Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn buys property in Englewood, Florida

With a presidential pardon in his back pocket, former President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is starting a new chapter that includes a new home in Florida, a place popular with those seeking a fresh start and one that has proven particularly appealing to the MAGA universe.

A deed filed with the Sarasota County Clerk of Court shows that Michael Thomas Flynn and his wife, Lori Jean Flynn, purchased a home on April 9 in the upscale Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in Englewood, a low-key coastal community between Sarasota and Fort Myers popular with Midwest retirees and vacationers. 

Michael Flynn, 62, is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who became one of the most famous figures of the Trump presidency after he was embroiled in the Special Counsel’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

Flynn twice pled guilty to lying to the FBI. He later was pardoned by Trump and has remained a steadfast defender of the former president.

The Flynns paid $3,185 in documentary stamp taxes on the Boca Royale property transaction, according to the deed. Using a state formula for calculating the tax, that means they paid $545,000 for the 2,236-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a pool.

Complete information on the property sale has not been posted to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s website yet, but the deed is available through the Clerk’s office.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Lori Flynn declined to discuss the purchase saying it wasn’t a good time and suggesting a reporter follow up at a later date.

A newsletter sent to Boca Royale residents earlier this month welcomed “Michael & Lori Flynn (RI) to our wonderful Club & Community.”

Both Flynns are from Rhode Island. They listed a property they own on Tuckerman Road in Middletown Rhode Island, where Michael Flynn was born, as their address on the deed for the Boca Royale property transaction.

The Flynns’ four-bedroom home in Middletown is valued at more than $1 million, according to property records. It’s not clear if they plan to relocate full-time to Florida or use the property as a vacation or part-time residence. 

Boca Royale’s website touts the 1,000-acre gated community as “an exclusive hideaway” and a “hidden gem” with an “elegant, Georgian clubhouse.”

“A semi-private club with golf, tennis, pickle ball, fitness & wellness, bocce ball, croquet, dining and a wealth of organized social activities, Boca Royale embodies the country club lifestyle,” the website reads, while also touting the development’s location near “the beautiful beaches of Manasota Key.”

The Boca Royale community also attracted attention recently after residents received special access to the COVID-19 vaccine through a state-run pop-up clinic initiated by Gov. Ron DeSantis and organized by the community’s developer, Pat Neal, a major DeSantis donor. 

A Boca Royale resident said Flynn has two brothers who live in the community, something records appear to confirm.

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Property appraiser records show that Joseph J. Flynn and Valerie M. Flynn own a home in Boca Royale, as do John P. Flynn and Leslie A. Flynn. According to online reports, Michael Flynn has a brother named Joe and another named Jack with a wife named Leslie.

The resident said Flynn has been spotted on the Boca Royale golf course recently.

Flynn served as national security adviser for less than a month before Trump fired him amid law enforcement scrutiny over his contacts with Russia.

While Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, the Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr later sought to dismiss the case and the White House said in a statement accompanying Flynn’s pardon that he “should never have been prosecuted.”  

After his pardon, Flynn reportedly met with Trump in the White House as the president was seeking to overturn the election results.

Flynn said during a Newsmax television interview in December that Trump could “order, within the swing states, if he wanted to, he could take military capabilities and he could place them in those states and basically rerun an election in each of those states.”

Flynn was banned from Twitter shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Twitter said it was taking action against accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.

In addition to Flynn, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. also purchased property in Florida recently, as did the former president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Trump has made Florida his home since departing the White House, living at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Flynn’s purchase adds to Florida’s growing reputation as Trump world’s epicenter. Many prominent Trump supporters live in the populous region from Palm Beach to Miami on the East Coast of Florida, creating a MAGA stronghold within the heavily Democratic communities.

Flynn, meanwhile, bought property on the Gulf Coast, in the heart of conservative Southwest Florida, a region that went heavily for Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Englewood is at the southern tip of Sarasota County, which Trump won by 10.4 percentage points last year.

The Englewood community is even more conservative than Sarasota County as a whole, with Trump carrying some precincts by more than 20 points.

Flynn appears eager to continue his political involvement in Florida. He already is scheduled to speak at a “Save America Patriot Rally” in Bradenton on Saturday, according to a flyer posted on Facebook. The rally begins at 10 a.m. at the DeSoto Square Mall, according to the flyer.

Please follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor Zac Anderson on Twitter at @zacjanderson. He can be reached at zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com