Michael Flynn stood in front of a cheering crowd of QAnon believers, far-right extremists and other Trump supporters, and told them he was absolutely certain Donald Trump would remain the president. It was Dec. 12 and Trump had already lost the election, but at a Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., Flynn proclaimed a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of this country that would end with Trumps victory.

As three of his siblings applauded behind him, Flynn vowed that the election was not over and that courts arent gonna decide who the next president of the United States is gonna be. Flynn said Trump trusted his supporters to not allow whats happening to happen in our country and called on them to fight back against an alleged plot involving groundless conspiracy theories of election fraud and rigged voting machines.

Why not look inside these machines? Why? Why not? What are they afraid of? What are they hiding from? They are hiding from something! Flynn told the crowd.

The December event foreshadowed Trumps Jan. 6 rally, which led to a far-right mob storming the U.S. Capitol , and many of the same groups were involved, including dark-money nonprofit Women for America First. Violence also followed the first event, with Proud Boys gang members involved in brawls and stabbings that resulted in 33 arrests. The December rally was part of a string of speeches and media appearances, leading up to the January insurrection, in which Flynn lent his voice to the authoritarian movement to keep Trump in office.

Flynn hasnt faced serious scrutiny for his role in stoking the flames that led to the Capitol riot . Unlike Trump or GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Missouri), Flynns efforts to incite took place out of the broader public view, on obscure QAnon podcasts or smaller conservative media outlets that make Fox News look like 60 Minutes. These appearances were the culmination of a yearslong descent into a realm of conspiracy theorists and the far-right, one where he is a star.