Trump team says Michael Flynn's son 'no longer' involved in transition after firestorm over fake-news controversy
President-elect Donald Trump's transition team said in a Tuesday conference call with reporters that retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's son is "no longer" involved in the Trump transition effort.
Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller said Flynn's son, Michael Flynn Jr., was helping his father with administrative and scheduling duties, but is no longer involved in the transition. The elder Flynn is Trump's incoming national security adviser.
It came a day after a firestorm over Flynn Jr.'s promotion of the "Pizzagate" conspiracy, which baselessly alleged that a pedophilia ring involving high-level Democratic Party officials — including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta — is operating out of a Washington pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong.
On Sunday, police say, the conspiracy led an armed man into the pizzeria. That 28-year-old man, who brought an assault rifle to the restaurant, was looking to investigate the story himself, according to police.
"Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story," Flynn Jr. posted to Twitter. "The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it."
As of Monday, Flynn Jr. had a government transition email, as CNN reported. Flynn himself also shared a similar conspiracy theory on Twitter days before the November election that claimed Clinton was involved in sex crimes with children. Politico found Tuesday that the incoming national security adviser had shared dubious news stories at least 16 times from his Twitter account since August.
Earlier Tuesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Flynn Jr. has "no involvement in the transition team whatsoever."
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