On Monday, CBS News reported that new transcripts of an congressional investigator's interview with Donald Trump ally and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn shows him exercising his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering whether he leaned on members of the intelligence community to help him overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"New audio files obtained by CBS News reveal how a congressional investigator pushed retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, to testify about his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and questioned Flynn about whether he pressured military and intelligence officials to assist him with that endeavor," reported Robert Costa. "The audio files are the latest window into the work of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol and its attempt to learn more about the extent of Flynn's contacts with defense and intelligence officials."
Specifically, Flynn took the Fifth when the House's senior investigative counsel Dan George asked him, "Between November 3rd, 2020 and January 20th, 2021, did you have any conversations with any officials at the Department of Defense regarding election fraud or other irregularities in the 2020 election?" and "Between November 3, 2020 and January 20, 2021, did you have any conversations with any current or former officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding election fraud or other irregularities in the 2020 presidential elections?"
Flynn also took the Fifth when George asked him whether he had personally encouraged anyone to enter the Capitol on January 6.
Speaking to CBS News, Flynn's counsel Jesse R. Binnall said, "When the January 6th Committee engaged in political theater to harass an American hero, General Flynn availed himself of his constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment, upon the advice of counsel. That he chose not to dignify their absurd questions and baseless conspiracy theories with a response was necessary to combat yet another political witch hunt. America's founders had the foresight to write the Fifth Amendment for [situations] just like this one."
Flynn, who was fired after barely a couple of weeks in the White House and prosecuted after lying to investigators about his contacts with the Russian foreign minister, has since embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, even stating at one of their conferences he believes the United States should have a military coup like that in Myanmar.
