POTUS names pardoned former advisor Flynn to West Point board of visitors

PHOTO CAPTION: Former General Michael Flynn speaks at a campaign event with Republican senate candidate Josh Mandel (not pictured) ahead of next month's primary election in Cortland, Ohio, U.S., April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Gaelen Morse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -     U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday named Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser who challenged the 2020 election results and pushed baseless conspiracy claims, to be on the board of visitors for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The retired three-star Army general, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI before recanting and being pardoned by Trump, has remained a loyal Trump supporter and high-profile speaker on right-wing podcasts and conservative events.

Trump, on his Truth Social platform, also announced that Maureen Bannon, daughter of his former adviser Steve Bannon, would be on the board.

While the roles are largely ceremonial, it puts Flynn in a position where he can at least discuss issues like curriculum, discipline and academic methods at the elite military academy. 

Flynn served as Trump's first national security adviser but the president fired him after only 24 days for lying to Vice President Mike Pence as controversy broke over the former general's contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

In recent years, he has become a strong proponent of multiple conspiracy claims.

"With a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, Flynn has become a spreader of multiple anti-democratic conspiracy theories," the Southern Poverty Law Center said.

 (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Richard Chang)