Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Is Threatening American Democracy

by Seth Abramson

On January 28, 2017, two days after acting attorney general Sally Yates warns White House counsel Don McGahn that the nation’s national security advisor, Mike Flynn, is susceptible to Russian blackmail and is therefore compromised—and one day after Yates gives that warning to McGahn a second time, face-to-face—Flynn receives an email from Bud McFarlane, who is at the time a member of the U.S. Energy Security Council.282 The email, which is sent also to McFarlane’s protégé (and Flynn’s deputy) K. T. McFarland, includes two documents: first, a “cover memo,” to be given to the president of the United States, intended to “launch the Marshall Plan for the Middle East” by formally outlining the “origins, geopolitical necessity, benefits—to the United States and host countries—[and] structure” of the plan and by naming Thomas Barrack chief executor of the plan on Trump’s behalf; and second, a memo “for the president to sign” ordering cabinet members to give Barrack any resources he needs.283 McFarlane notes that both Barrack and “our team”—meaning the team at post-ACU/post-IP3 entities SCP Partners, Iron Bridge Cybersecurity, and Iron Net Cybersecurity, all of whom are copied on the email—are on board with the content of the memos.