Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn is going all in on the QAnon conspiracy theory, promoting an online store to sell QAnon hats and T-shirts.
It’s just the latest reason why Retired US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson says Flynn should be recalled to active duty so he can be court-martialed.
Flynn’s drawn-out legal battle with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned him into a hero for QAnon believers.
Many QAnon supporters, who rely on mysterious online clues to construct a worldview where the Democratic Party and other institutions are controlled by a cabal of pedophile-cannibals, claim that Flynn is “Q”, the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory.
They also took a previously obscure Flynn quote about the American military’s “digital soldiers” as their banner, adopting the phrase to refer to QAnon believers themselves.
Flynn started to more aggressively court his QAnon fans this year, taking the “QAnon oath” in July and appearing on QAnon podcasts after receiving a pardon in November.
Along the way, Flynn once again became an adviser to Trump, reportedly urging the president to impose martial law in a recent, heated Oval Office meeting.
Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, said last week that “Flynn needs to be rebuked. He needs to be reprimanded. And it needs to be done officially.”
The retired Colonel believes Flynn is now showing his true colors despite a career that was once viewed as exemplary, “Otherwise I’ve got to pronounce him a psychotic, or worse.”
Flynn received a pardon from Trump the day before Thanksgiving after Flynn pled guilty — twice — to lying to the FBI in the Russia inquiry. (He also worked lobbying for Turkish interests while simultaneously advising the Trump campaign.)
Now that Flynn has got off scot-free for these offenses, he is encouraging the president to send in the troops and force voters in swing states to vote again.
“My fears are somewhat significant,” Wilkerson shared.
Col. Wilkerson recommends a first step: punishing Flynn as a former lieutenant general in the United States Army.
“You can be called back at any time,” Col. Wilkerson points out. “He needs to be rebuked. He needs to be reprimanded. And it needs to be done officially.”
“Were I the secretary of defense I’d call him back to duty which is in the prerogative of the secretary of defense, and I’d court-martial him. At a minimum, I’d cite him for incitement to insurrection. This is not something that a military officer should do.”
Flynn aligned himself even further with QAnon today, endorsing a T-shirt website called “Shirt Show USA” that sells QAnon gear and other “official” Flynn-themed merchandise.
The website’s offerings include camo trucker hats, T-shirts, and sweatshirts with the phrase “WWG1WGA,” a reference to the central QAnon motto, “Where we go one, we go all.”
The ad copy describing the $35 trucker hats makes clear that the site’s creators endorse QAnon, including a reference to another QAnon term, the “Great Awakening.”
“It’s no conspiracy and it’s certainly more than a theory,” the description reads. “The Great Awakening is happening and the signs are everywhere.”
According to the descriptions of the QAnon gear, the sales proceeds will go towards launching a new Flynn news outlet called “Digital Soldiers.”
That site bills itself as a collaboration between Flynn and conspiracy theory website UncoverDC, which is run by major QAnon promoter Tracy Diaz.
Diaz, who operates under the online alias “Tracy Beanz,” was a crucial early backer of QAnon in its first days, helping it to make the jump from internet forums like 4Chan to wider audiences on more mainstream social media sites and organizing a QAnon rally in Washington, D.C.
The FBI classifies QAnon as a potential source of domestic terrorism.
The conspiracy theory has been tied to three murders, a terrorist incident, alleged child kidnapping plots, and other crimes.
Col Wilkerson had few kind words for those people supporting Trump’s attempt at a coup.
“These other people like Steve Bannon and Sydney Powell and so forth, they’re sycophants who are seeking whatever they can gain from the magic aura of this man Trump before it dissipates.”
As far as Trump himself, “He did everything he could possibly do to ruin Biden’s first year in office,” Wilkerson said, criticizing the reluctance and in some cases refusal of the Trump administration to conduct a peaceful transition of power, the hallmark of a democracy.
“That’s not the way transitions should occur.”