Flynn testimony can expose US deep state: Analyst

The US political establishment is concerned that President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn could provide information that can expose and be harmful to the US "deep state", says a political analyst in California.

Flynn’s “testimony can effectively expose, cripple and destroy the deep state within the CIA, within the NSA, within the intelligence agencies that have been harming the American people and the world and it will also expose the duplicity and treason that has been involved in the US' 15-year campaign in the Middle East - in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq,” said Scott Bennett, a former psychological warfare officer at the US Army.

“This is a huge opportunity to expose all of the darkest secrets and criminal acts by the CIA, by the deep state, by the NSA," Bennett told Press TV on Friday.

“This is a chance, not necessarily for prosecution, but for correcting the gross negligence and crimes and corruption that the deep state has been doing. That is why the Senate is fearful and they’re trying to stop Flynn from testifying without immunity,” he added.

Some political scientists, writers and journalists in the United States have for decades expressed concerns about the existence of a so-called deep state or state within a state, which they argue exerts control and influence over public policy, regardless of which political party controls the country's democratic institutions.

Under the Trump administration, the term deep state has been used by some news organizations to refer to intelligence officials and executive branch bureaucrats guiding policy through leaking or other means of internal dissent.

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• Flynn seeks immunity to testify about Russia probe

Flynn is in discussions with congressional investigators on receiving immunity from "unfair prosecution" in exchange for agreeing to testify about ongoing probes into possible contacts between Trump's election campaign and Russia.

Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, said in a statement Thursday that his client was facing "claims of treason and vicious innuendo" and that has been a factor into his negotiations with the intelligence committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate in Congress.

The FBI, as well as the Senate and House intelligence committees, are investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and any possible ties between Trump's associates and Moscow.

Flynn was forced to resign in February from his position as Trump's first national security adviser after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to the US in late December.

The conversation, which took place before Trump’s inauguration, centered around lifting then-President Barack Obama’s sanctions against Russia. Any discussion of sanctions at that time would have amounted to a breach of US law barring private citizens engaging in foreign policy.

Flynn's tenure of just 24 days as national security adviser is the shortest in the history of the office.

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