The more I think about it, this was an AWFULLY risky move to take out a comparatively small fish.
Looking back on this entire event, I have come to the conclusion that there's no way that Flynn would lie to the Vice President or even provide sketchy information about his interaction with the Russia ambassador. Just not buying that.
Whatever is going on here is hidden from public view but appears to be aimed at identifying those in the intel community that are waging war against the administration.
As someone who has spent his entire career in intelligence, Flynn would know the problem better than anyone in the administration.
You may consider Mike Flynn a comparatively small fish, but Flynn’s opponents do not. Flynn posed a clear and immediate threat to the Intelligence Community and most of its 17 member agencies and departments. He saw, firsthand, the manner in which intelligence was cooked to fit a political narrative or delayed due to political and interagency considerations and that it cost American and coalition lives.
Flynn’s appointment as National Security Advisor was way outside the norm. Virtually every previous National Security Advisor, going back at least to the Reagan administration, had served on the NSC Staff at least once and most were Ivy Leaguers or graduates of Harvard’s Kennedy School (Rice was from Stanford) - and that includes the general officers, like Powell, Jones, etc.
Mike Flynn is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and never served on the NSC staff. According to his official biography, “Flynn’s military career was PRIMARILY OPERATIONAL, with numerous combat arms, conventional and special operations senior intelligence assignments.” In other words, Flynn’s perspective was based on reality, not theory. He has authored numerous articles that were critical of the Obama administration’s policies and highly critical of the Intelligence Community, which were among the reasons he was removed from his position as Director of DIA early - by order of the Obama administration.
To his enemies, he was no “small fish”.
Flynn = Stalking Horse
It is good to have this occur early as it lifts the transitional fog and begins to expose those in the IC who have partisan agendas. Now the new administration can more clearly see how deep the cuts need to be, who may be useful and who needs to be neutralized.