![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/92861263_hi036553908.jpg\")
<\/a>Michael Flynn Jnr (L) with his father, retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn Snr (R), at Trump Tower in New York<\/p><\/div>\n
BBC<\/p>\n
One of Donald Trump’s aides has lost his job after fanning a conspiracy theory that climaxed at the weekend in gunfire at a pizzeria.<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael Flynn, 33, left the US president-elect’s transition team on Tuesday following his tweets about the so-called Pizzagate fake news story.<\/p>\n His father, Michael Flynn Snr, Mr Trump’s pick to be US national security adviser, has also shared fake news.<\/p>\n The Pizzagate hoax led to a gunman firing shots in a restaurant on Sunday.<\/p>\n No one was injured in the incident at Comet Ping Pong in Washington DC.<\/p>\n The suspect told police he had turned up to “self-investigate” online rumour-mongering that the pizzeria was the nexus of a paedophile ring involving Hillary Clinton and one of her aides, John Podesta.<\/p>\n AP – Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, surrenders to police on Sunday<\/p><\/div>\n The bizarre and unfounded theory had been spread online by right-wing blogs.<\/p>\n The claims were also pushed by Mr Flynn Jr, who tweeted after Sunday’s gunfire that Pizzagate would remain a story until “proven to be false”.<\/p>\n The New York Times reports that he was fired from the Trump transition team on Tuesday but, according to CBS News, he resigned before he was sacked.<\/p>\n The Trump team confirmed the departure of Mr Flynn – who had reportedly been given a .gov email address – but did not confirm it was related to the tweets.<\/p>\n Vice President-elect Mike Pence acknowledged that Mr Flynn Jnr had been helping his father with scheduling and administrative items during the transition but said “that’s no longer the case”.<\/p>\n Asked repeatedly whether a security clearance was requested, Mr Pence refused to answer directly.<\/p>\n Mr Flynn Snr, 57, has also tweeted out unsubstantiated conspiracy theories accusing Mrs Clinton and her aides of child-sex trafficking.<\/p>\n Among the retired lieutenant general’s other tweets was an allegation that President Barack Obama was a “jihadi” who “laundered” money for terrorists.<\/p>\n Critics have said Mr Flynn Snr is unfit to advise the incoming president on the veracity of national security threats facing the US.<\/p>\n Michael Flynn Snr has also tweeted out bizarre conspiracy theories linking Hillary Clinton to paedophilia<\/p><\/div>\n In Sunday’s armed confrontation, the suspect allegedly walked into Comet Ping Pong and pointed a rifle at an employee before firing shots into the ground.<\/p>\n Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, from North Carolina, has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.<\/p>\n\n
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