FBI GRILL FLYNN ON KIDNAP PLOT

WASHINGTON • U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser is reportedly being questioned by the FBI over claims he discussed removing a Turkish cleric from America for millions of dollars.

Michael Flynn met Turkish government officials last December to discuss the plan, according to claims being looked at by the official investigation into the Trump campaign.

The alleged plot would have seen Flynn and his son paid US$15 million to remove Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric blamed by the Turkish authorities for a recent coup attempt, and fly him to the Turkish prison island of Imrali. This was reportedly discussed at a meeting at the 21 Club in New York weeks before Flynn entered the Trump administration.

The claims were made public by the Wall Street Journal and broadcaster NBC, which cited numerous sources. Flynn’s representatives declined to comment on the reports.

The news marks another dramatic development in the investigation of Robert Mueller, the special counsel looking into links between Trump’s campaign and Russia. It has already handed criminal charges to three former Trump advisers, one for lying to the FBI and two for money laundering. Trump denies any “collusion” with Russia.

Flynn was a Trump campaign adviser who served in the new administration before he dramatically left office after a scandal about his Russia contacts emerged. The retired general lasted just 24 days as national security adviser, resigning after misleading Mike Pence, the U.S. vicepresident, about his meetings with a Russian ambassador.

Friday, the allegations surfaced about the plan, which is being looked into by Mueller’s operation.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, has blamed Gulen, who lives in America, for remotely leading a coup against his government last summer. Gulen has denied any role.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “at least four” people have been asked about the meeting by the FBI and added it is not clear how far the proposal went and that there was no sign that any payments were made.

Participation in an effort to snatch Gulen in the U.S. could expose Flynn to an assortment of federal charges.

If prosecutors can prove Flynn and his associates took concrete steps to act on such a plan, it could result in charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping even though Gulen wasn’t abducted, said Patrick Cotter, a Chicago defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor.

Flynn could even face charges of violating counterespionage laws if prosecutors established he was accepting undisclosed payments at the same time he was receiving classified security briefings as part of the Trump transition, Cotter said.