Flynn poses a new headache for Trump
President unaware of work for Turkey
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump was not aware that former national security adviser Michael Flynn previously acted as an agent of the Turkish government, the White House said Friday while sidestepping questions about whether Flynn’s lobbying work conflicted with his sensitive position.
Flynn, who resigned last month, filed paperwork with the Justice Department this week that retroactively disclosed work his personal company did last year on behalf of a firm with connections to the Turkish government.
The disclosure was being made “to eliminate any potential doubt” about the nature of Flynn’s lobbying for the firm, Inovo, Flynn’s attorney wrote in an
accompanying letter. He acknowledged that the arrangement “could be construed to have principally benefited the republic of Turkey.”
The relationship between the Flynn Intel Group and Inovo began in September and was terminated after Trump’s election in November.
Flynn, who was a top adviser to Trump’s campaign, was named as national security adviser Nov. 18 during the presidential transition. He left the White House after just over three weeks on the job for misrepresenting contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.
Flynn’s lawyer had told attorneys for the transition of his deal with Inovo, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, and was told “to work with the appropriate authorities or subject matter experts to determine what was appropriate.”
Transition lawyers gave similar advice about other potential conflicts of interest, Spicer said in explaining why Trump was not informed about the matter. “We trust people to fill out the forms that they are required to do so in an honest and legal manner,” Spicer said.
Flynn’s attorney said his work for Inovo targeted Fethullah Gulen, a cleric residing in the U.S. whose extradition to Turkey has long been sought by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Flynn wrote an op-ed for The Hill newspaper on Nov. 8 calling for closer ties with Turkey and accusing then-President Barack Obama of keeping Erdogan’s government at “arm’s length,” while referring to Gulen as a “shady Islamic mullah” and “radical Islamist.”
“From Turkey’s point of view, Washington is harboring Turkey’s Osama bin Laden,” Flynn wrote.
Ekim Alptekin, the Turkish businessman whose firm contracted Flynn’s, tweeted this week that Flynn’s new disclosure was “flawed.” He said Flynn’s op-ed was written without input from him or anyone “remotely linked” to the Turkish government.
“Gen. Flynn never engaged in lobbying work for me or my firm,” he wrote.
A supplemental filing to Flynn’s federal disclosure said his Hill op-ed was “related to the same subject matters” as his lobbying work but was written “on his own initiative.”