- Michael Flynn said in a secretly recorded call that he thinks QAnon is "total nonsense."
- He added that he believes it's a CIA-sponsored "disinformation campaign to make people look like a bunch of kooks."
- His private comments stand in stark contrast with his public statements endorsing the far-right conspiracy theory.
Former national security advisor Michael Flynn recently told the GOP lawyer Lin Wood that he believes QAnon is "total nonsense" and baselessly claimed the elaborate pro-Trump conspiracy theory is a CIA-sponsored "disinformation campaign."
That's according to what appears to be a recording of a phone call between Flynn and Wood that Wood recently published and was first reported by The Daily Beast.
"I think it's a disinformation campaign that the CIA created, that's what I believe now," Flynn apparently told Wood. He later added, "I find it total nonsense, and I think it's a disinformation campaign created by the left."
Broadly, QAnon is an outlandish conspiracy theory that the world is run by a Satanist cabal of pedophile Democrats who plotted to oust former President Donald Trump, and that Trump would bring them to justice.
Wood, a Trump loyalist and QAnon promoter, also published text messages with Flynn to his Telegram account.
"Here is article about Q. I have always believe it is a set up and a disinformation campaign to make people look like a bunch of kooks," one message that appears to be from Flynn said. The former national security advisor then sent a link to an article for a radio show hosted by Hal Turner, a convicted felon and far-right commentator who has endorsed Holocaust denial and white supremacy.
Insider could not confirm the veracity of the audio recording or text messages. Neither Flynn nor Wood immediately responded to Insider's requests for comment.
Flynn's private conversations with Wood stand in stark contrast to his public statements about QAnon. Flynn has cozied up to the conspiracy theory movement, reciting the QAnon slogan and meeting with QAnon promoters. In May, Flynn headlined a QAnon conference in Dallas, Texas, where he appeared to back a Myanmar-style military coup in the US to the audience's delight. Flynn later insisted his words were misinterpreted.
Flynn has frequently used phrases closely associated with the conspiracy theory, including calling its followers "digital soldiers" and using its motto, "Where we go one, we go all," often shortened to WWG1WGA. Some of the conspiracy theory's followers believe Flynn is "Q," the creator of the so-called "Q-drops" posted anonymously online. A retired US Army lieutenant general, Flynn resigned as former President Donald Trump's national security advisor in February 2017 after it was reported that he lied to former Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.
The Daily Beast reported that Wood's release of his conversations with Flynn come amid an ongoing feud between the two since Kyle Rittenhouse accused Wood last week of keeping him in jail to continue raising money off of his high-profile case and using that money for their personal benefit.