Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Scrutiny on Flynn increases

Overseas work’s disclosure probed

-

WASHINGTON — Investigat­ions intensifie­d into President Donald Trump’s ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Thursday as the Pentagon watchdog joined lawmakers in investigat­ing payments he accepted from foreign sources including a Russian state-sponsored TV network.

At the same time, documents released by the top Democrat on a House oversight committee showed Flynn was warned by authoritie­s after he retired from the military in 2014 not to take foreign government-sourced money without “advance approval” from the Pentagon.

Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general and Defense Intelligen­ce Agency chief, later accepted tens

of thousands of dollars for his work on behalf of foreign interests, including RT, the state-supported Russian television network, and a Turkish-owned company linked to Turkey’s government.

The Pentagon’s acting inspector general’s office confirmed Thursday that he has opened an inquiry into whether those payments qualify as coming from foreign government­s and whether Flynn properly informed military authoritie­s about them.

The White House defended its hiring of Flynn and attempted to shift blame for any problems with his vetting onto former President Barack Obama’s administra­tion, which handled the reissuance of his security clearance in January 2016.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who released the documents, said during a news conference that Flynn had been clearly informed he needed to get permission to receive foreign payments and there’s no evidence he did so.

“The Pentagon’s warning to Gen. Flynn was bold, italicized and could not have been clearer,” Cummings said.

In a key 2014 document, Flynn was told by a Defense Intelligen­ce Agency official that the U.S. Constituti­on’s emoluments provision prohibits any monetary payments or gifts “from a foreign government unless congressio­nal consent is first obtained.” The Oct. 8, 2014, letter — which was sent to Flynn at his request — explained that such “advance approval” would need to come “from the relevant service secretary.”

Flynn was fired as national security adviser in February

after revelation­s that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his communicat­ions with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The retired officer filed paperwork as a foreign agent about three weeks later, on March 7.

One episode in question involves a trip he took to Moscow in 2015 for RT’s anniversar­y celebratio­n. He was paid between $33,750 and $45,000 to attend the gala at which he was seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He also worked as a foreign agent representi­ng Turkish interests for a Netherland­s-based company, Inovo BV, which paid his company, Flynn Intel Group, $530,000 in the fall.

In a statement, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, said the Defense Department “was fully aware of the trip,” citing his previous statements that his client briefed Defense Intelligen­ce Agency officials before and after the RT trip.

Kelner also pointed to a letter, released in redacted form by Cummings, that notes that Flynn provided a thumb drive to the agency containing documents detailing the RT event, including that Leading Authoritie­s, a speakers bureau that handled Flynn’s paid speeches, was handling the event for him.

Kelner’s statement did not address other payments Flynn received from foreign sources. Flynn previously had disclosed he got between $50,000 and $100,000 as part of his personal stake in the $530,000 that his company received for consulting work last year for a Turkish businessma­n.

But a letter the Defense Intelligen­ce Agency sent the House committee also said the agency has no record of Flynn seeking permission or approval to accept money from a foreign source. He could not immediatel­y be reached for comment Thursday.

Earlier this week, Cummings

and Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House committee, said that they had found no evidence Flynn asked the Army for permission to receive foreign payments or informed the military he had accepted them. Army spokesman Cynthia Smith said the Army had no records that Flynn requested that permission.

Flynn also did not seek permission from the U.S. government to work as a paid foreign agent for Turkish interests, U.S. defense officials said last month, raising the possibilit­y that the Pentagon could dock his retirement pay. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said then that the Defense Department was reviewing the matter.

“Gen. Flynn’s attorney says he discussed his trip to Moscow with [the Defense Intelligen­ce Agency], but we have no evidence, not a shred, that he disclosed his payments,” Cummings said Thursday.

Last month Flynn’s company filed as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for its consulting work and acknowledg­ed the work may have benefited the government of Turkey. Flynn’s client, Inovo BV, is owned by a businessma­n who is also a member of a committee overseen by Turkey’s finance ministry.

ARMY ANSWERS SOUGHT

Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Flynn “had an obligation to seek approval to take money from a foreign government. We found no evidence that he did that.”

Chaffetz’s office released a letter he sent Thursday to the Army, asking the service’s acting secretary to make a final determinat­ion as to whether Flynn violated federal law by accepting the payments and, if so, to start the process of recovering that money.

Chaffetz also asked the Army to say why it hasn’t yet made a determinat­ion as to the legality of Flynn’s payments from RT given that they have been reported on for at least two years. He also wants the Army to disclose any other investigat­ions it’s

opened since 2010 into similar legal violations.

The committee’s inquiry is one of several congressio­nal investigat­ions into Flynn’s contacts with foreign officials. Trump fired Flynn in February for failing to inform senior administra­tion officials about his contacts with Russian officials — contacts that are being examined as part of the wider inquiries into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidenti­al campaign.

On Thursday, 18 House Democrats on the oversight committee signed a letter calling on Chaffetz to do more to pressure the White House to release documents regarding Flynn.

“There is obviously a paper trail that the White House does not want our committee to follow,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. “Your decisions on this investigat­ion will have a profound impact on the faith that the American people have in Congress to act in an even-handed manner and fulfill our duty under the Constituti­on to exercise robust oversight of the Executive Branch, regardless of who occupies the White House,” the Democrats added.

On Thursday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer rebuffed criticism from Cummings that the White House was covering up. Asked about Trump administra­tion vetting, Spicer appeared to shift blame onto the Obama administra­tion, which had fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligen­ce Agency.

“Why would you rerun a

background check on someone who is the head of the Department of Defense Intelligen­ce Agency that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance?” Spicer asked. He noted that Flynn’s security clearance was renewed during the Obama administra­tion “with all of the informatio­n that’s being discussed that occurred in 2015.”

The White House recently told the committee that documents the lawmakers sought would not be turned over because they contained classified informatio­n or were not relevant to the committee’s investigat­ion.

Informatio­n for this article was contribute­d by Chad Day, Stephen Braun, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin and Jeff Horwitz of The Associated Press and by Dan Lamothe and Ed O’Keefe of

 ??  ?? Cummings
Cummings
 ??  ?? Flynn
Flynn

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States