Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Had 'Forbidden' Internet Connection At the Pentagon, Says Report (businessinsider.com)

According to The New Yorker, President-elect Donald Trump's national security advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, installed a secret internet connection into his office at the Pentagon even though it was "forbidden." Business Insider reports: The network connection was among other rules the former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency broke because he found them to be "stupid," including sometimes sneaking out of a CIA station in Iraq without authorization and sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval, according to The New Yorker. While Flynn -- who was recently tapped to be President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser -- apparently had his own private connection, the New Yorker profile doesn't provide a clear picture as to why. It's likely his Pentagon office already had an authorized, unclassified connection to the internet called NIPRNet, which is separate from classified networks such as SIPRNet and JWICS, a former DIA analyst told Business Insider. All of those networks are monitored in some way. A separate, unknown network would not have had the same -- or possibly any -- level of monitoring. If it were implemented in secret, it would also not have the same protections from hackers that a known connection would have. It's also possible that Flynn's Pentagon office was known as a SCIF, or sensitive compartmented information facility -- a secure facility in which intelligence can be discussed without fear of it being compromised. Network connections in SCIFs are closely controlled, and outside electronics such as mobile phones are not allowed inside.

Comments

Nice to see we'll be in better hands

[Anonymous Coward]

We sure can trust this choice better than the one Ms. Clinton would have made.

BTW, I have some bridges for sale...

Re:Nice to see we'll be in better hands

[PopeRatzo]

Democrats have not only recently rediscovered the virtues of limit government, but also the virtues of following rules?

And Republicans have learned that those national security rules they spent three years screaming about really aren't all that important.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Tom Cotton to start House investigations into General Flynn.

One rule for them and another for us

[dbIII]

One rule for them and another for us.
Hillary using email doesn't sound so bad in comparison now does it?


Yes I know Hillary is old news and did far worse things than her email server, but I could not resist a smug "I told you so".

sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval

That's actually more serious than Snowden's leak to reporters who are US citizens.

Re:One rule for them and another for us

[dbIII]

You seem to be under the impression that by "us" I meant democrats instead of everyone other than Trump's cronies.
The rule of law applies to us and not them. Just like a King before Magna Carta.

Re:One rule for them and another for us

[quantaman]

One rule for them and another for us.
Hillary using email doesn't sound so bad in comparison now does it?

Yes I know Hillary is old news and did far worse things than her email server, but I could not resist a smug "I told you so".

sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval

That's actually more serious than Snowden's leak to reporters who are US citizens.

Whether or not Clinton realized there was classified info on her server there's no reason to think she was trying to share that information with unauthorized recipients (which is the major reason the FBI declined to prosecute).

If Flynn was deliberately sending classified info to unauthorized foreign governments then that's much worse than anything Clinton was accused of.

Re:One rule for them and another for us

[Required Snark]

You've got it ass backwards. Have you ever heard the phrase "Do as I say, not as I do"?

Just how hypocritical/stupid do you have to be to nominate someone who blatantly compromised security at the DOD after the Republican House spent years hounding Hillary Clinton about email security as the Secretary of State?

Your question implies that you don't understand the nature of time. When event A happens before event B, normal humans have the ability to evaluate event B by remembering what happened during event A. You seem unable to grasp this concept.

On a more personal note, do you identify more with NAZI propaganda or KKK propaganda?

Preaching to the choir.

[fahrbot-bot]

The network connection was among other rules the former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency broke because he found them to be "stupid," including sometimes sneaking out of a CIA station in Iraq without authorization and sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval, ...

If I had a nickel for every rule or person I thought was stupid but had to follow anyway I could retire by now, but, like it or not, that's the job. Sure, at a certain level, it's also your responsibility to point things out and make recommendations, but if they are ignored, declined or overruled then you gotta live with it.

Not fake news at all.

[lucm]

Here's the relevant parts of the summary.

According to ... according to ... apparently ... doesn't provide a clear picture as to why... It's likely ... or possibly ... If ... It's also possible ...

Everything else in the summary is conjecture.

Re:Not fake news at all.

[smooth wombat]

Everything else in the summary is conjecture.

Exactly, like this gem from the New Yorker article:

Islam is not a religion, Flynn and Ledeen wrote, but a political ideology bent on destroying Judeo-Christian civilization. Flynn began saying that he had been fired because President Obama disagreed with his views on terrorism and wanted to hide the growth of ISIS. I haven't found anyone yet who heard him say this while he was still in the military. In the past, I've asked Flynn directly about this claim; he has told me that he doesn't have any proof -- it's just something he feels was true.

Wow! Much insight. So truthful.

Or this as well:

The lifelong intelligence officer, who once valued tips gleaned from tribal reporters, has become a ready tweeter of hackneyed conspiracy theories. He reposts the vitriol of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim commentators. "Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL," he tweeted in February, linking to a false claim that Islam wants eighty per cent of humanity enslaved or exterminated.

So yeah, I can see how it's all conjecture when it comes straight from the guy's mouth or his own postings. Complete fabrications. Nothing but fake news.

Re:Not fake news at all.

[dcooper_db9]

The actual article is much more straight forward. Note these lines:

He had technicians secretly install an Internet connection in his Pentagon office, even though it was forbidden.

he gave classified information to NATO allies without approval

There's nothing ambiguous there. But while I think it's unlikely he damaged national security with his flouting of the rules, the following paragraph is more disconcerting.

Flynn was one of the few high-ranking officers who disdained the Army’s culture of conformity. But McChrystal also knew he had to protect Flynn from that same culture. He “boxed him in,” someone who had worked with both men told me last week, by encouraging Flynn to keep his outbursts in check and surrounding him with subordinates who would challenge the unsubstantiated theories he tended to indulge.

And then there's this:

His subordinates started a list of what they called “Flynn facts,” things he would say that weren’t true, like when he asserted that three-quarters of all new cell phones were bought by Africans or, later, that Iran had killed more Americans than Al Qaeda.

This is the man who will be advising our president on issues pertaining to national security. A man who indulges in unsubstantiated theories .

Hypocrisy- Jesus taught me to get used to it

[rectalfeeding]

Democrats have not only recently rediscovered the virtues of limit government, but also the virtues of following rules?

There are some serious machiavellian games afoot to prevent people from understanding how powerful technology is. The situation is this- Neither this instance (as far as I can tell from the summary), nor Hillary Clinton's home email server were things that surprised anyone with any technical proficiency. The powers that be understand better than the masses just how powerful each and every mobile phone and personal computer are along with the internet. Hillary blew it I think when it was discovered that amongst the thousands of emails she was reluctant to release for records keeping purposes, were thousands related to her work that were legally required to be archived by the state, and not withheld. If she had done a more perfect job of seperating the two sets, she wouldn't have been as damaged by the issue. This case however (again, just from the summary) doesn't appear to have any justifiable corner case for the existence of this non-organizational IT subversion. However just as Trump gets away with 'post-truth' flip-flops and such, I don't see his support base as being terribly bothered by this style breach of national IT security by 'one of their own'. Hypocrisy- Jesus taught me to get used to it.

This isn't even the first Republican

[Xenographic]

Those paying attention knew that Colin Powell had done something similar long ago. I explained that in comments way back here with many sources I don't want to retype. So in that vein, if Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn really did this, then by all means, drop the hammer on him, Hillary, and Powell in accordance with the rules.

For as many people who worry about Russian hackers, we should really hammer the self-important luddites who insist on compromising our government's opsec.

And no, I won't excuse this kind of nonsense from anyone. I don't care what team he's on, he should play be the rules, and you can see above that I said the same damned thing about Powell weeks ago. I do wonder, though--does anyone know if they bothered to report on the doc showing Colin Powell doing this?

Flynn is paid speaker for Russia Today

[Anonymous Coward]

He's a pro-Russian General who ignores the advice of his intelligence people. He's visited Russia repeatedly, sometimes on official duty (e.g. give intelligence briefings), other times not. He was a paid speaker for RT, and insists there's nothing wrong with that.

He has this weird view on Iran, which is a Russia's allied puppet in the region. Iran is totally evil, and yet Russia is good, and proposes choices which would drive Iran further towards Russia.

He once suggested giving access to 5 eyes surveillance to Russia to help fight the threat of Islamic extremism. At the time he was pushing a book, but he's since talked up the Russian alliance as means of tackling muslim extremism since, even after being appointed by Trump:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/15/trump-adviser-michael-t-flynn-on-his-dinner-with-putin-and-why-russia-today-is-just-like-cnn/

And wants to undermine NATO:

"FLYNN: It’s like NATO. Why do three-quarters of NATO [countries] get away with not paying anything? They have to pay their bills. We’ve done a lot, for the better part of half a century, for these countries."

None of them pay *nothing*, they pay their NATO funding, quite a few have low defense spending which is presumably what he's complaining about in a 'Fox News' sort of hyperbole way, e.g. Germany only spends 1.2% of GDP on defense, France 1.8% of GDP.