Trump-Russia Probe: Mueller Is Probing Mike Flynn’s Involvement In A Plot To Kidnap A Turkish Cleric
Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Mike Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, over his alleged involvement in a plot to kidnap Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Muslim cleric resident in the U.S. Flynn reportedly plotted to kidnap Gulen and hand him over to the Turkish authorities for a reward of $15 million, according to a report published on Friday by the Wall Street Journal.
Mueller’s investigation of the alleged plot is part of a wider investigation of allegations that President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian agents to influence the 2016 general election, according to Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal reported that sources familiar with the case said Mike Flynn’s son, Mike Flynn Jr., was also involved in the alleged plot.
FBI investigators have reportedly interviewed several individuals about a meeting held in December 2016 at New York City’s 21 Club during which Flynn reportedly discussed with Turkish government agents a plot to kidnap Fethullah Gulen, an adversary of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish authorities had alleged that Gulen was involved in the July 2016 coup attempt to topple Erdogan’s administration, and had requested that the U.S. extradite him to Turkey to face trial.
Gulen denied the allegation that he was involved in the failed July 2016 coup.
The December 2016 meeting in New York between Flynn and representatives of the Turkish government reportedly followed a previous meeting in September 2016 attended by James Woolsey, the former director of the CIA. Woolsey, who had worked with Flynn Intel Group, admitted that Flynn discussed with the Turkish government representatives a plot to kidnap Gulen in the “dead of the night” from his home in the U.S. and smuggle him out of the country.
Mueller investigating alleged plan involving Flynn to deliver U.S.-based cleric to Turkey https://t.co/P29BeoFJhh via @WSJ
— HawaiiDelilah™ (@HawaiiDelilah) November 10, 2017
The plot allegedly involved flying Gulen out on a private jet to Imrali, a Turkish prison island.
Mueller’s team is not the only one investigating Flynn. He is also being investigated by Congress over his alleged ties with Turkey and Russia. Flynn had worked in the U.S. as an agent of undisclosed Turkish interests before he joined Trump’s administration as national security adviser. He was eventually forced to resign in March after it emerged that he misrepresented his contacts with the Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Flynn reportedly discussed the Obama administration’s Russia sanctions with Kislyak.
It also emerged after Flynn resigned from the Trump administration that he had failed to disclose to the Justice Department that he worked as a foreign agent.
News that Mueller is investigating Flynn’s alleged kidnap plot comes amid reports that Mueller’s team has also interviewed Stephen Miller, the White House senior policy adviser.
[Featured Image by Andrew Harrer/Getty Images]
