In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election loss, his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, called senior intelligence official Ezra Cohen and told him to return from a Middle East trip to help remain in power by overturning the election results, according to the new book “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” by ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl.
“Where are you?” Flynn asked, according to the book. “Flynn told him to cut his trip short and get back to the United States immediately because there were big things about to happen. ‘We need you,’ [he said,] and told the DoD official that ‘there was going to be an epic showdown over the election results.'”
Cohen, who had previously worked under Flynn at both the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, said that “his old boss sounded manic” as he ranted about the election, according to Karl. “He didn’t sound like the same guy he had worked for.”
The disgraced former general, who had just been pardoned by Trump after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents in the Russia probe, urged Cohen to get orders signed to seize election ballots and take “extraordinary measures … to stop Democrats from stealing the election,” Karl writes.
“Sir, the election is over,” Cohen told Flynn, according to Karl. “It’s time to move on.”
Cohen’s response sent Flynn into a raging tirade.
“You’re a quitter!” Flynn said, according to Karl. “This is not over! Don’t be a quitter!”
According to Cohen, Flynn continued ranting for a few more minutes before hanging up, and that was the last time the two men spoke.
Flynn recently came under fire for saying “the U.S. Should have only one religion.”
Read the full report on NBC News.
