised that they've
let me continue to live.
1495
01:14:51,655 --> 01:14:52,856
Um...
1496
01:14:56,459 --> 01:14:59,262
Maybe they feel like they've
done enough damage to where,
1497
01:14:59,428 --> 01:15:00,964
no matter whenever
I pop my head up,
1498
01:15:01,130 --> 01:15:02,532
wherever I'm at,
they can just kind of go,
1499
01:15:02,732 --> 01:15:04,100
"Oh, that's
the conspiracy theorist.
1500
01:15:04,267 --> 01:15:06,636
He's done this. He's done that."
1501
01:15:06,803 --> 01:15:09,606
And I know that there's
an entire movement of people,
1502
01:15:09,773 --> 01:15:13,977
an organization, that they--
their sole purpose in life
1503
01:15:14,143 --> 01:15:17,647
is to make sure
no matter what I do,
1504
01:15:17,814 --> 01:15:22,051
to find a way to show it
in a dark light.
1505
01:15:22,251 --> 01:15:25,054
You know, we've gone from
the physical assassination
1506
01:15:25,254 --> 01:15:27,523
of a president
of the United States
1507
01:15:27,691 --> 01:15:30,560
to a character assassination
of a National Security Advisor.
1508
01:15:35,331 --> 01:15:37,801
[Tracy] General Flynn
had a private company
1509
01:15:38,001 --> 01:15:41,004
he formed with his son
and a business partner.
1510
01:15:41,170 --> 01:15:44,307
They were engaged by
a private citizen in Turkey
1511
01:15:44,473 --> 01:15:48,912
to do some work on behalf of
this private businessman.
1512
01:15:49,112 --> 01:15:52,081
So there was no need
to report this
1513
01:15:52,281 --> 01:15:54,751
because the private businessman
was not working
1514
01:15:54,951 --> 01:15:57,587
on behalf of
the Turkish government.
1515
01:15:57,787 --> 01:15:59,856
Did not receive any money
from the Turkish government,
1516
01:16:00,023 --> 01:16:01,691
wasn't working with
the Turkish government at all.
1517
01:16:01,858 --> 01:16:03,593
This was a private businessman
1518
01:16:03,793 --> 01:16:08,932
engaging the Flynn Intel Group
to do a job for him.
1519
01:16:18,742 --> 01:16:20,209
[Devin] All the talk was about
1520
01:16:20,376 --> 01:16:23,680
FARA violations,
Logan Act violations.
1521
01:16:23,847 --> 01:16:25,949
I mean, lots of crazy,
far-fetched laws
1522
01:16:26,149 --> 01:16:28,584
that had either
never been enforced,
1523
01:16:28,752 --> 01:16:30,920
or were rarely enforced,
and if enforced, they were like
1524
01:16:31,087 --> 01:16:32,856
a slap on the wrist
type of, type of thing,
1525
01:16:33,022 --> 01:16:36,192
not some multi-year,
multi-pronged investigation.
1526
01:16:36,359 --> 01:16:39,028
This Laufman guy
1527
01:16:39,195 --> 01:16:41,397
who's running this FARA office,
1528
01:16:41,564 --> 01:16:43,366
they send a letter to Mike
saying,
1529
01:16:43,532 --> 01:16:46,135
hey, you need to fill out
this FARA form.
1530
01:16:46,335 --> 01:16:48,604
So, he didn't have to fill out
a FARA form at all
1531
01:16:48,772 --> 01:16:50,606
because he wasn't working
for the Turkish government.
1532
01:16:50,774 --> 01:16:52,441
He was working for
a Turkish businessman.
1533
01:16:52,608 --> 01:16:53,743
He's got a lawyer at the time.
1534
01:16:53,910 --> 01:16:55,611
She says, "Well, the number one
1535
01:16:55,779 --> 01:16:58,948
FARA filing office
in the country
1536
01:16:59,115 --> 01:17:01,450
is this Covington & Burling."
1537
01:17:01,617 --> 01:17:04,153
You know, you figure,
"Ah, I really don't
need to do this,
1538
01:17:04,353 --> 01:17:05,822
but I'm going to
consult these attorneys
1539
01:17:06,022 --> 01:17:07,957
to see if
I really need to file."
1540
01:17:08,124 --> 01:17:09,592
And they say, "You know what,
1541
01:17:09,759 --> 01:17:11,294
just to be on the safe side,
file."
1542
01:17:11,460 --> 01:17:12,729
You're filling out
an application
1543
01:17:12,896 --> 01:17:14,931
and you know, Covington Burling,
1544
01:17:15,098 --> 01:17:19,568
the number one FARA filing
law firm in the country,
1545
01:17:19,736 --> 01:17:21,237
is filling it out.
1546
01:17:21,404 --> 01:17:23,406
Okay, we're in good shape, right?
1547
01:17:23,572 --> 01:17:26,609
So, um, but how did they
blitz him with this
1548
01:17:26,776 --> 01:17:29,679
FARA violation
because they come back
1549
01:17:29,879 --> 01:17:32,015
and they start adding that,
well, it wasn't a violation.
1550
01:17:32,215 --> 01:17:36,119
They just put the wording into
as many documents as they could.
1551
01:17:36,285 --> 01:17:39,122
They would have some fishy line
about FARA.
1552
01:17:39,288 --> 01:17:41,424
What that did was,
1553
01:17:41,590 --> 01:17:45,294
that let the media
take the term FARA,
1554
01:17:45,461 --> 01:17:48,097
which is Foreign Agent
Registration Act,
1555
01:17:48,264 --> 01:17:50,433
and just call him
a foreign agent.
1556
01:17:50,599 --> 01:17:53,136
So now he gets blitzed,
and he's a foreign spy.
1557
01:17:53,302 --> 01:17:54,938
He's another spy, you know,
he's a Russian spy,
1558
01:17:55,104 --> 01:17:56,472
he's a Turkish spy.
1559
01:17:56,639 --> 01:17:59,208
He's all, he's all kinds of
spies, you know?
1560
01:17:59,408 --> 01:18:01,144
There are so many people
who are collateral damage
1561
01:18:01,310 --> 01:18:04,513
that's-- whose stories
are so intricate,
1562
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:07,784
that if you can't get people
to understand this big story
1563
01:18:07,951 --> 01:18:10,787
of General Flynn, how in--
how ever would you be able to
1564
01:18:10,954 --> 01:18:12,688
get them to understand
the intricacies?
1565
01:18:12,856 --> 01:18:15,458
So, again,
at the end of the day,
1566
01:18:15,624 --> 01:18:17,660
the Flynn Intel Group
was retained to do business
1567
01:18:17,827 --> 01:18:19,462
for someone who was not attached
1568
01:18:19,628 --> 01:18:21,898
to the Turkish government
at all.
1569
01:18:22,098 --> 01:18:24,801
And they lied and said he was.
1570
01:18:24,968 --> 01:18:27,070
They are smart again, right?
They're going to take out
1571
01:18:27,270 --> 01:18:30,073
the number-one
military intelligence
1572
01:18:30,273 --> 01:18:32,541
officer of our country,
the National Security Advisor
1573
01:18:32,708 --> 01:18:35,644
who's about to find out
everything.
1574
01:18:35,812 --> 01:18:36,813
What do we do now?
1575
01:18:37,013 --> 01:18:38,848
Let's go after his son.
1576
01:18:41,350 --> 01:18:43,486
[Michael Jr.] Was there anything
more significant
1577
01:18:43,652 --> 01:18:46,689
on this timeline to you, Dad,
than anything else, or...?
1578
01:18:46,856 --> 01:18:48,925
[Flynn] [exhales] You know.
1579
01:18:49,125 --> 01:18:51,928
[Michael Jr.] I mean, for me...
1580
01:18:52,128 --> 01:18:53,897
- it's that.
- [Flynn] Yeah.
1581
01:18:54,063 --> 01:18:55,398
That's the, if there's
one thing that I think about,
1582
01:18:55,564 --> 01:18:57,266
- you know, more than--
- [Flynn] Yeah.
1583
01:18:57,466 --> 01:19:01,270
That, that's the meeting
where they conspired to
1584
01:19:01,470 --> 01:19:04,707
basically undermine
the presidency
1585
01:19:04,874 --> 01:19:07,076
of the United States of America.
1586
01:19:07,243 --> 01:19:09,045
We live in a time right now
1587
01:19:09,212 --> 01:19:11,080
where more than any other time
in American history...
1588
01:19:13,883 --> 01:19:17,020
the government,
investigative agencies,
1589
01:19:17,186 --> 01:19:19,588
especially the FBI
and the Department of Justice,
1590
01:19:19,755 --> 01:19:21,958
have been weaponized
against the American people.
1591
01:19:24,393 --> 01:19:25,761
[producer]
When did it dawn on you
1592
01:19:25,929 --> 01:19:29,065
that Michael would be a target?
1593
01:19:29,265 --> 01:19:31,968
[Flynn] Probably
by the middle of the summer,
I started to feel that,
1594
01:19:32,168 --> 01:19:34,670
because the FBI
is knocking on his door.
1595
01:19:34,871 --> 01:19:38,007
This is when I--
I had a really difficult time
being able to communicate.
1596
01:19:38,207 --> 01:19:40,743
We had to communicate
through a lawyer,
so I can't even talk to my son.
1597
01:19:40,910 --> 01:19:44,480
- [producer]
Whose advice is that?
- My lawyers at the time.
1598
01:19:44,680 --> 01:19:47,750
Looking back, it was,
it was horrific.
1599
01:19:47,951 --> 01:19:50,519
And then, all of a sudden,
there was--
1600
01:19:50,719 --> 01:19:55,058
started to be newspaper
articles coming out
1601
01:19:55,224 --> 01:19:59,762
that the Department of Justice
is starting to look harder at,
1602
01:19:59,929 --> 01:20:02,331
at General Flynn's son, Michael.
1603
01:20:03,266 --> 01:20:04,733
My team of lawyers was, was,
1604
01:20:04,901 --> 01:20:07,336
was represented by
a gigantic law firm, one of,
1605
01:20:07,536 --> 01:20:09,839
they call them the white-shoe
law firms in Washington, DC,
1606
01:20:10,039 --> 01:20:11,474
Covington & Burling,
1607
01:20:11,640 --> 01:20:13,476
and you really do feel like
1608
01:20:13,642 --> 01:20:15,979
they have your best interests
at heart.
1609
01:20:16,145 --> 01:20:21,017
You know, they come across
as, as professionals.
1610
01:20:21,217 --> 01:20:22,185
And man, was I wrong.
1611
01:20:24,753 --> 01:20:26,923
A moment of,
of misjudgment on my part.
1612
01:20:32,261 --> 01:20:35,999
That's all part of that
Washington, DC, establishment.
1613
01:20:36,165 --> 01:20:40,970
You're looking at 25 years and
about a half a dozen felonies.
1614
01:20:41,137 --> 01:20:45,108
Okay. And they're gonna go
after your son.
1615
01:20:47,343 --> 01:20:50,846
And I'm like, "You gotta be
shitting me. For what?"
1616
01:20:51,014 --> 01:20:53,216
And I'm sitting there,
height of the,
1617
01:20:53,416 --> 01:20:57,153
of the Mueller investigation.
It's really just kicking in.
1618
01:20:57,320 --> 01:21:01,290
There's nobody around, okay;
who I had was my family.
1619
01:21:01,457 --> 01:21:03,859
I didn't have big media stars.
1620
01:21:04,027 --> 01:21:05,461
I didn't have
big political stars.
1621
01:21:05,628 --> 01:21:06,495
I didn't have the White House.
1622
01:21:07,463 --> 01:21:09,899
We're already into
our house being sold.
1623
01:21:10,099 --> 01:21:12,168
We're already into an ungodly
amount of money that was--
1624
01:21:12,335 --> 01:21:13,903
that it's costing,
and you're just
1625
01:21:14,103 --> 01:21:15,704
kind of like,
"I got to stop this.
1626
01:21:15,871 --> 01:21:17,006
You know, I got to
stop this bleeding."
1627
01:21:17,941 --> 01:21:20,143
It was mental and emotional
bleeding.
1628
01:21:21,044 --> 01:21:23,079
And it was happening to me,
1629
01:21:23,279 --> 01:21:25,748
my wife, my kids, my family.
1630
01:21:25,949 --> 01:21:30,819
I'll give my life for my family
1631
01:21:30,987 --> 01:21:32,421
because I would have given
my life for this country.
1632
01:21:32,621 --> 01:21:36,692
They're the reason why I fight.
1633
01:21:36,859 --> 01:21:42,898
What they did-- they knew
that nothing was there.
1634
01:21:43,066 --> 01:21:45,501
Michael Flynn Jr.
worked for Flynn Intel Group
1635
01:21:45,668 --> 01:21:48,004
with his dad
and the business partner.
1636
01:21:48,171 --> 01:21:55,011
So, they saw him
as a weapon to wield because
1637
01:21:55,178 --> 01:21:58,647
they were going after
General Flynn's business partner
1638
01:21:58,847 --> 01:22:01,650
and Ekim Alptekin.
1639
01:22:01,850 --> 01:22:03,519
As sort of a pawn,
1640
01:22:03,686 --> 01:22:07,923
they looped in a threat
against Michael Flynn, Jr.
1641
01:22:08,091 --> 01:22:09,758
to get General Flynn
to plead guilty.
1642
01:22:09,925 --> 01:22:12,361
All right,
a lot of people, you know,
1643
01:22:12,528 --> 01:22:14,597
asked us that question:
"Why did you guys even go
with Covington & Burling?"
1644
01:22:14,763 --> 01:22:17,200
You know, they were
the DC FARA experts.
1645
01:22:17,366 --> 01:22:19,102
They never really
fought for anything.
1646
01:22:19,268 --> 01:22:21,070
You know, they-- if you had
something on Trump,
1647
01:22:21,237 --> 01:22:22,938
that, you know,
it would help you.
1648
01:22:23,106 --> 01:22:26,409
They brought my son in,
1649
01:22:26,575 --> 01:22:27,977
knowing where he was
in his life,
1650
01:22:28,177 --> 01:22:32,648
and, and knowing how bad
1651
01:22:32,848 --> 01:22:34,950
the rule of law system
is in Washington, DC.
1652
01:22:35,118 --> 01:22:38,421
That was a major pain point.
Huge.
1653
01:22:38,587 --> 01:22:41,324
All the lawyers
then became involved
1654
01:22:41,524 --> 01:22:45,094
in something that is
absolutely prohibited
1655
01:22:45,261 --> 01:22:46,996
in federal court
in that they had
1656
01:22:47,196 --> 01:22:49,265
an off-the-books
part of the deal.
1657
01:22:49,465 --> 01:22:51,200
They had this deal
1658
01:22:51,400 --> 01:22:53,502
that was communicated
to General Flynn
1659
01:22:53,702 --> 01:22:56,572
where the government
wouldn't put it in writing,
1660
01:22:56,772 --> 01:23:02,078
but they would agree orally
that if he accepted this plea,
1661
01:23:02,278 --> 01:23:04,347
they wouldn't prosecute
his son.
1662
01:23:07,983 --> 01:23:10,986
What parent could ever
say no to that?
1663
01:23:11,154 --> 01:23:14,790
What parent could ever
fight back against that,
1664
01:23:14,957 --> 01:23:18,961
where they're threatening
to put your son in jail
1665
01:23:19,128 --> 01:23:22,265
right before that
son's oldest son is born,
1666
01:23:22,431 --> 01:23:24,200
right before their grandson's
about to be born?
1667
01:23:28,437 --> 01:23:32,041
We have rules in federal court
to stop that,
1668
01:23:32,241 --> 01:23:35,611
to make sure that these
off-the-book deals don't happen.
1669
01:23:38,281 --> 01:23:41,284
And those lawyers on both sides,
the Special Counsel's Office
1670
01:23:41,450 --> 01:23:44,220
and the Covington & Burling
lawyers,
1671
01:23:44,420 --> 01:23:47,623
walked into federal court
and they lied.
1672
01:23:47,790 --> 01:23:50,493
They lied when the judge
asked if there was any
1673
01:23:50,659 --> 01:23:52,828
off-the-books deals.
1674
01:23:52,995 --> 01:23:56,065
They said there wasn't.
There was.
1675
01:23:56,265 --> 01:23:59,635
And it was all
part of this effort
1676
01:23:59,802 --> 01:24:01,204
for Covington & Burling
1677
01:24:01,370 --> 01:24:02,805
to protect their own hide,
1678
01:24:02,971 --> 01:24:05,808
rather than to look out
for their client.
1679
01:24:05,974 --> 01:24:08,077
It was disgusting.
1680
01:24:08,277 --> 01:24:10,879
And then also, don't forget
that if you do plead
1681
01:24:11,046 --> 01:24:13,649
not guilty and go to trial,
1682
01:24:13,816 --> 01:24:16,652
you're going to have a DC jury,
you're going to have a DC judge,
1683
01:24:16,819 --> 01:24:18,854
and then you'll probably
be found guilty,
1684
01:24:19,021 --> 01:24:21,090
and, you know, you're--
you're looking at 20,
1685
01:24:21,290 --> 01:24:23,526
25 years in prison.
1686
01:24:23,692 --> 01:24:26,895
So, this is probably the best
deal for you to do this.
1687
01:24:27,062 --> 01:24:29,064
And then a lot of people say,
"Oh, even if that was my son,
1688
01:24:29,232 --> 01:24:30,699
I would have never done that."
No.
1689
01:24:30,866 --> 01:24:31,900
You don't know
what you would have done
1690
01:24:32,067 --> 01:24:33,702
unless you were in our shoes,
1691
01:24:33,869 --> 01:24:35,604
and having to have
your lawyers tell you
1692
01:24:35,804 --> 01:24:38,441
that people that you thought
were doing the best for you,
1693
01:24:38,641 --> 01:24:40,709
that this was
the best thing for you,
1694
01:24:40,876 --> 01:24:43,112
and this is the only way
you're going to get out of this
1695
01:24:43,312 --> 01:24:46,115
is if you sign this plea deal.
So that's what we did.
1696
01:24:46,315 --> 01:24:48,217
People plead guilty
to crimes they did not commit
1697
01:24:48,384 --> 01:24:51,420
every single day
in this country.
1698
01:24:51,587 --> 01:24:53,289
A lot of the times,
it's minorities
1699
01:24:53,489 --> 01:24:55,624
that are pleading guilty
to crimes they didn't commit,
1700
01:24:55,824 --> 01:24:58,694
because who has the resources
1701
01:24:58,894 --> 01:25:03,899
to fight the juggernaut that is
the American justice system?
1702
01:25:04,066 --> 01:25:07,102
And so, the government starts
leaning on Covington
1703
01:25:07,270 --> 01:25:09,705
and Covington starts leaning
on General Flynn
1704
01:25:09,872 --> 01:25:13,209
to accept a plea deal.
1705
01:25:13,376 --> 01:25:19,948
Single count of a violation
of 18 USC-1001,
1706
01:25:20,115 --> 01:25:22,251
which is providing a false
statement to the government.
1707
01:25:26,455 --> 01:25:28,557
[woman] But of course,
the unbelievable turn of events
1708
01:25:28,757 --> 01:25:30,226
in today's news
happened in federal court
1709
01:25:30,426 --> 01:25:32,094
in Washington, DC,
1710
01:25:32,295 --> 01:25:35,231
in the courtroom
of Judge Emmet Sullivan.
1711
01:25:35,431 --> 01:25:38,201
[Flynn]
And then the prosecution
is the Department of Justice.
1712
01:25:38,401 --> 01:25:40,903
And the Department of Justice
had probably
about 20 lawyers there.
1713
01:25:41,069 --> 01:25:42,571
One of them
was the Solicitor General
1714
01:25:42,738 --> 01:25:44,640
for the United States
of America.
1715
01:25:44,807 --> 01:25:50,513
And the prosecutor, in my case,
his name was Brandon Van Grack.
1716
01:25:50,713 --> 01:25:52,415
So we go into this courtroom,
1717
01:25:52,581 --> 01:25:54,250
one of the most packed
hearings that they ever had
1718
01:25:54,417 --> 01:25:57,353
in the federal courthouse
of Washington, DC.
1719
01:25:57,553 --> 01:25:59,154
Then, all of a sudden,
out of nowhere,
1720
01:25:59,322 --> 01:26:01,690
the judge goes
right off the rails,
1721
01:26:01,890 --> 01:26:03,859
and he started going down
this other path and...
1722
01:26:04,059 --> 01:26:05,428
well, he said, "You turned
your back on your country."
1723
01:26:05,628 --> 01:26:07,530
[Jake]
It sure sounded as though
1724
01:26:07,730 --> 01:26:10,065
Judge Sullivan was going to
send Flynn to the clink
1725
01:26:10,266 --> 01:26:12,901
for at least
some period of time.
1726
01:26:13,101 --> 01:26:17,039
[reporter] It did, Jake.
The judge stressed that prison
time was not off the table.
1727
01:26:17,240 --> 01:26:20,643
[Flynn] And my lawyers tell me,
going into this hearing,
1728
01:26:20,843 --> 01:26:23,078
"Don't worry, you're not
going to have to say much here.
1729
01:26:23,279 --> 01:26:25,681
The prosecution's going to do
most of the talking." Okay?
1730
01:26:25,848 --> 01:26:27,850
And just the opposite happened.
1731
01:26:28,016 --> 01:26:29,685
You know, I get questions
from the judge.
1732
01:26:29,852 --> 01:26:31,387
And I'm answering
all the questions
1733
01:26:31,587 --> 01:26:33,856
and then the judge
starts to accuse me.
1734
01:26:34,022 --> 01:26:36,225
And he does
this very famous turns,
1735
01:26:36,425 --> 01:26:40,629
he turns, and he grabs
the flag behind his,
1736
01:26:40,796 --> 01:26:43,131
where his seat behind his bench,
1737
01:26:43,299 --> 01:26:45,334
and he grabs the flag,
and he turns back and he says,
1738
01:26:45,501 --> 01:26:47,035
you know, basically accuses me
1739
01:26:47,202 --> 01:26:49,204
of committing treason.
"Could he have been--
1740
01:26:49,372 --> 01:26:52,408
could he have been tried
for treason?
1741
01:26:52,608 --> 01:26:53,809
Or could he have been
found guilty of treason?"
1742
01:26:53,976 --> 01:26:55,511
To the prosecutor.
1743
01:26:55,678 --> 01:26:57,746
And Grack is, he was
kind of taken by it too.
1744
01:26:57,946 --> 01:27:00,483
The DOJ lawyer.
1745
01:27:00,649 --> 01:27:03,185
And he essentially says,
you know, "No, Your Honor.
1746
01:27:03,352 --> 01:27:04,987
No, Your Honor."
1747
01:27:05,153 --> 01:27:07,356
But, but the, so the judge
is sitting there
1748
01:27:07,523 --> 01:27:09,157
accusing me of treason
in a court,
1749
01:27:09,325 --> 01:27:11,059
and I'm not even in there for
any of that.
1750
01:27:11,226 --> 01:27:13,696
He's hugging the American flag
and he's saying, you know,
1751
01:27:13,862 --> 01:27:16,265
"You turned your back
on this country."
1752
01:27:16,465 --> 01:27:18,701
We were shocked.
There had been no trial.
1753
01:27:18,867 --> 01:27:20,336
There had been
no exchange of evidence.
1754
01:27:20,503 --> 01:27:22,271
There had been
no cross-examinations.
1755
01:27:22,471 --> 01:27:24,440
I thought his ini-- his outburst
1756
01:27:24,640 --> 01:27:28,210
calling General Michael Flynn
a traitor...
1757
01:27:28,377 --> 01:27:30,078
I mean, it was-- he was the one
1758
01:27:30,245 --> 01:27:32,247
who brought dishonor
upon his courtroom
1759
01:27:32,415 --> 01:27:35,050
and upon himself, right,
to scream out those things.
1760
01:27:35,217 --> 01:27:36,719
I mean, what an ignoramus.
1761
01:27:36,885 --> 01:27:38,220
There's no doubt in my mind
1762
01:27:38,387 --> 01:27:40,222
he did it for the benefit
of the media
1763
01:27:40,389 --> 01:27:42,725
because the media was on
pins and needles that day.
1764
01:27:42,891 --> 01:27:44,460
You know, they call them
the talking heads
1765
01:27:44,660 --> 01:27:46,929
on these shows,
who are these former
1766
01:27:47,095 --> 01:27:50,633
intelligence community
officials, like Brennan,
1767
01:27:50,833 --> 01:27:52,468
like Clapper,
1768
01:27:52,668 --> 01:27:54,036
like Comey,
1769
01:27:54,236 --> 01:27:56,339
like McCabe.
1770
01:27:56,539 --> 01:27:59,375
[Michael Jr.] Peter Strzok,
Lisa Page, Sally Yates;
1771
01:27:59,542 --> 01:28:00,943
you can't control these people.
1772
01:28:01,109 --> 01:28:04,079
And they're accusing me
of spying
1773
01:28:04,246 --> 01:28:06,649
against the United States
of America for Russia.
1774
01:28:06,849 --> 01:28:09,051
Of course, the media takes off,
takes off with,
"Well, even, you know,
1775
01:28:09,217 --> 01:28:11,820
even Judge Sullivan, you know,
in the courtroom
1776
01:28:12,020 --> 01:28:13,856
called General Flynn traitor."
1777
01:28:14,056 --> 01:28:17,259
[Flynn] The judge,
I believe, realized
1778
01:28:17,460 --> 01:28:19,462
that what he just did
1779
01:28:19,628 --> 01:28:22,765
would probably lead to a,
to some type of mistrial
1780
01:28:22,931 --> 01:28:25,568
or probably lead to
something bad for him,
1781
01:28:25,734 --> 01:28:29,472
because he just accused me
of something publicly
that I wasn't even in there for.
1782
01:28:29,638 --> 01:28:32,675
You could feel
inside of that courtroom
1783
01:28:32,875 --> 01:28:35,511
the level of tension
was unbelievable.
1784
01:28:35,711 --> 01:28:37,413
And I'm looking at
the lineup of prosecutors
1785
01:28:37,580 --> 01:28:39,181
from the Department of Justice,
1786
01:28:39,382 --> 01:28:40,916
and they were all
like white-faced,
1787
01:28:41,083 --> 01:28:44,152
like "Holy crap,
what did this judge just do?"
1788
01:28:44,319 --> 01:28:45,921
And the judge says,
"You know, do we need to talk?
1789
01:28:46,088 --> 01:28:47,590
Do we need time
to take a break?"
1790
01:28:47,756 --> 01:28:49,492
And I do this--
1791
01:28:49,658 --> 01:28:50,526
I don't know if you caught that,
1792
01:28:50,726 --> 01:28:52,961
but I did this.
1793
01:28:53,128 --> 01:28:55,598
And my lawyer said,
"Yes, Your Honor."
1794
01:28:55,764 --> 01:28:57,332
Prosecution,
"Yes, Your Honor. We're okay."
1795
01:28:57,500 --> 01:28:58,467
So, we take a break.
1796
01:28:59,402 --> 01:29:02,137
The judge today
really rebukes Michael Flynn
1797
01:29:02,337 --> 01:29:04,106
and uses words like treason,
1798
01:29:04,306 --> 01:29:05,774
that you allegedly
sold out your country.
1799
01:29:05,941 --> 01:29:07,810
After the treason comment
1800
01:29:07,976 --> 01:29:09,645
and after the--
thank God they took that break,
1801
01:29:09,812 --> 01:29:13,148
Lori, I think, said,
"We gotta take a break here."
1802
01:29:13,315 --> 01:29:15,150
She looked at me and said,
1803
01:29:15,350 --> 01:29:18,220
"This is going off the rails.
This is a disaster.
1804
01:29:18,421 --> 01:29:20,989
He's gonna put him
in jail today."
1805
01:29:21,156 --> 01:29:23,492
I get back into the courtroom
1806
01:29:23,659 --> 01:29:28,497
and the judge knew
that he, he was wrong.
1807
01:29:28,664 --> 01:29:30,666
And he came back out
and he essentially,
1808
01:29:30,833 --> 01:29:33,335
in a shitty way, he apologized.
1809
01:29:33,502 --> 01:29:36,572
He gave a shitty apology.
But the damage was done.
1810
01:29:36,772 --> 01:29:39,475
Threatening jail time for
lying to the FBI.
1811
01:29:39,675 --> 01:29:41,810
But I-- but I want to read you
some more of this judge.
1812
01:29:42,010 --> 01:29:44,913
This judge has become
a fascinating new figure
in this drama.
1813
01:29:45,113 --> 01:29:48,584
And he says, "Okay,
we'll come back in like
90 days" or something.
1814
01:29:48,784 --> 01:29:51,153
"We will-- we'll revisit
in 90 days."
1815
01:29:52,988 --> 01:29:58,360
And, you know,
pounds his gavel and,
1816
01:29:58,527 --> 01:30:01,063
and we all get up, he walks out.
1817
01:30:01,229 --> 01:30:06,268
And I mean, it was,
it was like total chaos.
1818
01:30:06,469 --> 01:30:09,872
By the grace of God,
Sullivan let him walk out
1819
01:30:10,038 --> 01:30:12,441
of that courtroom
without going to prison.
1820
01:30:12,641 --> 01:30:17,212
I think he probably regrets;
I think Sullivan regrets
that decision to this day.
1821
01:30:17,379 --> 01:30:21,016
We ended up going back over
to my son Michael's house
to just find some relief.
1822
01:30:21,183 --> 01:30:22,751
The baby's running around.
1823
01:30:22,918 --> 01:30:25,554
The baby, he's like,
crawling around.
1824
01:30:29,558 --> 01:30:32,060
We don't know that
they had threatened Mike.
1825
01:30:32,227 --> 01:30:36,632
I must have walked
around DC after that,
1826
01:30:36,832 --> 01:30:39,735
after that hearing,
for a good six, seven hours,
1827
01:30:39,902 --> 01:30:41,236
just walking around,
just looking at the sky,
1828
01:30:41,403 --> 01:30:43,405
like crying my eyes out.
1829
01:30:43,572 --> 01:30:46,642
There's-- there's no resolution,
you're two years into this now.
1830
01:30:46,842 --> 01:30:51,480
Okay. And you have no idea
how much longer this--
this is going to take.
1831
01:30:51,680 --> 01:30:57,452
I'm battling with terrible PTSD,
terrible PTSD from--
from this experience.
1832
01:30:57,620 --> 01:31:00,756
You know, I just, I describe it
as this constant drumbeat of,
1833
01:31:00,923 --> 01:31:04,059
of dot, you know, of subpoenas,
search warrants, you know,
1834
01:31:04,226 --> 01:31:07,963
emails, email requests
for information,
1835
01:31:08,130 --> 01:31:11,466
eventual media, you know,
parked outside of my house.
1836
01:31:15,571 --> 01:31:19,174
And I want to talk about
that "being alone" feeling.
1837
01:31:19,374 --> 01:31:21,309
There are very few things that
are worse than feeling alone
1838
01:31:21,476 --> 01:31:25,080
when you're going through
like incredible,
incredible trauma.
1839
01:31:27,115 --> 01:31:27,916
Um...
1840
01:31:29,918 --> 01:31:31,253
There was just so much
that was happening,
1841
01:31:31,419 --> 01:31:34,022
so much that was happening
that I...
1842
01:31:34,222 --> 01:31:36,759
I didn't understand
at the time, you know?
1843
01:31:36,925 --> 01:31:38,493
I didn't understand, I mean,
I didn't really understand
1844
01:31:38,661 --> 01:31:40,796
the concept of the deep state,
you know?
1845
01:31:40,963 --> 01:31:42,965
I didn't understand, you know,
that the Department of Justice
1846
01:31:43,131 --> 01:31:45,267
can indict
a ham sandwich concept.
1847
01:31:45,433 --> 01:31:47,536
You know, like I just,
all of a sudden, I'm--
1848
01:31:47,736 --> 01:31:50,038
I'm hearing that my father
could potentially
1849
01:31:50,238 --> 01:31:52,608
go away to prison for 15 years.
1850
01:31:52,775 --> 01:31:55,711
I remember the conversations
that I had with my mom about...
1851
01:31:58,013 --> 01:31:59,147
[exhales]
1852
01:32:01,183 --> 01:32:02,785
just about like,
1853
01:32:02,951 --> 01:32:05,654
"Which prison are we
gonna go visit him at?"
1854
01:32:05,821 --> 01:32:08,323
I can't even imagine like,
what my mom,
1855
01:32:08,490 --> 01:32:10,358
what my mom was thinking about.
1856
01:32:10,525 --> 01:32:13,295
It's been really hard
on him, I think,
1857
01:32:13,461 --> 01:32:15,731
harder on him, I think,
than on me, truthfully.
1858
01:32:15,931 --> 01:32:19,735
Because imagine
having a son feel like
1859
01:32:19,935 --> 01:32:21,804
he is the reason
your father had to plead guilty
1860
01:32:21,970 --> 01:32:24,539
to a crime he didn't commit.
1861
01:32:24,707 --> 01:32:28,343
I can't imagine the burden
that he had, I mean, the guilt.
1862
01:32:28,510 --> 01:32:30,145
And it's almost like
survivor's guilt, really.
1863
01:32:30,312 --> 01:32:32,581
He just felt like, you know,
1864
01:32:32,781 --> 01:32:35,250
his dad was willing
to go to prison for him.
1865
01:32:35,450 --> 01:32:38,020
You know, I mean,
I didn't believe it.
I just didn't believe it.
1866
01:32:38,186 --> 01:32:39,855
It took me years
to understand, like,
1867
01:32:40,022 --> 01:32:43,859
oh, he was doing this to,
to basically save, to save me.
1868
01:32:44,026 --> 01:32:46,829
You know, if I wasn't,
if I wasn't there,
he wouldn't have done it.
1869
01:32:46,995 --> 01:32:50,565
He would have kept--
he would have kept fighting,
but it's like, I understand.
1870
01:32:50,733 --> 01:32:52,200
I understand, like...
1871
01:32:55,704 --> 01:32:58,373
I understand as a father,
you know, like,
1872
01:32:58,540 --> 01:33:00,943
what you would do.
1873
01:33:01,143 --> 01:33:03,111
You know, you'd fall,
you'd fall on a sword
1874
01:33:03,311 --> 01:33:07,683
to protect your child, you know,
and I understand that.
1875
01:33:07,850 --> 01:33:11,687
I understand that more now
than ever.
1876
01:33:11,854 --> 01:33:14,122
Anytime I wanted to talk
to my father about this stuff,
1877
01:33:14,322 --> 01:33:16,091
it-- it just it--
1878
01:33:16,258 --> 01:33:18,961
the conversation always turned
into "Talk to your lawyer.
1879
01:33:19,161 --> 01:33:21,730
Talk to your lawyer.
Talk to your lawyer."
1880
01:33:21,897 --> 01:33:24,867
We subsequently,
subsequently had to talk
1881
01:33:25,067 --> 01:33:27,469
to each other
through our lawyers.
1882
01:33:27,670 --> 01:33:29,204
It was after that,
I mean, I went into,
1883
01:33:29,404 --> 01:33:32,474
I mean, I went into
a very deep depression,
1884
01:33:33,075 --> 01:33:35,811
very deep depression going
into 2018.
1885
01:33:36,011 --> 01:33:38,747
I mean, like
suicidal depression.
1886
01:33:38,914 --> 01:33:40,649
Okay, and I don't
say that lightly
1887
01:33:40,849 --> 01:33:43,986
because that is just not a topic
that is, is easy to discuss.
1888
01:33:45,921 --> 01:33:48,724
But, you know, the only thing,
1889
01:33:48,891 --> 01:33:50,558
the only thing
that kept me from...
1890
01:33:53,028 --> 01:33:55,731
[sniffles]
1891
01:33:55,898 --> 01:34:00,235
the only thing
that kept me alive was my--
was my son. [sniffles]
1892
01:34:00,402 --> 01:34:04,673
And thank God, thank God
I have him in my life.
1893
01:34:04,873 --> 01:34:06,474
Thank God I had him
in my life then. [sniffles]
1894
01:34:06,641 --> 01:34:11,980
...to my Flag and the Republic
for which it stands,
1895
01:34:12,147 --> 01:34:18,453
one nation under God,
indivisible,
1896
01:34:18,620 --> 01:34:21,656
with liberty and justice
for all.
1897
01:34:27,229 --> 01:34:29,698
Travis was a super important
part of my life.
1898
01:34:29,898 --> 01:34:33,368
I mean, and... yeah.
1899
01:34:37,973 --> 01:34:40,108
Little peanut just turned six.
1900
01:34:42,510 --> 01:34:45,047
But anyway.
When he, you know, it's like...
1901
01:34:48,083 --> 01:34:50,719
I mean, during this time
he's born, right,
1902
01:34:50,919 --> 01:34:54,656
I mean, he's a big baby.
And he like, poof, he like,
1903
01:34:54,823 --> 01:34:56,458
I would hold him,
1904
01:34:56,624 --> 01:35:00,896
and his innocence
reminded me about
1905
01:35:01,096 --> 01:35:03,365
just everything
that was good in life.
1906
01:35:03,531 --> 01:35:06,835
Everything. I mean,
the innocence of a child,
1907
01:35:07,002 --> 01:35:09,471
the innocence of my grandchild
1908
01:35:10,105 --> 01:35:17,079
just reminded me of how...
how important, you know,
1909
01:35:17,679 --> 01:35:20,582
what it is that we do
on a daily basis is.
1910
01:35:20,783 --> 01:35:23,018
And one of the ways
that you live your faith,
1911
01:35:23,218 --> 01:35:24,920
and I like to believe
that that's the way
1912
01:35:25,120 --> 01:35:26,955
I live my faith,
is through my family...
1913
01:35:27,155 --> 01:35:29,591
because I love my family.
1914
01:35:29,792 --> 01:35:32,961
And, and I'd do
anything for 'em.
1915
01:35:33,161 --> 01:35:37,532
And I want my family
to know that...
1916
01:35:37,699 --> 01:35:39,501
to know that. I want
my family to know that,
1917
01:35:39,667 --> 01:35:41,069
that I would do
anything for 'em.
1918
01:35:41,236 --> 01:35:43,538
And definitely my own kids.
1919
01:35:43,705 --> 01:35:47,342
And I think with, with Michael,
he feels the same way.
1920
01:35:47,509 --> 01:35:50,846
The, you know, Michael
looking at Travis...
1921
01:35:54,549 --> 01:35:57,552
and, and thinking about
what he was thinking about,
1922
01:35:57,719 --> 01:36:03,758
going through that emotion of,
of, of the, of the idea
1923
01:36:03,926 --> 01:36:07,930
that, you know, he's
contemplating killing himself.
1924
01:36:08,096 --> 01:36:10,132
He's contemplating suicide.
1925
01:36:11,066 --> 01:36:14,036
I always said, "Michael,
just know that
no matter what happens,
1926
01:36:14,202 --> 01:36:16,438
you know,
your dad and I are here.
1927
01:36:16,604 --> 01:36:21,910
Nothing should get
as low for you as that."
1928
01:36:22,077 --> 01:36:25,080
So, and he promised me,
1929
01:36:25,280 --> 01:36:27,482
"Mom, I would never
because I have Travis."
1930
01:36:27,682 --> 01:36:30,585
And I said "That's right.
You have Travis,
and Travis needs you.
1931
01:36:30,785 --> 01:36:34,990
He needs you
to be there for him.
Like your dad was for you."
1932
01:36:35,190 --> 01:36:41,263
Wow. I mean, you know.
1933
01:36:41,429 --> 01:36:45,934
So, for people...
and maybe this is how I,
1934
01:36:46,101 --> 01:36:47,635
you know, how I adjust myself,
1935
01:36:47,802 --> 01:36:49,637
for people, people
need to understand that,
1936
01:36:49,804 --> 01:36:56,244
that, that life is so fleeting,
so fleeting.
1937
01:36:56,411 --> 01:37:00,015
You know, what the, what you--
what you're looking for,
1938
01:37:00,215 --> 01:37:03,018
is you're looking for love.
1939
01:37:03,218 --> 01:37:07,355
You're looking for like,
is, is there love there?
1940
01:37:07,555 --> 01:37:14,496
And I know for me, and I--
and I know for Michael,
1941
01:37:15,463 --> 01:37:18,633
that we found it. We found it.
1942
01:37:18,800 --> 01:37:20,936
We found it in each other.
1943
01:37:21,103 --> 01:37:23,638
We found it in our families
and--
1944
01:37:23,805 --> 01:37:26,608
and I found it in my son,
1945
01:37:26,808 --> 01:37:29,811
and he found it in his son,
my grandson.
1946
01:37:30,745 --> 01:37:33,115
And I thank God that he did.
1947
01:37:33,281 --> 01:37:37,485
Because I don't know
where I'd be today if,
1948
01:37:37,652 --> 01:37:42,024
uh, if that--
if that had ever happened.
1949
01:37:42,624 --> 01:37:45,227
And I don't know what--
what I would have done.
1950
01:37:47,129 --> 01:37:50,132
That's--
that's just something that's,
1951
01:37:50,298 --> 01:37:53,068
I can't even contemplate it.
1952
01:37:53,268 --> 01:37:55,070
Can't-- that's just
unimaginable to me.
1953
01:38:09,952 --> 01:38:12,420
[man] That's why
one of the most important
things
1954
01:38:12,620 --> 01:38:16,291
that General Flynn did is
fired Covington & Burling
and hired Sidney Powell,
1955
01:38:16,491 --> 01:38:18,526
somebody who had the courage
to go toe to toe with them.
1956
01:38:18,726 --> 01:38:20,728
[Flynn] Lori and I
were going through
1957
01:38:20,895 --> 01:38:23,231
our own sort of
mental gymnastics
to figure out a way to dump them
1958
01:38:23,398 --> 01:38:27,902
and find, find somebody
who was going to
stand up courageously
1959
01:38:28,070 --> 01:38:30,272
and fight for us.
1960
01:38:30,472 --> 01:38:33,942
Mike gave his consent
as a client
1961
01:38:34,142 --> 01:38:38,180
to allow Sidney to read through
all of the documents.
1962
01:38:38,346 --> 01:38:41,716
And so, she started
uncovering the fact
1963
01:38:41,883 --> 01:38:46,754
that Covington Burling had
a conflict of interest
1964
01:38:46,921 --> 01:38:50,525
representing Mike
on this 1001 charge.
1965
01:38:50,692 --> 01:38:53,261
They were not in a position
where they should be involved
1966
01:38:54,229 --> 01:38:55,363
in the matter
before Judge Sullivan.
1967
01:38:55,530 --> 01:38:58,933
My first task was to
1968
01:38:59,101 --> 01:39:01,970
help with the transition
of the case
1969
01:39:02,170 --> 01:39:06,541
from Covington & Burling to
Sidney Powell as lead counsel.
1970
01:39:06,741 --> 01:39:10,145
There was a striking difference
at that point
1971
01:39:10,345 --> 01:39:12,514
about the way that we were
defending our client,
1972
01:39:12,714 --> 01:39:15,317
and his predecessors
were defending him.
1973
01:39:15,517 --> 01:39:18,420
We're not going to let
the government bully us
1974
01:39:18,586 --> 01:39:22,957
into having our client
provide false testimony.
1975
01:39:23,125 --> 01:39:25,960
And that was my first
real involvement in the case,
1976
01:39:26,128 --> 01:39:31,399
is to-- is to go forward
and dig our heels in and say,
1977
01:39:31,566 --> 01:39:34,569
"We're here to defend the truth,
1978
01:39:34,736 --> 01:39:37,072
not the government's
false narrative."
1979
01:39:37,239 --> 01:39:39,574
The decision then was
not to get this judge
1980
01:39:39,741 --> 01:39:41,843
to lessen my sentence;
the fight now was going to be
1981
01:39:42,044 --> 01:39:45,947
we're going to pull
my guilty plea.
1982
01:39:46,114 --> 01:39:48,283
Particularly in this case,
1983
01:39:48,450 --> 01:39:52,687
the amount of exculpatory
information that was coming in.
1984
01:39:52,887 --> 01:39:54,356
[Alicia] Yeah.
1985
01:39:54,556 --> 01:39:59,861
I mean, I saw all of it.
I was stunned with it all.
1986
01:40:00,062 --> 01:40:02,397
I mean,
it went on and on and on.
1987
01:40:02,597 --> 01:40:05,800
And you could see through
1988
01:40:05,967 --> 01:40:09,537
the time period of
Michael's case
1989
01:40:09,737 --> 01:40:12,707
and his dealings
with the attorneys,
1990
01:40:12,907 --> 01:40:16,344
you could see the case
literally unfold
1991
01:40:16,511 --> 01:40:19,047
as new information came out.
1992
01:40:19,247 --> 01:40:22,784
Brady material,
exculpatory evidence.
1993
01:40:22,950 --> 01:40:26,054
In the U.S. justice process,
it's designed to be
1994
01:40:26,254 --> 01:40:29,657
a full airing of the facts.
1995
01:40:29,824 --> 01:40:32,394
So not only
the incriminating evidence,
1996
01:40:32,594 --> 01:40:34,129
but the exculpatory evidence.
1997
01:40:34,296 --> 01:40:36,698
All of this
is supposed to come forth
1998
01:40:36,864 --> 01:40:39,367
into the judicial process,
1999
01:40:39,534 --> 01:40:45,006
so that there is a free and fair
airing of the facts.
2000
01:40:45,173 --> 01:40:47,875
Sidney Powell, you know,
she was aware
2001
01:40:48,042 --> 01:40:50,545
that the Department of Justice
2002
01:40:50,712 --> 01:40:53,415
was not bringing forth
the Brady material,
2003
01:40:53,615 --> 01:40:56,351
the exculpatory evidence
that they were required to do.
2004
01:40:56,518 --> 01:41:00,322
And it begs the question,
what have they not done?
2005
01:41:00,488 --> 01:41:03,024
You know, it's like,
could it be any more abusive?
2006
01:41:03,691 --> 01:41:06,728
The Department of Justice
Inspector General's report
2007
01:41:06,894 --> 01:41:09,731
on FISA abuse came out
like a couple of days
2008
01:41:09,897 --> 01:41:12,400
after
that 18th December hearing.
2009
01:41:12,567 --> 01:41:18,273
My briefing and debriefing
of DIA from my Russia trip
came out after that.
2010
01:41:18,473 --> 01:41:21,109
I knew about the briefing
and debriefing.
2011
01:41:21,309 --> 01:41:24,679
It was all classified.
So, I'm not, you know, I'm not--
2012
01:41:24,846 --> 01:41:27,249
you know, I'm like, protected.
I let my lawyers know, because
2013
01:41:27,415 --> 01:41:29,684
it's a lawyer-client privilege,
but it's classified,
the fact of what I was doing.
2014
01:41:29,851 --> 01:41:31,719
But now it's public.
2015
01:41:31,919 --> 01:41:33,521
[Michael Jr.] There were
more and more, you know,
2016
01:41:33,721 --> 01:41:35,390
answers to questions
that I had that--
2017
01:41:35,590 --> 01:41:37,892
that started to get
kind of produced
2018
01:41:38,092 --> 01:41:41,696
as Sidney started
digging into--
into my father's case.
2019
01:41:41,896 --> 01:41:44,199
You know, like, for example,
2020
01:41:44,399 --> 01:41:46,334
like the reaction
of the lawyers
from Covington & Burling,
2021
01:41:46,534 --> 01:41:49,471
after my father pled guilty.
2022
01:41:49,671 --> 01:41:51,739
I mean, they were like,
celebrating.
2023
01:41:51,939 --> 01:41:55,243
There's texts of them
talking about--
and emails talking about
2024
01:41:55,410 --> 01:41:57,379
how, like how great of a job
they all did,
2025
01:41:57,545 --> 01:41:59,581
that they were able
to get him to plea.
2026
01:41:59,747 --> 01:42:01,949
You know, it's like
you get one more shot
2027
01:42:02,116 --> 01:42:05,587
at staying above water.
2028
01:42:05,753 --> 01:42:07,722
Sidney convinced him, not only
can we stay above water,
2029
01:42:07,889 --> 01:42:10,458
we can start floating, and maybe
we can get out of this.
2030
01:42:10,625 --> 01:42:12,494
This is a lawless process.
2031
01:42:28,376 --> 01:42:31,112
[Joe] The bills
were mounting, okay,
because it was--
2032
01:42:31,313 --> 01:42:32,780
and a Special Counsel
had been appointed,
2033
01:42:32,980 --> 01:42:35,183
and so Mike's
now getting called in.
2034
01:42:35,383 --> 01:42:37,952
So, every time you get called in
for a proffer session
2035
01:42:38,119 --> 01:42:39,821
or whatever sessions you have to
have with the Special Counsel,
2036
01:42:39,987 --> 01:42:41,823
you're gonna have
at least one attorney,
2037
01:42:41,989 --> 01:42:44,926
if not several attorneys
available to you.
2038
01:42:45,092 --> 01:42:46,928
So, you're talking about
Washington, DC, attorneys--
2039
01:42:47,094 --> 01:42:50,232
700 dollars.
All of a sudden, you know,
2040
01:42:50,432 --> 01:42:52,600
you go from having
a 20,000-dollar bill
2041
01:42:52,800 --> 01:42:56,037
to a, you know,
350,000-dollar bill
2042
01:42:56,238 --> 01:42:59,807
and, and I think Mike and Lori
knew that, you know,
2043
01:42:59,974 --> 01:43:01,843
if this continues,
they're gonna be bankrupt.
2044
01:43:02,009 --> 01:43:03,845
They're gonna just
destroy them financially.
2045
01:43:04,011 --> 01:43:07,282
[waves crashing]
2046
01:43:07,482 --> 01:43:09,251
[Barbara] They weren't
gonna get much money
2047
01:43:09,451 --> 01:43:11,152
because Mike had already--
selling his house
2048
01:43:11,353 --> 01:43:13,721
to pay the legal fees and,
you know, for that,
2049
01:43:13,921 --> 01:43:16,658
first, you know,
probably five or six months,
2050
01:43:16,858 --> 01:43:19,126
we're talking
300,000 dollars a month.
2051
01:43:19,294 --> 01:43:20,528
And they don't care.
2052
01:43:20,695 --> 01:43:22,397
They just keep
sending you a bill.
2053
01:43:22,597 --> 01:43:24,366
They don't even care
if they send you an invoice.
2054
01:43:25,032 --> 01:43:26,133
[Flynn] So, there was
a moment that
2055
01:43:26,334 --> 01:43:28,135
where I just felt like
2056
01:43:28,336 --> 01:43:31,072
I was literally
deep down underwater,
2057
01:43:31,273 --> 01:43:32,139
and I felt like I was drowning.
2058
01:43:34,509 --> 01:43:37,245
[Jack] It was an
insurmountable, monumental task
2059
01:43:37,445 --> 01:43:42,350
to raise that money in the face
of having had Mike plead guilty.
2060
01:43:44,719 --> 01:43:47,489
And the rest of the country
going,
2061
01:43:47,655 --> 01:43:50,157
"What the fuck?
How did he plead? Why?"
2062
01:43:50,325 --> 01:43:52,427
His son.
2063
01:43:52,627 --> 01:43:56,831
Young Mike. All right?
So, everybody gets it.
2064
01:43:56,998 --> 01:43:59,233
But the media doesn't
want to carry that message.
2065
01:43:59,401 --> 01:44:01,603
Instead, it's "disgraced
General Michael Flynn."
2066
01:44:01,803 --> 01:44:03,838
And the more
they pushed back on Trump,
2067
01:44:04,005 --> 01:44:05,607
the more people
started to realize
2068
01:44:05,807 --> 01:44:08,009
General Flynn took a hit.
2069
01:44:08,576 --> 01:44:12,747
We ended up having to, um,
start a legal defense fund.
2070
01:44:12,914 --> 01:44:15,917
And, um...
2071
01:44:16,083 --> 01:44:18,786
that in itself was hard
because, you know,
2072
01:44:18,986 --> 01:44:20,021
you're asking people
to give you money
2073
01:44:20,187 --> 01:44:22,056
to defend yourself.
2074
01:44:22,223 --> 01:44:27,295
And we, we were asking
the American people to help us.
2075
01:44:27,495 --> 01:44:30,332
And they came out in droves.
2076
01:44:30,532 --> 01:44:32,500
[Flynn] The American people
started to come into,
2077
01:44:32,700 --> 01:44:34,502
into my life.
2078
01:44:34,702 --> 01:44:37,705
And, and there was a moment
where I just felt like
2079
01:44:37,905 --> 01:44:42,377
air was being breathed
into my lungs.
2080
01:44:42,544 --> 01:44:45,647
Over time,
instead of being pounded down
2081
01:44:45,847 --> 01:44:49,016
below the surface of the ocean,
I started to come up.
2082
01:44:49,216 --> 01:44:51,853
I started to come up.
2083
01:44:52,053 --> 01:44:55,523
In a way, it was like,
I'm now above the surface,
2084
01:44:55,723 --> 01:44:58,025
and I'm starting to
swim to shore.
2085
01:44:58,225 --> 01:45:01,128
I'm really just-- now I'm like,
"Okay, I got this.
2086
01:45:01,295 --> 01:45:02,897
Shore's still
a long distance off,
2087
01:45:03,064 --> 01:45:05,800
but I can see,
I can see the shoreline.
2088
01:45:05,967 --> 01:45:08,736
It's out there."
2089
01:45:08,903 --> 01:45:09,737
And I started to swim for it.
2090
01:45:14,976 --> 01:45:16,944
[Jack]
And these supportive people,
2091
01:45:17,111 --> 01:45:20,482
God knows where they came from,
these American people.
2092
01:45:20,648 --> 01:45:24,419
He calls it buddy breathing.
I've heard him say that.
2093
01:45:24,586 --> 01:45:30,091
Being able to come through
financially,
2094
01:45:30,257 --> 01:45:31,859
with this giant burden
of the federal government
2095
01:45:32,059 --> 01:45:33,127
on his shoulders,
2096
01:45:33,294 --> 01:45:35,530
and be able to support,
2097
01:45:35,730 --> 01:45:39,834
you know, the legal action
that was
2098
01:45:40,001 --> 01:45:43,871
incredibly financially
burdensome to any other person.
2099
01:45:44,071 --> 01:45:47,609
I don't know what you would do,
except end up in jail.
2100
01:45:47,775 --> 01:45:51,178
We had to outsmart
the FBI, the CIA, the DOJ.
2101
01:45:51,345 --> 01:45:52,780
We had to become our own--
2102
01:45:52,947 --> 01:45:55,717
the Flynn family
became investigators.
2103
01:45:55,917 --> 01:45:59,186
We had to read every document,
and we had to look deeper,
2104
01:45:59,353 --> 01:46:02,156
and we had so many great people
started helping us.
2105
01:46:02,323 --> 01:46:04,158
Once they saw that
we weren't going to stop,
2106
01:46:04,325 --> 01:46:05,493
that we were going to fight,
2107
01:46:05,693 --> 01:46:06,994
we were getting letters,
2108
01:46:07,194 --> 01:46:10,398
like hundreds of letters
every week.
2109
01:46:10,598 --> 01:46:12,500
Just when we were
getting like to a low,
2110
01:46:12,667 --> 01:46:14,902
Barbara would,
there would be a FedEx box
2111
01:46:15,102 --> 01:46:18,339
coming to the door with like,
hundreds of letters,
2112
01:46:18,506 --> 01:46:22,009
hundreds of cards,
rosary beads; you know,
2113
01:46:22,176 --> 01:46:23,310
little things
to just make our life
2114
01:46:24,211 --> 01:46:26,347
a little bit more pleasant.
2115
01:46:26,548 --> 01:46:28,650
We would take them out
and read them,
2116
01:46:28,850 --> 01:46:30,017
and we would say,
"This is what it's all about.
2117
01:46:30,217 --> 01:46:31,953
This is what real America is."
2118
01:46:32,153 --> 01:46:35,156
These people are, you know,
2119
01:46:35,322 --> 01:46:37,692
talking about things
that happened to them
with their families, you know,
2120
01:46:37,859 --> 01:46:39,226
my husband, or my son
or my brother, my--
2121
01:46:39,393 --> 01:46:41,362
this happened to them
when they did this.
2122
01:46:41,529 --> 01:46:43,364
And it was really cathartic
to read all those letters.
2123
01:46:43,531 --> 01:46:45,199
It was a great thing
to look forward to.
2124
01:46:45,366 --> 01:46:47,802
Like every other week,
we would get a big box.
2125
01:46:48,002 --> 01:46:50,505
And we amassed probably
2126
01:46:50,705 --> 01:46:53,374
seven or eight big
Rubbermaid bins of them,
2127
01:46:53,575 --> 01:46:57,945
and Mike would sit down
after every box we got
and wrote a thank-you note
2128
01:46:58,145 --> 01:46:59,280
to every single one
of those people.
2129
01:46:59,481 --> 01:47:01,949
And some of them
became pen pals.
2130
01:47:02,149 --> 01:47:04,251
They would write him back,
and he would have to
write them back.
2131
01:47:04,418 --> 01:47:10,091
And it was kind of
a neat thing, really,
but it was sort of his, I think,
2132
01:47:10,257 --> 01:47:12,059
way to get through it too,
you know?
2133
01:47:12,226 --> 01:47:13,961
He would read something,
and he'd say,
2134
01:47:14,161 --> 01:47:15,863
"You got to read this letter,"
and--
2135
01:47:16,063 --> 01:47:17,532
or I'd read it and,
"You got to read this letter."
2136
01:47:17,732 --> 01:47:19,333
And they were just
great, great letters.
2137
01:47:19,534 --> 01:47:22,403
Tearjerkers, a lot of them.
But it was--
2138
01:47:22,604 --> 01:47:25,540
it really did open
our eyes to what America
2139
01:47:25,707 --> 01:47:27,642
really knows about what's
going on with his case,
2140
01:47:27,842 --> 01:47:30,044
because they came
from everywhere.
2141
01:47:30,211 --> 01:47:34,115
Some of them overseas,
you know, so it was, um,
2142
01:47:34,281 --> 01:47:36,651
it got us through a lot of
the tough, tough times.
2143
01:47:36,851 --> 01:47:38,720
It really did.
2144
01:47:38,886 --> 01:47:40,622
[producer] Is it true he went to
the 99 cents store he loves?
2145
01:47:40,788 --> 01:47:41,789
[laughs]
2146
01:47:41,956 --> 01:47:43,725
[producer] Tell me about that.
2147
01:47:43,891 --> 01:47:45,059
Well, it's not
99 cents store anymore.
2148
01:47:45,226 --> 01:47:47,729
Now it's $1.25.
2149
01:47:47,895 --> 01:47:49,597
But yes, we would go in there,
2150
01:47:49,764 --> 01:47:51,733
he would get this
like cards for a dollar,
2151
01:47:51,899 --> 01:47:53,601
and you could get
like a pack of eight
2152
01:47:53,768 --> 01:47:55,803
or a pack of 12 for a buck.
So why not?
2153
01:47:55,970 --> 01:47:58,072
We just put about
as many as we could in the cart.
2154
01:47:58,239 --> 01:48:00,842
You know, we always got the ones
that had the American flag
on them.
2155
01:48:01,042 --> 01:48:02,744
But he'd go through them
so fast.
2156
01:48:02,910 --> 01:48:04,478
I ended up having to order them
from somewhere else
2157
01:48:04,646 --> 01:48:06,347
so we can get like a pack of 50.
2158
01:48:06,548 --> 01:48:08,750
I think it says a lot
about what the American people
2159
01:48:08,916 --> 01:48:11,352
were wanting out of this.
2160
01:48:11,553 --> 01:48:14,589
They were looking at this as,
as this is their fight.
2161
01:48:14,789 --> 01:48:17,258
What Flynn's going through,
what the Flynn family's
going through
2162
01:48:17,458 --> 01:48:19,727
is the fight of
the common American people
2163
01:48:19,927 --> 01:48:23,130
against a broken,
corrupt justice system.
2164
01:48:23,330 --> 01:48:26,133
Many families have
dealt with broken, corrupt
2165
01:48:26,333 --> 01:48:28,670
justice system situations.
2166
01:48:28,836 --> 01:48:31,773
And many people empathized
with that and saw--
2167
01:48:31,939 --> 01:48:33,541
they realized that we weren't
some wealthy family,
2168
01:48:33,741 --> 01:48:35,176
West Point grads.
2169
01:48:35,342 --> 01:48:37,178
We were a bunch
of street kids, okay,
2170
01:48:37,344 --> 01:48:39,547
and just happened to be
in this situation
2171
01:48:39,747 --> 01:48:42,183
and having to band together
to fight against this,
2172
01:48:42,349 --> 01:48:43,718
to fight against
this absolute evil.
2173
01:48:48,690 --> 01:48:50,257
[Jesse] First of all,
you got to understand
2174
01:48:50,457 --> 01:48:51,659
a little bit
about who Jeff Jensen is.
2175
01:48:51,859 --> 01:48:53,327
He's a former FBI agent,
2176
01:48:53,527 --> 01:48:56,297
who then became
a line prosecutor,
2177
01:48:56,497 --> 01:49:00,968
who then became
a United States attorney.
2178
01:49:01,168 --> 01:49:04,672
So, he's somebody
who fully understood
2179
01:49:04,839 --> 01:49:07,809
the workings of the FBI
2180
01:49:07,975 --> 01:49:12,179
and the workings of
the Department of Justice.
2181
01:49:12,346 --> 01:49:16,684
So, he's not someone
that the bureaucrats
2182
01:49:16,884 --> 01:49:20,321
could hide stuff from using
their bureaucratic tricks.
2183
01:49:22,857 --> 01:49:23,925
And the most important...
2184
01:49:26,193 --> 01:49:32,066
document that was written
as a result of his investigation
2185
01:49:32,700 --> 01:49:36,804
was on May 7, 2020,
2186
01:49:37,004 --> 01:49:40,174
when the government moved
to dismiss the Flynn case.
2187
01:49:46,147 --> 01:49:48,950
[Lee] Nah, nah, nah.
Not so quick.
2188
01:49:49,150 --> 01:49:51,653
Time for Emmet Sullivan
to go after Flynn.
2189
01:49:51,853 --> 01:49:55,690
Even if the prosecutors have
stopped prosecuting Flynn,
2190
01:49:55,857 --> 01:50:00,628
it's time for now the judge to
prosecute General Michael Flynn.
2191
01:50:00,828 --> 01:50:03,397
That's really weird.
That's really twisted.
2192
01:50:03,564 --> 01:50:05,132
There was no reason
for them to do what they did
2193
01:50:05,332 --> 01:50:08,936
in the first place.
It was political.
2194
01:50:09,103 --> 01:50:14,008
It was a hit job by the former
Obama administration
2195
01:50:14,208 --> 01:50:18,880
on the incoming administration,
and he targeted Flynn
2196
01:50:19,080 --> 01:50:20,815
because they felt that
that was going to be a spot,
2197
01:50:21,015 --> 01:50:23,384
especially with Russia,
because he had,
2198
01:50:23,584 --> 01:50:24,919
he sat at that table
with Putin one time,
2199
01:50:25,119 --> 01:50:27,889
which is in our family a joke.
2200
01:50:28,055 --> 01:50:29,957
Michael, if he was told
to shoot Putin
2201
01:50:30,124 --> 01:50:33,227
in the head that day,
would have done it.
2202
01:50:33,394 --> 01:50:37,732
Because he's a soldier,
always first.
2203
01:50:37,899 --> 01:50:40,434
If his job was to get there
and shoot Putin in the head,
2204
01:50:40,601 --> 01:50:41,769
he'd've done it.
2205
01:50:44,405 --> 01:50:47,108
There's something else
that's part of the story
2206
01:50:47,274 --> 01:50:53,247
that I don't know has been told
that I think needs to be told.
2207
01:50:53,414 --> 01:50:59,987
And that is, President Trump
offered a pardon
2208
01:51:00,154 --> 01:51:04,158
in the spring of 2020,
before the government's
motion to dismiss,
2209
01:51:04,325 --> 01:51:10,932
and actually before most of the
exculpatory information
had come out.
2210
01:51:11,098 --> 01:51:13,701
General Flynn
had an opportunity then
2211
01:51:13,901 --> 01:51:17,638
to put all this behind him.
But he didn't want the pardon.
2212
01:51:17,805 --> 01:51:20,141
He wanted to be fully vindicated
2213
01:51:20,307 --> 01:51:22,076
through the government's
motion to dismiss.
2214
01:51:22,276 --> 01:51:29,283
And Sidney had the guts
to tell the president,
2215
01:51:30,617 --> 01:51:32,253
"Thank you very much,
but this time,
2216
01:51:32,453 --> 01:51:37,358
we're gonna keep fighting."
As a result of, of that,
2217
01:51:37,524 --> 01:51:44,531
the full exposure of
the government's misconduct
2218
01:51:45,099 --> 01:51:47,301
against General Flynn
came to light.
2219
01:51:47,468 --> 01:51:53,340
But everything that came out
probably wouldn't have unless
2220
01:51:53,507 --> 01:51:58,079
General Flynn
had the courage to say,
2221
01:51:58,279 --> 01:52:01,148
"I don't want a pardon yet,
I want to fight."
2222
01:52:01,315 --> 01:52:02,850
I'm really proud
to be on a legal team
2223
01:52:03,017 --> 01:52:05,052
that supported him in that.
2224
01:52:05,219 --> 01:52:06,553
[producer]
Had anybody heard that?
2225
01:52:06,720 --> 01:52:07,521
I don't think so.
2226
01:52:10,792 --> 01:52:13,828
I had to get permission
from the client to tell it.
2227
01:52:13,995 --> 01:52:17,264
We were praying to God that
we didn't have to use a pardon.
2228
01:52:17,464 --> 01:52:22,269
But I knew
that Sullivan was waiting
2229
01:52:22,469 --> 01:52:24,505
for the election to come,
and if Biden had won,
2230
01:52:24,671 --> 01:52:26,340
which he did,
2231
01:52:26,507 --> 01:52:28,575
and my husband hadn't gotten
pardoned from Trump,
2232
01:52:28,742 --> 01:52:31,012
they would have somehow
figured out a way
2233
01:52:31,178 --> 01:52:34,748
to rescind any kind of dismissal
2234
01:52:34,916 --> 01:52:37,518
and take him back into court
and retry him or whatever.
2235
01:52:37,684 --> 01:52:40,387
I knew that was
what his plan was.
2236
01:52:40,554 --> 01:52:43,224
That's how vindictive
that judge was.
2237
01:52:43,390 --> 01:52:46,794
And I was grateful,
but I was also sad
2238
01:52:46,994 --> 01:52:49,063
because it should have
never came to that.
2239
01:52:49,230 --> 01:52:52,566
My husband didn't need a pardon.
He didn't do anything wrong.
2240
01:52:52,733 --> 01:52:54,101
And so, the pardon
is kind of one of those things
2241
01:52:54,268 --> 01:52:55,469
where it's a little bit
bittersweet.
2242
01:53:06,580 --> 01:53:09,416
Okay,
inside this little box is a--
2243
01:53:09,583 --> 01:53:12,153
the original pardon of innocence
given to General Michael Flynn
2244
01:53:12,353 --> 01:53:16,824
by Donald Trump
in November of 2020.
2245
01:53:17,024 --> 01:53:20,161
Again, an unprecedented
event in American history
2246
01:53:20,361 --> 01:53:23,030
where someone has given--
been given a presidential
pardon
2247
01:53:23,230 --> 01:53:25,532
who is innocent of the charges
2248
01:53:25,732 --> 01:53:29,103
because the charges were
dropped by the Department of
Justice.
2249
01:53:29,270 --> 01:53:31,505
So, there was no reason
for the pardon anyway.
2250
01:53:31,705 --> 01:53:33,640
And that's why he called it
a pardon of innocence
2251
01:53:33,807 --> 01:53:37,411
because he had to
pardon an innocent man
2252
01:53:37,578 --> 01:53:41,582
because the system
would not let go.
2253
01:53:41,748 --> 01:53:44,018
It's extraordinary...
and unprecedented.
2254
01:53:48,055 --> 01:53:51,092
[producer] And your brother
has never opened that?
2255
01:53:51,258 --> 01:53:52,193
Apparently not.
2256
01:53:56,597 --> 01:53:59,066
[Flynn] He says, "You know,
the only person in--
2257
01:53:59,266 --> 01:54:02,769
in Washington, DC,
who's been screwed worse
2258
01:54:02,937 --> 01:54:05,506
than you is probably me."
2259
01:54:05,672 --> 01:54:07,441
And I said,
"No, Mister President, I-- "
2260
01:54:07,608 --> 01:54:09,376
you know, I said, "I'm not
so sure that's the case,
2261
01:54:09,576 --> 01:54:10,945
because I've--
you know, sitting here today,
2262
01:54:11,112 --> 01:54:12,679
I feel pretty screwed,"
you know.
2263
01:54:12,846 --> 01:54:16,383
And we were joking for a minute,
banter back and forth,
2264
01:54:16,583 --> 01:54:18,852
and, you know, just about that.
2265
01:54:19,020 --> 01:54:20,687
And he goes, "Well, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna issue a pardon.
2266
01:54:20,854 --> 01:54:22,189
I just want you to know
that, you know,
2267
01:54:22,356 --> 01:54:24,225
this should end anything."
2268
01:54:24,425 --> 01:54:28,329
He goes, he goes, "Now you're
the cleanest man in America."
2269
01:54:28,495 --> 01:54:30,697
He goes, "There's nobody
cleaner than you after this,
2270
01:54:30,864 --> 01:54:33,901
after this pardon," you know.
2271
01:54:34,101 --> 01:54:41,042
That was November 2020,
so, you know, three years plus.
2272
01:54:42,643 --> 01:54:44,912
[producer] Did you harbor
some resentment towards Trump?
2273
01:54:45,112 --> 01:54:46,847
Uh, I did. I did it.
2274
01:54:47,014 --> 01:54:50,651
Initially, I did,
because he was not kind to me.
2275
01:54:50,817 --> 01:54:52,753
I mean, he said some
nasty things about me
2276
01:54:52,954 --> 01:54:55,722
after I left, you know,
called me a liar.
2277
01:54:56,690 --> 01:54:59,260
In fairness, because
it was something
2278
01:54:59,460 --> 01:55:01,895
that I did see in him,
was that he really didn't know,
2279
01:55:02,063 --> 01:55:04,698
he didn't know the ways
of Washington, DC.
2280
01:55:04,865 --> 01:55:05,732
He really didn't.
2281
01:55:09,136 --> 01:55:12,139
[Tracy] To this day,
nobody has ever gone on record
2282
01:55:12,339 --> 01:55:14,375
and said what the DOJ
was going to go
2283
01:55:14,575 --> 01:55:17,844
after Michael Flynn Jr. for.
2284
01:55:18,045 --> 01:55:20,481
I would assume likely
the same thing they went
2285
01:55:20,681 --> 01:55:24,318
after the business
partners for, FARA violations.
2286
01:55:24,518 --> 01:55:27,888
Just recently, the government
has dropped the case
2287
01:55:28,089 --> 01:55:29,556
against General Flynn's
business partner
2288
01:55:29,756 --> 01:55:31,525
at the Flynn Intel Group.
2289
01:55:31,725 --> 01:55:35,162
Once the jury in DC came back
with a guilty verdict,
2290
01:55:35,362 --> 01:55:37,564
Judge Trenga overturned
that verdict
2291
01:55:37,764 --> 01:55:40,067
due to lack of evidence
in the case
2292
01:55:40,267 --> 01:55:43,137
because there is none.
2293
01:55:43,337 --> 01:55:46,773
There is no evidence
that proves any of the things
that the DOJ was advancing.
2294
01:55:48,275 --> 01:55:51,745
[Flynn] Barack Obama, right?
2295
01:55:51,912 --> 01:55:53,147
[Michael Jr.] July 14th,
2296
01:55:53,347 --> 01:55:55,282
They extend-- so that's 2014.
2297
01:55:55,449 --> 01:55:57,784
A year and a half later,
these bastards
got me under investigation.
2298
01:55:57,951 --> 01:56:00,787
You know, "I extend
my sincere thanks,"
2299
01:56:00,954 --> 01:56:03,024
- you know?
- [chuckles]
2300
01:56:03,224 --> 01:56:05,559
[Tracy] I want more people,
even if they don't say,
2301
01:56:05,759 --> 01:56:08,429
"I like that guy.
I'm on his team now,"
2302
01:56:08,595 --> 01:56:11,165
I want them to, to understand
what happened,
2303
01:56:11,365 --> 01:56:13,067
to understand
what happened to him,
2304
01:56:13,234 --> 01:56:14,501
and to be able to
at least give him
2305
01:56:14,701 --> 01:56:17,304
the respect he deserves,
2306
01:56:17,471 --> 01:56:19,940
even if they don't
agree with him.
2307
01:56:20,107 --> 01:56:24,945
That is,
is the bare minimum, um,
2308
01:56:25,112 --> 01:56:30,184
and learning from him
and his story will go a long way
2309
01:56:30,384 --> 01:56:32,353
to getting through
all the other issues
2310
01:56:32,553 --> 01:56:35,589
that we have right now, because
it is the light switch.
2311
01:56:35,756 --> 01:56:38,459
If you understand
what happened to him,
2312
01:56:38,625 --> 01:56:41,795
you start to peel back
the curtain on everything.
2313
01:56:41,962 --> 01:56:44,965
I think the General Flynn story
2314
01:56:45,132 --> 01:56:48,302
is actually
the foundational story
2315
01:56:48,469 --> 01:56:52,639
that America needs to
understand the truth of
2316
01:56:52,806 --> 01:56:57,211
to be able to understand
what has occurred
within our government,
2317
01:56:57,411 --> 01:57:00,214
and the mounting corruption
since then.
2318
01:57:00,414 --> 01:57:03,050
[Jack] If they can learn
something
2319
01:57:03,250 --> 01:57:07,854
from what Michael went through,
to believe in this country
2320
01:57:08,021 --> 01:57:12,226
under, under extreme and
extraordinary circumstances
2321
01:57:12,426 --> 01:57:14,895
and still come through
the other side,
2322
01:57:15,096 --> 01:57:18,865
and not give up on America,
that's what they need to learn
2323
01:57:19,032 --> 01:57:24,205
from what this documentary
can portray him.
2324
01:57:24,371 --> 01:57:27,374
It is, in fact, the truth.
2325
01:57:27,541 --> 01:57:31,878
He will not stop fighting
for this republic.
2326
01:57:32,846 --> 01:57:35,182
For this, what he calls, experiment.
2327
01:57:35,382 --> 01:57:37,118
[Barbara] My mother
and father would be so proud
2328
01:57:37,318 --> 01:57:39,820
because he's the only person
that could've withstood.
2329
01:57:40,020 --> 01:57:44,191
They knew... they knew
that he was the only one.
2330
01:57:44,391 --> 01:57:47,294
He was-- he was
meant for this time.
2331
01:57:47,494 --> 01:57:50,631
He's the only person
that could've withstood
2332
01:57:50,831 --> 01:57:54,468
this type of,
you know, this evil,
2333
01:57:54,668 --> 01:57:57,003
this unfathomable
domestic evil
2334
01:57:57,204 --> 01:57:59,540
that we're facing--
and beat it too.
2335
01:57:59,706 --> 01:58:01,675
It-- it's very hard
not to get jaded
2336
01:58:01,842 --> 01:58:03,510
and turned off and just say,
"I'm just gonna go away."
2337
01:58:03,677 --> 01:58:05,212
Mike Flynn is not
going to do that.
2338
01:58:05,379 --> 01:58:07,214
Mike Flynn is, I think
people need to understand,
2339
01:58:07,381 --> 01:58:09,283
he's going to be there
fighting for them.
2340
01:58:09,483 --> 01:58:11,118
Maybe not as
an elected official,
2341
01:58:11,318 --> 01:58:13,354
but certainly
as a public person,
2342
01:58:13,520 --> 01:58:17,891
as a, as a, as a veteran,
as a father, as a grandfather.
2343
01:58:18,058 --> 01:58:20,294
He's going to be out there
swinging at the fences
2344
01:58:20,494 --> 01:58:23,697
to try to bring sanity
back to this country.
2345
01:58:23,864 --> 01:58:26,700
Because... we are
going off the rails.
2346
01:58:26,867 --> 01:58:28,235
This country is going
off the rails
2347
01:58:28,402 --> 01:58:31,305
in many, in many
different directions.
2348
01:58:31,505 --> 01:58:34,107
Economically, militarily,
and socially,
2349
01:58:34,275 --> 01:58:37,077
we are in a bad place right now,
and I think people--
2350
01:58:37,244 --> 01:58:39,546
people want hope,
people need hope,
2351
01:58:39,746 --> 01:58:41,882
and more importantly,
people need warriors,
2352
01:58:42,082 --> 01:58:44,951
and I think you're gonna
get that from General Flynn.
2353
01:58:45,118 --> 01:58:48,121
Again, the most important
stories about this
2354
01:58:48,289 --> 01:58:50,657
are not the stories
about the bad things
2355
01:58:50,857 --> 01:58:52,926
that people have done, right,
2356
01:58:53,093 --> 01:58:55,929
about the evil
that these people have done,
2357
01:58:56,096 --> 01:58:59,132
the way these people have
tried to destroy family--
2358
01:58:59,300 --> 01:59:02,936
families, and the way that
they've corrupted the country.
2359
01:59:03,103 --> 01:59:06,106
No, the most important thing
is to go to the other side
and look at what happened.
2360
01:59:06,273 --> 01:59:08,242
I mean, look at
all these things.
2361
01:59:08,442 --> 01:59:11,044
I mean, look at how,
how it's made them,
2362
01:59:11,245 --> 01:59:14,748
how it's made them brighter,
and stronger, right.
2363
01:59:14,948 --> 01:59:18,752
People, I mean,
people look to their family,
2364
01:59:18,919 --> 01:59:20,954
look to that family,
as an example.
2365
01:59:21,121 --> 01:59:22,523
It's like, "Well, if the Flynns
went through this,
2366
01:59:22,723 --> 01:59:24,591
then we can certainly
get through it."
2367
01:59:24,791 --> 01:59:27,194
You know, "If, wow,
they did that to General Flynn,
2368
01:59:29,663 --> 01:59:32,566
I guess I can get
through this."
You know, and he's okay.
2369
01:59:32,766 --> 01:59:34,100
He got through it
with faith and his family.
2370
01:59:34,301 --> 01:59:36,169
He got through it.
2371
01:59:36,337 --> 01:59:38,372
The Flynns pulled together,
2372
01:59:38,572 --> 01:59:40,807
the American people
can pull together.
2373
01:59:40,974 --> 01:59:47,214
Because if we pull together,
and we drive this darkness out,
2374
01:59:47,414 --> 01:59:49,450
then we can touch
the whole world.
2375
01:59:49,616 --> 01:59:51,385
We can touch the whole world.
2376
01:59:51,585 --> 01:59:53,954
I think
that General Flynn's story
2377
01:59:54,120 --> 01:59:57,524
is an inspiring story
because he wasn't broken.
2378
01:59:57,691 --> 01:59:59,793
And as he will say readily,
he wasn't broken
2379
01:59:59,960 --> 02:00:02,329
because of the love
of his family
2380
02:00:02,496 --> 02:00:03,530
and because of his faith.
2381
02:00:05,599 --> 02:00:08,235
General Flynn found himself
in a circumstance
2382
02:00:08,435 --> 02:00:10,003
he did not anticipate at all.
2383
02:00:10,170 --> 02:00:12,373
This is not the life
he prepared for at all.
2384
02:00:12,539 --> 02:00:14,241
He's not a political figure,
he's not even a Republican.
2385
02:00:14,441 --> 02:00:15,709
Not politically active.
2386
02:00:18,144 --> 02:00:21,482
I don't think he ever
expected to find himself
2387
02:00:21,648 --> 02:00:24,017
in the fulcrum of history.
2388
02:00:24,184 --> 02:00:25,819
And I know
he never expected himself
2389
02:00:25,986 --> 02:00:27,754
to be persecuted
by his own government
2390
02:00:27,954 --> 02:00:30,724
that he had served for
the course of his entire life.
2391
02:00:30,891 --> 02:00:33,026
But all of that happened,
and these things do happen.
2392
02:00:33,193 --> 02:00:37,097
We can't know our future.
None of it is known.
2393
02:00:37,298 --> 02:00:39,032
I have some sense of what
I'm having for dinner tonight.
2394
02:00:39,199 --> 02:00:42,269
Beyond that, it's opaque.
And that's true for all of us.
2395
02:00:42,469 --> 02:00:43,904
And we all could wind up
in a situation like that,
2396
02:00:44,070 --> 02:00:45,572
and the only thing
that we can hope for
2397
02:00:45,739 --> 02:00:47,341
is the strength to continue
to tell the truth
2398
02:00:47,508 --> 02:00:49,042
in the face of adversity,
2399
02:00:49,209 --> 02:00:51,845
and to be surrounded by people
we love who support us,
2400
02:00:52,012 --> 02:00:54,415
and to come out
on the other end whole.
2401
02:00:54,581 --> 02:00:56,049
And he's achieved all of that.
2402
02:00:56,216 --> 02:00:58,285
And so, I see his story
as a great victory,
2403
02:00:58,485 --> 02:00:59,786
actually as a triumph.
2404
02:00:59,986 --> 02:01:01,622
He's still whole.
2405
02:01:01,822 --> 02:01:03,424
He's wounded
by what happened to him,
2406
02:01:03,590 --> 02:01:05,392
his family's wounded
by what happened to him,
2407
02:01:05,559 --> 02:01:08,362
but he's not broken.
He still has dignity.
2408
02:01:08,529 --> 02:01:11,565
And he still has an unwavering
commitment to tell the truth.
2409
02:01:11,732 --> 02:01:13,233
You may not agree with him,
but he's not lying to you.
2410
02:01:13,400 --> 02:01:15,068
He's saying what
he really thinks.
2411
02:01:15,235 --> 02:01:16,870
And if you come out
of a situation like the one
2412
02:01:17,037 --> 02:01:20,407
he lived through
with that intact, you've won.
2413
02:01:22,042 --> 02:01:23,944
Is there any regrets
that you have in life?
2414
02:01:24,110 --> 02:01:26,380
Right? [chuckles]
2415
02:01:26,547 --> 02:01:28,081
And-- and for what
I've experienced,
2416
02:01:28,248 --> 02:01:30,250
I-- I should sit here and say,
2417
02:01:30,417 --> 02:01:33,286
"I got a lot of f--
I got a lot of regrets."
2418
02:01:33,454 --> 02:01:37,591
Um, but when I look back
on my life,
2419
02:01:37,758 --> 02:01:40,561
and I understand the lives
that were lost...
2420
02:01:44,064 --> 02:01:46,833
I mean, I'm sitting here
with you, and I'm like--
2421
02:01:47,033 --> 02:01:48,902
[exhales] Phew!
2422
02:01:49,069 --> 02:01:52,939
I'm like, you know, I'm here,
and I can tell my story.
2423
02:01:56,910 --> 02:01:59,680
[uplifting music playing]
2424
02:06:11,531 --> 02:06:14,400
[music fades out]