Flynn ready to give documents to panel
WASHINGTON — Fo r mer National Securit y Adviser Michael Flynn will provide documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, a person close to Flynn said.
Flynn will turn over documents related to two of his businesses as well as some personal documents the committee requested earlier this month, and plans to produce the documents by next week, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Flynn’s private interactions with the committee.
The decision Tuesday was the first signal that Flynn and the Senate panel have found common ground. Congressional investigators continue to press for key documents in the ongoing investigation, and the retired lieutenant general is trying to limit damaging disclosures that hostile Democratic lawmakers could use against him.
Flynn had invoked hi s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in declining an earlier request from the committee. Flynn’s attorneys had argued the initial request was too broad and would have required Flynn to turn over information that could have been used against him.
Flynn’s cooperation came as President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, rejected a request for documents as part of a House committee’s separate probe into Russia’s election meddling and contacts with the Trump campaign.
Cohen, a longtime attorney for the Trump Organization, remains a personal lawyer for Trump. He served as a cable television surrogate for the Republican during the presidential campaign.
The House Intelligence Committee’s request for information from Cohen came as the investigators continued to scrutinize members of Trump’s inner circle, including Flynn. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said last week that a subpoena for Flynn from the House panel was likely.
Cohen told ABC News on Tuesday that he had been asked by both the House and Senate intelligence committees to provide information and testimony about contacts he had with Russian officials. In an interview published Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the allegations of Moscow meddling in the U.S. presidential election are “fiction” invented by the Democrats in order to explain their loss.