Documents detail Flynn’s connection to Russia

WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was paid more than $67,000 by Russian companies before the presidential election, according to documents released Thursday by a Democratic congressman.

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland asked the Trump administration to provide a comprehensive record of Flynn’s contacts with foreign governments and interests.

Flynn accepted $33,750 from Russia’s governmentrun television system for appearing at a Moscow event in December 2015 — a few months before Flynn began formally advising President Donald Trump’s campaign — and thousands more in expenses covered by the network and in speech fees from other Russian firms, according to the documents.

Flynn’s financial relationship with the RT network may violate a constitutional provision against gifts from foreign governments, said Cummings, who released documents obtained during the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s inquiry into Flynn’s activities before Trump appointed him to become national security adviser.

In addition to the record of Flynn’s foreign contacts, Cummings, the senior Democrat on the committee, also asked the Defense Department to compel Flynn to pay the money he received to the U.S. government.

“I am writing to request information about whether Gen. Flynn fully disclosed—as part of the security clearance and vetting process for his return to government— his communications with Russian agents, Turkish agents and other foreign agents, as well as his payments from foreign sources,” Cummings wrote.

Last week, Flynn registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent whose lobbying work may have benefited the Turkish government. The lobbying occurred before Election Day from August to November, during the period when Flynn was Trump’s campaign adviser.

Trump fired Flynn as national security adviser last month, saying the former U.S. Army lieutenant general misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Flynn’s ties to Russia have been scrutinized by the FBI and are part of House and Senate committee investigations into contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russians.

The newly-released files show that RT — designated by the U.S. intelligence community as a propaganda arm for Russia’s government — also paid for luxury hotel stays and other expenses incurred by Flynn and his adult son, Michael Flynn Jr., during the Moscow trip.

Flynn, who was fired in August 2014 as chief of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the climax of the televised RT gala.