'A disgrace to the uniform': Colin Powell Chief of Staff wants Michael Flynn court-martial

‘He’s a disgrace to the uniform’: Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff calls for Michael Flynn court-martial

Side by side photos of Michael Flynn and Colonol Wilkerson

Flickr / Gage Skidmore & US Embassy Canada

Retired US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson says Michael Flynn should be recalled to active duty so he can be court-martialed.

The former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell shared his thoughts on Flynn’s wild suggestion that Trump declare martial law to reverse a free and fair election. In response to what he calls Flynn’s “incitement to insurrection,” Col. Wilkerson told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes last night, “He needs to be rebuked. He needs to be reprimanded. And it needs to be done officially.”

In my view he’s a disgrace to his uniform

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.”

Michael 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, “at gunpoint,” characterized Hayes.

“My fears are somewhat significant,” Wilkerson shared. He is not sure Trump won’t try “going to the battleground states and essentially reconducting the elections.”

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.”

I’d cite him for incitement to insurrection.

“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.”

Col. Wilkerson praised the people who delivered a trustworthy election despite pressure and interference. “I have to commend those people who worked so hard to deliver a free and fair election.”

Col Wilkerson did not restrict his comments to Michael Flynn, and he had few kind words for those people supporting the president’s attempt at a coup. “These other people like Bannon and 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.”

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