Sell the Steal: How Michael Flynn built a business and MAGA following out of election denialism

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has spent much of the last three years claiming the 2020 election was stolen, turning baseless conspiracy theories into a cottage industry centered around live events, a documentary and political fundraising through dark money groups.

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has spent much of the last three years claiming the 2020 election was stolen, turning baseless conspiracy theories into a cottage industry centered around live events, a documentary and political fundraising through dark money groups. But under oath in a court deposition earlier this year, Flynn for the first time on record acknowledged there was no evidence to support a key part of some election fraud claims — that an executive at Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the 2020 election through the company’s voting machines. Flynn was deposed in a yearslong defamation lawsuit that former Dominion executive Eric Coomer brought against ReAwaken America, the speaking tour Flynn co-founded in 2021 that travels the country promoting election denialism and other right-wing conspiracy theories. “Have you seen any evidence that you would consider credible, Mr. Flynn, that Eric Coomer played a role in rigging the 2020 presidential election?” Attorneys for Coomer asked Flynn at one point in the April deposition. “I have not, no,” Flynn responded. “I don’t really know.” When pressed about the more general claims about Dominion-related election fraud, Flynn added that he’s “seen a lot of evidence” and “read a lot of reports,” but could not say for certain that he believed that evidence to be credible: “Credibility is in the eye of the legal system to determine.” A month later, Flynn was back on TV, telling Chris Cuomo on NewsNation that the 2020 election was “filled with fraud” and that there is “clear evidence” to back it up. Pressed for details, Flynn declined to elaborate.