Flynn fails to disclose pay from Russian firms

MICHAEL Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, failed to disclose payments from a Russian TV network and a second firm linked to Russia in a February financial disclosure form, according to documents released by the White House on Saturday.

In a financial disclosure form signed by Flynn on March 31, the former White House official listed speaking engagements to Russian entities, including the Kremlin-funded RT TV and Volga-Dnepr Airlines.

The form does not say how much Flynn was paid, but the speeches are in a section titled “sources of compensation exceeding $5 000 (about R67 000) in a year.”

The speeches were not included in a form that Flynn signed electronically on February 11.

The discrepancy on reporting income linked to Russia could add to Flynn’s legal woes. The retired general, who was forced to resign after only 24 days, is under scrutiny for his contacts with Russian officials in a wider investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. He has requested immunity if he testifies before the intelligence committees of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, his lawyer, Robert Kelner, said on Thursday.

Flynn was forced out on February 13 for failing to disclose talks with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about US sanctions on Moscow, and misleading VicePresident Mike Pence about the conversations, which occurred before Trump took office.

Trump, a Republican, said in a tweet that Democrats were pursuing investigations because they were upset about his November 8 victory over their party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Congressional committees and the FBI are looking into allegations by US intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the election campaign.

The Russian government has denied the allegations and denied that it hacked emails of Democratic groups and released information to tip the election toward Trump, who has called for better US relations with Moscow. — Reuters