Michael Flynn’s Brother and His Wife Sue CNN for $75 Million Over QAnon Affiliation Report
Friday, March 26, 2021
The brother of former National Security Adviser under President Donald Trump and Rhode Island native Michael Flynn sued CNN in federal court for $75 million on Thursday.
Jack Flynn and his wife Leslie claim they were defamed by a CNN report last month alleging they were members of the conspiracy group QAnon.
The 20-page lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York by the Flynns— who reside in Rhode Island — and alleges that the CNN report on February 4 falsely portrayed them as members of QAnon by selectively airing video footage from a family outing last Fourth of July where they joined Michael Flynn in reciting the oath, that they said was to the Constitution, that members of Congress take.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Flynn family of Middletown is a family of high performers. In January, Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn ascended to command the U.S. Army Pacific out of Fort Shafter, Hawaii.
Flynn, who had served as deputy chief of staff for Army operations, plans, and training at the Pentagon, was key in crafting a new Army force generation model that was introduced this fall of 2020.
According to Army Times, "The familial ties drew scrutiny last week when the Army falsely denied that Charles Flynn was present during a phone call between the Pentagon and D.C. officials as the Jan. 6 Capitol riot unfolded, according to the Washington Post. The Army ultimately confirmed to the Post that Flynn participated in the phone call, during which the Capitol Police pleaded for National Guard troops to assist in securing Capitol grounds."
"There’s no indication Flynn shares his brother’s extreme views, and Flynn’s own career trajectory appears uninhibited by the relationship. His nomination for a fourth star was sent to the U.S. Senate in November and confirmed by a voice vote on Dec. 20," added the Army Times.
Lawsuit Allegations
In Jack and Laurie Flynn's lawsuit — filed by their New York attorney Jeremy Zenilman — claims the following.
On February 4, 2021, CNN falsely accused Plaintiffs of being “followers” and supporters of the “dangerous”, “violent”, “racist”, “extremist”, “insurrectionist”, “domestic terrorism” movement – QAnon.
CNN published an “exclusive” by reporter, Donie O’Sullivan (“O’Sullivan”), titled “CNN Goes Inside A Gathering Of QANON Followers”. In the piece, O’Sullivan falsely claimed that “where we go one, we go all” was an “infamous QAnon slogan promoted by Trump’s first National Security Advisor Michael Flynn”.
In support of O’Sullivan’s comment, CNN produced an edited clip from a video posted to Twitter by General Flynn on July 4, 2020. The video was taken during a Fourth of July barbecue at Plaintiffs’ home in Newport County, Rhode Island. In the video, members of the Flynn family, including Plaintiffs, took an oath to the United States Constitution, the same oath taken by Members of Congress. After finishing the oath, General Flynn stated, “where we go one, we go all” and the entire family exclaimed, “God Bless America."
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The Flynns in their lawsuit continue:
The phrase “where we go one, we go all” was first engraved on a bell on one of President John F. Kennedy’s sailboats, acknowledging the unity of mankind. In his video published on July 4, 2020, General Flynn intended to encourage people to think about being good citizens, to love country and be good patriots. The video had nothing to do with QAnon or recruiting “digital soldiers” for an apocalyptic reckoning.
In the CNN clip included with O’Sullivan’s “exclusive”, CNN intentionally edited out the oath to the United States Constitution and omitted the words “God Bless America”, fraudulently making it appear and insinuating that Plaintiffs pledged an oath of allegiance to QAnon. CNN intended and endorsed the defamatory meaning.
CBS in a November 2020 article entitled "What is the QAnon Conspiracy Theory?" offered another take on the phrase.
The Q posts are known to the faithful as "breadcrumbs." The people who then try to figure out what they mean are called "bakers." According to The Daily Beast's Will Sommer, QAnon believers also spend a lot of time trying to figure out who in the government is a "white hat" Trump supporter and who is a "black hat" in league with the deep state. Their rallying cry is "where we go one, we go all," a line from the 1996 Jeff Bridges sailing adventure "White Squall" that they misattribute to President Kennedy.
The phrase is frequently abbreviated to "WWG1WGA," which Roseanne Barr — one of several celebrity QAnon supporters — tweeted in June 2018. Former Red Sox pitcher and current right-wing radio host Curt Schilling has also promoted QAnon online.
The Flynns — in suing for claims of defamation and “false light invasion of privacy” — went on to claim the following.
"Plaintiffs are not followers or supporters of any extremist or terrorist groups, including QAnon. CNN falsely attributed to Plaintiffs associations that never existed, actions Plaintiffs never took, including an oath of allegiance to QAnon, and views Plaintiffs never held," they said in the suit.
"CNN’s false attributions exposed Plaintiffs to public scorn, ridicule and contempt, and lowered their esteem in the community, causing insult, embarrassment, humiliation and substantial injury to Plaintiffs’ reputations," it continues.
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