For a start, critics say that Flynn exaggerates his accomplishments. Take Flynn’s service as the director of intelligence at Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) during the Iraq War. Appointed by acclaimed JSOC Commander General Stanley McChrystal, Flynn was involved in operations to destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq. But Flynn’s opponents believe that he takes too much credit for his Iraq experience. One individual who served with Flynn at JSOC describes him as General McChrystal’s yes man. McChrystal was a good leader, the individual says, Flynn had a tendency to bully anyone who disagreed with his assessments on operational strategy.

This individual, who requested anonymity, also says Flynn was not responsible for the intelligence successes that helped JSOC effectively crush al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). He says two other officers, Wayne Barefoot and Michelle Schmidt, were key. Barefoot is the “rock star,” he says, who revolutionized JSOC’s understanding, penetration, and targeting of AQI networks and cells. But this individual also told me that Flynn’s unpredictable nature at JSOC earned him the nickname “firehose.” The meaning? That unless held firmly to a task, Flynn would spray off dangerously in all directions.

These criticisms join with others. Flynn’s highest station in government was his 2012–14 tenure as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. And while some have praised Flynn for attempting to shake up the DIA bureaucracy, others question his success there. Former NSA officer John Schindler is among the critics. “Flynn’s tenure as DIA director was frankly disastrous,” he told me. “His mission to reform the notoriously stodgy agency was well intentioned, but it drowned in a mixture of naiveté and arrogance.”

Schindler also challenges Flynn’s claim that he was fired from the DIA for his well-reported efforts to push President Obama to take ISIS more seriously. Instead, Schindler says, Flynn was fired for “alienating the [DIA] workforce, not due to anything about ISIS, as Flynn now maintains.”