Ron Sachs/CNP via ZUMA
“Wingnut welfare” has now reached the parody stage:
Former national security adviser Mike Flynn has a new job: He has joined a global lobbying and investment advisory firm. As he awaits sentencing for lying to federal investigators, he is going into business with Washington lobbyist Nick Muzin and his New York partner Joey Allaham with a new firm called Stonington Global LLC, they told The Wall Street Journal.
….Stonington Global will provide consulting and lobbying services for U.S. and foreign clients, Messrs. Muzin and Allaham said in a statement. The firm also will “help private investors and sovereign-wealth funds develop and execute investment strategies.”
Flynn didn’t just “resign in disgrace” or “leave the Trump administration under a cloud.” He committed a felony and pled guilty to it. Nor has he “paid his debt to society.” He hasn’t even been sentenced yet. Nor is he otherwise an upstanding member of the intelligence and foreign policy community. He’s a conspiracy theorist who’s widely believed to have gone deranged during and after his tenure as DIA director—“right-wing nutty,” as Colin Powell called him.
But the paychecks just keep rolling in anyway.
UPDATE: Whoops, I guess the deal is off. Flynn’s lawyer tells the Journal, “He was aware that a statement was being drafted, but he did not intend that it be issued at this time.” I guess judges get annoyed when you issue statements about future work that basically assume you’re going to get off scot free.
UPDATE 2: Or, as Marcy puts it:
Rushing out to influence peddle again prolly wasn’t going to help sentencing in an influence peddling felony. https://t.co/ohMg1EOuTj
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) July 10, 2018
