Senate probe:
Fired national security adviser won’t hand over subpoenaed documents.
WASHINGTON — Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser under President Trump, refused to comply with a Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena as a top House Democrat disclosed portions of new documents suggesting Flynn lied about his Russia ties to federal investigators.
Members of the committee must now meet to vote and decide whether to hold Flynn in contempt or accept his attempt to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The committee has demanded that Flynn provide it with a list of any contacts he had with Russian officials between June 16, 2015, and Jan. 20, 2017.
In a statement late Monday, the committee chairman and vice chairman, Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said they were “disappointed” by Flynn’s decision and would “vigorously pursue Gen. Flynn’s testimony and his production of any and all pertinent materials pursuant to the Committee’s authorities.”
Flynn’s refusal comes as Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, cited a previously undisclosed document alleging that Flynn had “lied” to security-clearance investigators about payments he received “directly” from Russia for appearing at a December 2015 gala hosted by Russian state-owned media company RT.
In the letter, Cummings cites the March 14, 2016, Report of Investigation indicating Flynn “told security clearance investigators that he was paid by ‘U.S. companies’ when he traveled to Moscow” for that gala and told investigators that “he has not received any benefit from a foreign country.” But payment vouchers and other documents showed that Russia had “directly” paid for Flynn’s airfare, accommodations and other expenses, Cummings wrote, citing the investigators’ report.
Cummings stressed his view that the Oversight Committee’s chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, must issue subpoenas against various White House officials to learn what “top officials knew about General Flynn — and when they knew it.” But thus far, the only witness who has been subpoenaed as part of the congressional probes into Russian meddling during the 2016 elections is not complying with the request.
In a letter to Burr and Warner on Monday, Flynn’s attorneys cited the Justice Department’s recent appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel for the federal investigation into Russian interference in the election as reason to steer clear of congressional probes. They argued that Mueller’s appointment creates new dangers for Flynn and gives “rise to a constitutional right not to testify.”
Across Congress, lawmakers have openly worried that Mueller’s probe might serve to muzzle witnesses they had hoped would participate in the various committees’ parallel probes.