Ex-Bush Ethics Chief Slams Michael Flynn’s Call For Coup: ‘This Is Sedition’

Richard Painter, who was the chief ethics attorney for former President George W. Bush, said retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s call for a Myanmar-style coup in the U.S. amounted to sedition.

Flynn should also be court-martialed for breaking the Uniform Code of Military Justice with his broader pattern of comments calling for a military takeover in America, Painter told CNN’s Ana Cabrera on Tuesday.

“This is extremely dangerous for a former general to be calling for a military coup,” said Painter. “This cannot be accepted in the United States of America.”

Flynn on Saturday told a conference attended by supporters of the unhinged QAnon conspiracy theory that a coup — the type of which has seen scores of protesters killed in Myanmar — “should happen” in the U.S.

He later tried to walk back the comment, saying there “is no reason whatsoever for any coup in America.”

Painter wasn’t buying the backtrack, given Flynn’s previous pitching of martial law to Trump.

Flynn “knows that he’s crossed the line into criminal conduct both under the sedition statute and under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” said Painter.

Flynn served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser for just 22 days before becoming embroiled in scandal, later pleading guilty to lying to federal agents about his dealings with Russia. Trump pardoned Flynn soon after being booted out of office in November 2020.

Watch the interview here: