Thread by @KlasfeldReports

BREAKING: Former Michael Flynn Business Associates Indicted in Turkey Lobbying Case via @NYTimes nyti.ms/2GoQ2qx?smid=n…

Note: The two Flynn associates indicted today -- Bijan Kian and @EkimAlptekin -- were reported by the Wall Street Journal to be part of a plot to "whisk" Fethullah Gulen from the United States outside the extradition process and deliver him to Erdogan. wsj.com/articles/ex-ci…

Digging through the 21-page indictment right now. The charges themselves do not appear to relate to any alleged kidnapping.

Here is the caption.

The indictment, however, is filled with references to Gulen, and has some explosive information. Thread ahead.

After Michael Flynn wrote this anti-Gulen op-ed on Election Day, this was the reaction of his Turkish associates.

"The arrow has left the bow!" Kian allegedly told Alptekin. "This is a very high profile exposure one day before the election."

The op-ed:
thehill.com/blogs/pundits-…

In fact, prosecutors allege, Flynn cribbed the op-ed directly from his Turkish associates.

Check out how their drafts allegedly became Flynn's final text in this handy chart.

Flynn's published op-ed appears to contain plagiarized material from Kian's Nov. 2 draft.

His editorial in @TheHill currently ends with this lengthy editor's note.

The full indictment is here: documentcloud.org/documents/5631…

🚨 The WSJ reported that the meeting to "whisk" Gulen took place on Sept. 19.

Here is the passage on that meeting about Gulen. No reference to a kidnapping plot, at least in the charges, but this corroborates the meeting and its participants.

WSJ's report states the Turkish ministers that attended were Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak and Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who said on **Sunday** that Trump is working to extradite Gulen. nbcnews.com/news/world/tru…

🚨🚨 The "senior Turkish leader" in this passage appears to be Erdogan, who was prime minister when the corruption investigation came to a head in 2013.

Erdogan called the probe an attempted "judicial coup" by Gulen, and here we have a connection to the case of Reza Zarrab.

Background: Zarrab spearheaded a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme to Iran that corrupted high-ranking leaders in Erdogan's ruling AK Party, allegedly including Erdogan and his family.

Prosecutors explain here a major fissure in former Gulen-AKP alliance.

Zarrab's trial showed one high-ranking minister was bribed 45 to 50 million euros. Leaked tapes in Turkey showed Erdogan instructing his son to hide large amounts of cash.

In the indictment, this is a prelude for the Turkish government's PR blitz that brought in Flynn.

Roughly two weeks after the failed July 15, 2016, coup attempt, prosecutors say, Kian told Alptekin that he met with Flynn to discuss the "Truth Campaign."

"We are ready to engage in what needs to be done," Kian allegedly told Alptekin, referring to Flynn.

Aug. 11, 2016: Alptekin tells Rafiekian in an email that he had the green light from "Turkish Minister #1" and "Turkish Minister #2" on the propaganda campaign.

Again: We learn later in the indictment this refers to Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak and FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

The same day, the "Truth Campaign" morphs "for the first time" into "Operation Confidence," and the source of funding turns to the Dutch firm Inovo BV -- "wholly owned and controlled by Alptekin," prosecutors say.

Extremely intriguing passage.

"I think im [sic] meeting [Turkish Minister #1]'s boss... not the direct boss but u know how," Alptekin told Kian on Aug. 26, 2016.

If TM#1 is Berat Albayrak, which seems highly likely, the "boss" would seem to be Erdogan.

Remember: Albayrak at the time was Turkey's minister of energy; his "direct boss" would have been Turkey's prime minister.

The "boss" - reis, in Turkish - is Erdogan's nickname from his supporters.

Since this indictment is out of the Eastern District of Virginia, my colleague there @BBuchman_CNS will provide on-the-ground coverage for @CourthouseNews. I'll keep tweeting out thoughts and insights that relate my research on the Turkey investigation.

Remember: Bijan Kian had been a member of the Trump transition team, and Trump's Turkish ties have been largely eclipsed by the Russia probe.

From the Flynn case, it should be clear by now that the Russia investigation largely runs through Turkey.

My colleague @BBuchman_CNS breaks down the indictment in her story here.

courthousenews.com/us-charges-2-w…

Any questions? Ask us anything.