It seemed like Michael Flynn, the ousted White House national security adviser, wasn't going quietly after he resigned Monday night.
What appeared to be his Twitter account lit up with posts about his resignation and how Donald Trump and the country should move forward. But it turns out the endless commentary from the general was actually coming from an apparent parody account that had posted 69 times in just under two weeks.
It fooled elected officials and media alike.
On Monday, the account @GenMikeFlynn fired off a volley of tweets.
While I accept full responsibility for my actions, I feel it is unfair that I have been made the sole scapegoat for what happened. (1/2)
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 14, 2017
But if a scapegoat is what's needed for this Administration to continue to take this great nation forward, I am proud to do my duty.
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 14, 2017
However, as news of Flynn's resignation was coming out, Flynn's official Twitter account was offline. The Washington Post reported that his official handle was removed Feb. 1. That also happens to be when the parody account appeared and started tweeting.
Glad to be back on Twitter. Deeply grateful for the continued support. Let's get our nominees confirmed so we can get to work on #MAGA
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 2, 2017
By Tuesday, the verified account seemingly reappeared — but only after the confusingly similar but fake Flynn account got even top lawmakers all turned around.
Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings cited the fake Flynn's posts from Monday night about being a scapegoat during a news conference Tuesday.
Pelosi, who only heard about the tweet from Cummings' reference minutes before, really ripped into Flynn and his use of the word "scapegoat."
The New York Times, meanwhile, was among the media sites that quoted tweets from the fake account too.
Now that both handles — the parody and Flynn's official account — are up and running it's easier to see that one has Twitter's blue check mark indicating the account has been verified. And the fake account states subtly in its bio, "[Parody Account]."
While the real Flynn was away from Twitter the past two weeks, the parody account was having a field day impersonating him and being on a first name basis with Trump's cabinet and egregiously using the royal "we."
Rex & I look forward to deepening US-Canada ties with Canadian FM @cafreeland. I particularly hope to strengthen intelligence-sharing (1/2)
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 8, 2017
Blood from next terror attack will be on the judges' hands. They do not have access to intel & do not understand severity of threat we face
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 10, 2017
Now it's a waiting game to see if the real Flynn will finally tweet something — he's stayed silent since before Christmas and definitely hasn't posted anything since Trump took office, let alone about his resignation.
His pinned tweet from last July does show his clairvoyance that Trump would prevail in November, but doesn't look like he saw himself getting the boot so quickly.
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