Pentagon agency once run by Mike Flynn to take over studying intel captured from social media: report

Retired three-star Gen. Mike Flynn has fallen for some of the biggest online conspiracy theories in recent years, but a Pentagon agency he once led is poised to take over learning intelligence from social media and other unclassified sources, according to a new report.

"The Defense Department is expected to name the Defense Intelligence Agency as its lead agency for “open-source” intelligence, according to U.S. officials, highlighting the growing importance of unclassified information drawn from social media, online material and commercial data sources in modern military operations," The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Flynn led the agency during the Obama administration before reportedly being forced out.

"The move would give the DIA a leadership role in deciding policy questions and setting standards regarding a category of information that was once an afterthought but has grown more important in military intelligence programs in recent years as digital devices, online services and commercial databases proliferate," the newspaper reported. "DIA director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told a Defense Department technology conference in Phoenix this week that the agency was expecting to get a directive from Pentagon leadership to designate the agency the manager of open-source intelligence—often called OSINT—for all military intelligence programs."

Since Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Flynn has taken the QAnon "Digital Soldier Oath" and spoke at a QAnon conference. He's spread a conspiracy theory about "global elites" planning a new virus and has fully embraced Trump's delusions of voter fraud.

Flynn even spread a conspiracy theory that the "Deep State" is scheming to spike salad dressing with coronavirus vaccines.

Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has described Flynn as "a reliable guy into how government actually works."