Freedom House Several other examples of consultants in the pay of e Michael Flynn, who served briefly as President authoritarians are worth mention: Trump's national security adviser, did lucra- tive consulting work for a firm with ties to the ¢ Until rather recently, Azerbaijan was represented government of Turkish president Recep Tayyip by a battalion of lawyers, political operatives, Erdogan before and immediately after the 2016 and public relations specialists in Washington, election. Among other things, Flynn wrote an London, and Brussels. While some worked for op-ed that urged the American government to the national energy company, others were hired expel Fethullah Gillen, a controversial cleric directly by the government to explain away the who was accused by the Turkish government of regime's miserable human rights record to the ad- masterminding the 2016 coup attempt. Flynn's ministration, members of Congress, think tanks, consulting firm was paid $535,000 for work and other opinion makers in the United States.! between September 9 and November 14.” ¢ Bahrain spent over $32 million between 2011, when political protests broke out, and 2015 on Balance sheet political consultants in the United States and Even as they declare their disdain for liberal values, Britain. During that period, the country experi- modern authoritarians take maximum advantage enced an explosion in the number of political of the freedoms that are embedded in democratic prisoners as the Sunni Muslim monarchy carried systems. Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, and others out an often violent persecution of the Shiite have established television networks that broadcast majority.2® beyond their borders to countries around the globe. Viewers in the United States or Europe can watch - Despite their efforts to hollow out Venezuela's Russia's RT or China Central Television on their local democratic infrastructure and their virulent cable systems. Pro-Beijing tycoons have gained a anti-Americanism,