QAnon star Michael Flynn recorded calling QAnon 'total nonsense,' according to Lin Wood
Michael Flynn, the retired lieutenant general hired then fired and finally pardoned by former President Donald Trump, has publicly embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory, selling QAnon merchandise, recording himself taking a QAnon oath, and making a controversial appearance at a QAnon convention in Dallas in May. He seemed less enamored with QAnon in a phone call recorded and released by former ally Lin Wood on Saturday night.
In the recording, which Wood says is a Telegram call between himself and Flynn, the man purported to be Flynn says he thinks QAnon is "a disinformation campaign that the CIA created," adding: "I find it total nonsense. And I think it's a disinformation campaign created by the left."
"Wood's publication of the audio comes as part of a growing feud between Wood and Flynn and other figures active in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election," The Daily Beast reports. "The fight kicked off last week when recently acquitted Kenosha shooting defendant Kyle Rittenhouse, a former Wood client, accused Wood in a Fox News interview of deliberately keeping him in jail to raise money off of his case."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wood accused of Flynn and other allies, like fellow pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, of abandoning him in the face of Rittenhouse's attack, and "the ensuing clash has consumed QAnon and other far-right communities over the past week," The Daily Beast reports, adding that it can't "verify the audio's authenticity, but Wood regularly records phone calls with his allies and reporters."
This call appears to have been made in early November, since Flynn points Wood to a Nov. 2 post by white supremacist radio host Hal Turner calling QAnon an embarrassing failure and endorsing mass violence. You can read more at The Daily Beast.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How will climate change affect the UK?The Explainer Met Office projections show the UK getting substantially warmer and wetter – with more extreme weather events
-
Crossword: November 23, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
5 red-carpet ready cartoons about Donald Trump's reception of Prince Mohammed bin SalmanCartoon Artists take on the affordability crisis, 'things happen', and more
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
