Obama’s Former Military Intel Chief to Republican Convention: Lock Hillary Up!

Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (U.S. Army (Ret.), currently serving as the GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s top foreign policy adviser, told the crowd on Monday night’s GOP convention opening that the presumptive Republican nominee will “keep us safe.”

The general, who once served as President Obama’s top military intelligence official, called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for president and then he led the crowd shouting “Lock her up!” “We do not need a reckless president who believes she is above the law,” said Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, referring to her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and the FBI director’s report about her flagrant mishandling of classified intelligence.

“Yeah, that’s right, lock her up!” he said from the podium. Then, after clapping his hands, he proclaimed: “You’re damn right. There’s nothing wrong with that. Lock her up! You know why we’re saying that? If I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today,” said Flynn, who has repeated what numerous military and law enforcement officers have said in the days since the FBI and Justice Department failed to indict her.

“Let me be clear — coddling and displays of empathy toward terrorists is not a strategy for defeating these murderers, as Obama and Hillary Clinton would like us to believe,” Flynn shouted. “Under Barack Obama we have no coherent strategy to protect our citizens, and under Hillary Clinton it will be more of the same,” he said as he displayed his anger.

Last week, WABC Radio Host Rita Cosby  interviewed retired U.S. Army Lt Gen. Michael Flynn, who was also one of the finalists for Vice President for GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, on her hit show “Election Central with Rita Cosby”.

These were the first comments from General Flynn, who is recognized as a preeminent expert in information technology (IT) and intelligence gather and analysis about not being selected  by Trump, who announced his choice of Indiana governor Mike Pence on Friday.

Gen. Flynn also said that Trump called him to tell him he was not being chosen. During the Cosby interview, he talks about that conversation, and didn’t rule out that he may play as role as Defense Secretary in a potential Trump Administration. He also says Trump made the right choice for America and discusses his own great relationship with Trump.

TRANSCRIPT VERBATIM BELOW:

GENERAL MICHAEL T. FLYNN EXCLUSIVE – TRANSCRIPT

00:02 COSBY – General Flynn, great to have you here on the show.

00:04 FLYNN – Thanks for having me, Rita.  I really appreciate you bringing me on.

00:07 COSBY – Absolutely.  First out, I’ve got to ask you your reaction to Donald Trump picking Mike Pence.  You were in the running; your name was in the hopper there for a potential VP.

00:16 FLYNN – Yeah, and I would say that.. I think Donald Trump made the right choice for America, and I think that was really at the back of his mind, was to make sure that this is exactly what he needed to do, and I was very honored to be in the mix, and I’ve spoken to Donald Trump twice in the last 48 hours, and I will tell you, he’s an absolute… just a superb leader.

00:40 COSBY – What did he say to you?  Did he say, ‘Oh I’m sorry I picked somebody else’, or what was that discussion?

00:44 FLYNN – No no, I just think that… it was just a good conversation, and I appreciated the courtesy.  I think what he did was just make sure that he went down… those that he was considering, to let us know that he was going in a particular direction, and I was… you now, I totally… I’m very happy for this country.

01:05 COSBY – Did you get a call before it was announced, or how soon before?

01:09 FLYNN – Yeah, before… yeah, definitely before.  Definitely before.  That’s the smart thing to do.  I mean I think if you’re… you know, if your name is in the mix, then you know obviously you don’t want to find out about it in the media, and Donald Trump knew that.  He’s a big leader, he’s a smart leader, and he did exactly what I would have done.  I mean, I think what he’s… In fact I know what he’s done is he’s picked the right person for the country to be at his side, as the Vice President of the United States.

01:37 COSBY – Do you feel that Mike Pence, as to your point, is a good choice, and will be a good choice especially on national security, something that you’re very passionate about?

01:44 FLYNN – Yeah, I do… I believe so.  We will have around Donald Trump the right type of people, and the right skillset, and the right strategic thinkers and doers more importantly, that understand what is going on, and are able to solve some of the big complex problems that we have.  The biggest thing, I think, is the ability to think strategically, and act strategically, in a way that we just aren’t right now. 

02:15 COSBY – And did you get a call just a few minutes before he put it out on Twitter?  Was it within the same time frame?

****02:20 FLYNN – No no no…. it was… within… I would just say in the last…. today’s Friday, so it was yesterday. 

02:29 COSBY – So it was the day before he actually put it out on Twitter?

02:32 FLYNN – Yep, yep.

02:33 COSBY – Were you sad?  Were you sad that you were not picked?

02:36 FLYNN – I was happy that I was in the hunt, that I was in the mix.  I was humbled.  It was unbelievable for me, Rita, to even  be considered.  You know… it really was.  I mean it’s just amazing.  I met with Donald Trump, you know, almost a year ago, late last summer, ****and have been, you know, working, and advising him all through the debates, and everything, on a whole bunch of issues.  So, you know, for him to have considered me for this, such an important role for our country, is a humbling thing.  And I’m honored.

03:13 COSBY – In general, do you feel you will still play some advisory role, or maybe even still, maybe Secretary of Defense, or something in the Cabinet?  Did he indicate that?

03:20 FLYNN – Well there was no, you know, no… there’s no commitments that, you know… What we’re committed for… I guess the way I would put it, Rita, is just that, the conversation that Donald Trump and I had was a great conversation, very positive, and that’s, you know, over the whole year of the relationship’s been very positive, very strong.  So, we’ll see what decisions he thinks he needs to make, as we go through the rest of this campaign season.

03:51 COSBY – But you’re not ruling out if something could come up, maybe for another position…

03:54 FLYNN – …No, what I’m not ruling out is my desire to serve this country.  That’s what I’m not ruling out.  I believe that our country is going in the wrong direction, and I have a very strong desire to help out in any way that I can.

04:08 COSBY – And nothing’s ruled out, I guess, for any possibility for you or for him, right?

04:12 FLYNN – (laughs)

04:13 COSBY – Was that discussed?

04:15 FLYNN – Yeah, you’re funny (laughs)

04:15 COSBY – (laughs)

04:17 FLYNN – (laughs) You’re doing your job!  I would just say that I’ll leave it at we had a great conversation, very positive.