On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, partnered with a man convicted of trying to sell stolen material to the KGB, Russia’s spy agency. Flynn worked on behalf of the man’s company, attempting to sell mind-reading equipment to the U.S. government.
Last year, Flynn’s private consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, started collaborating with Boston-based Brainwave Science to help facilitate the sales. One of Brainwave Science’s principals is Subu Kota, who pleaded guilty in 1996 of trying to sell material to the KGB.
“During years of federal court proceedings, prosecutors presented evidence they said showed that between 1985 and 1990 Kota met repeatedly with a KGB agent and was part of a spy ring that made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling U.S. missile defense technology to Russian spies,” Bloomberg reports. “Kota denied being part of a spy ring, reached a plea agreement in the biotech case and admitted to selling a sketch of a military helicopter to his co-defendant, who was later convicted of being a KGB operative.”
Trump spokesman Jason Miller told Bloomberg that Flynn and Kota have never met, but Brainwave officials say Flynn and representatives from the company met at least 10 times. Flynn’s role was to try and sell Brainwave’s controversial technology, which involves a “helmet-like headpiece fitted with sensors… said to read a subject’s brainwaves in an attempt to detect information.”
Flynn is reportedly a fan of the technology, though it’s effectiveness is broadly disputed. In 2001, the Government Accountability Office released a report concluding that there’s no evidence it works.
The business partnership reportedly continued while Flynn received intelligence briefings with Trump this summer and fall, though it has stalled since the election. Brainwave’s president told Bloomberg that his company hasn’t made any sales to the U.S. government.
This isn’t the first time Flynn’s ties with Russia have generated controversy. Last year, Flynn sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin — himself a former KGB agent — during an event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Russia’s state-run news agency, Russia Today. Flynn gave remarks in which he blasted President Obama and suggested a 2013 sarin gas attack in Syria was a “false flag.”
Though intelligence agencies around the world blamed the Russian-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the atrocity, Flynn suggested it was possible rebels were actually the culprits and said, “what keeps me up at night is the use of chemicals and biological weapons by terrorist groups.” Flynn has refused to answer questions about who paid him for the appearance.
Flynn — an open Islamophobe who tweeted this year that “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL” — also dabbles in conspiracy theories. Shortly before the election, Flynn shared two separate stories about a fake child sex scandal purportedly involving Hillary Clinton.
Since the election, the Washington Post reported that Flynn — who led “lock her up” chants at this year’s Republican National Convention because he was so upset about how Hillary Clinton handled classified information — “inappropriately shared” classified information with foreign military officers and officials while working as director of intelligence for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2010.
The New Yorker reported that Flynn also “had technicians secretly install an Internet connection in his Pentagon office, even though it was forbidden” and “broke rules he thought were stupid.”