Michael
Flynn Jr., the son of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn
who helped spread the so-called Pizzagate conspiracy, has no involvement
in President-elect Donald Trump’s transition, Vice President-elect Mike
Pence said on Tuesday.
“Gen. Flynn’s son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever,” Pence said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday.
Pence admitted later Tuesday afternoon that he had understated the son’s role. During a somewhat tense CNN interview,
anchor Jake Tapper repeatedly pressed Pence as to whether he was aware
that the transition had asked for Flynn Jr. to receive a security
clearance.
“I
said this morning that his son had no involvement in the transition,
but I have talked to Gen. Flynn,” Pence said. “His son was helping him a
bit with scheduling and administrative items. But that’s no longer the
case.”
During
a conference call with reporters, Jason Miller, a spokesman for the
Trump transition team, said Flynn Jr. was helping his father with
“administration” and “scheduling” but is “no longer involved with
transition efforts.”
Their comments came in response to a CNN report that Flynn Jr., who has reportedly served as his father’s chief of staff, was given a transition team email account.
Flynn
Jr. has come under fire for promoting the fake news story that alleged
Comet Ping Pong, a Washington pizzeria, was the center of a sex ring
involving Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief, John Podesta.
The
#Pizzagate conspiracy began in late October during the FBI’s
investigation into emails discovered on the laptop of top Clinton aide
Huma Abedin’s estranged husband, disgraced former New York Rep. Anthony
Weiner. A tweet claiming that the NYPD was looking into evidence of
Clinton’s involvement in an “international child enslavement ring” made
its way to fringe message boards and websites.
The 28-year-old gunman, Edgar Maddison Welch, told police he traveled to Washington from Salisbury, N.C., to free the child sex slaves that never existed.
But the incident did not deter the younger Flynn, who remained defiant.
“Until
#Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story,” Flyn
He
then retweeted a tweet from Jack Posobiec, special projects director
for CitizensForTrump.com, who suggested that the gunman was an actor
carrying out a “false flag” operation on behalf of the U.S. government.
CNN’s Jake Tapper then sent Flynn Jr. a series of private messages sharply criticizing him for peddling in conspiracies.
“Michael, the police called pizza gate a fictitious conspiracy theory,” Tapper wrote. “Does someone have to die before you take this s*** seriously?”
Those messages were subsequently tweeted by both Flynn and Posobiec.
Both Flynns have used their social media accounts to spread false news stories about the Clintons.
On
Nov. 2, the elder Flynn shared a fake news story linking Clinton to sex
crimes with minors, falsely stating that the NYPD was close to bringing
charges against the Democratic nominee.
n Jr.
tweeted. “The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many
‘coincidences’ tied to it.”
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