Flynn pleads the Fifth, rejects Senate subpoena
Attorneys: Situation for ex-Trump aide is legally dangerous.
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in rebuffing a subpoena Monday in the investigation into Russia’s election meddling. Then a top House Democrat cited new evidence he said appeared to show Flynn lied on a security clearance background check.
With Trump himself in the Mideast on his first foreign trip as president, investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign — and allegations of Trump campaign collaboration — showed no sign of slackening in Washington. Flynn’s lawyers claimed an “escalating public frenzy” against the former aide justified declining the subpoena for his records.
The attorneys told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Flynn will not turn over personal documents sought under the congressional subpoena nor otherwise comply as part of its investigation. Hours later, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, cited what he said were inconsistencies in Flynn’s disclosures to U.S. investigators in early 2016 during his security clearance review.
Cummings said Flynn appeared to have lied about the source of a $33,000 payment from Russia’s state-sponsored television network, failed to identify foreign officials with whom he met — including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin — and glossed over his firing as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration. Cummings made his points in a letter asking the committee’s chairman, Jason Chaffetz of Utah, to subpoena the White House for documents related to Flynn.
Flynn’s own defensive crouch revealed the high legal stakes he faces as investigations intensify: a U.S. counterintelligence probe of Russia, a criminal investigation involving him and multiple congressional probes.
His attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment on the new assertions by Cummings.
Besides the “public frenzy,” Flynn lawyers also said earlier in the day the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel has created a legally dangerous environment for him to cooperate with the Senate panel’s investigation.
Trump appointed Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and top military intelligence chief, as his top national security aide in January, only to fire him less than a month later.
The White House said that Flynn had misled top U.S. officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Russian officials, including Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
Cummings said Monday that Flynn repeatedly provided inconsistent or untruthful statements to U.S. security clearance investigators in January 2016 before the renewal of his credentials. The Trump administration has criticized the Obama administration for failing to properly vet Flynn during that period, but Cummings and other Democrats have blasted Trump and his team for failing to more carefully check Flynn’s background before they brought him to the White House.
Cummings cited a report in March 2016 that he said showed the retired Army general telling authorities that payments he received for his 2015 trip to Moscow were paid by “U.S. companies.”
In fact, the oversight committee released detailed email and payment records months ago showing that the source of Flynn’s payment of more than $33,000 was RT, the Russian state-sponsored television network.
Meanwhile, the Senate committee’s subpoena to Flynn focused on his interactions with Russian officials. It sought a wide range of information and documents about his and the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians dating back to June 2015.