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House oversight panel: No sign Flynn complied with the law
House oversight panel: No sign Flynn complied with the law
Story highlights
- The House oversight panel has taken a particular focus on Michael Flynn's work
- The former national security adviser to Donald Trump resigned earlier this year
(CNN)President
Donald Trump's former national security adviser did not properly
disclose payments from Russia and does not appear to have complied with
the law, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and ranking Democrat
Elijah Cummings said Tuesday after reviewing Michael Flynn's application
for a security clearance.
Chaffetz
and Cummings announced their findings to reporters on the Hill
following a classified gathering of the committee in which they reviewed
documents that Cummings described as "extremely troubling."
"I
see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the
law," Chaffetz said, referring to whether Flynn received permission from
the Pentagon or the State Department or that he disclosed the more than
$45,000 he was paid for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia.
The
request comes after the White House declined to provide documents
related to Flynn that the panel investigating him had requested,
according to a letter obtained by CNN.
White
House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short outlined in a letter
to the House oversight committee how it would not complete the request
from the panel, referring some requests to the Department of Defense,
saying the office doesn't have custody of some of the other documents or
simply stating "we are unable to accommodate" others.
Whether
Flynn properly disclosed payments from foreign governments on his
security clearance application is the subject of a House oversight
committee meeting Tuesday, as members reviewed the first batch of
documents related to the investigation coming from the Pentagon.
The committee is gathering Tuesday morning
at the Capitol to review classified material provided by the Department
of Defense in response to its March 22 request for more information on
Flynn, according to MJ Henshaw, a spokeswoman for House Oversight
Chairman Jason Chaffetz.
The
committee has sent additional requests for information about Flynn to
the White House, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence. However, Tuesday's meeting will only include responses
from the Pentagon.
Oversight investigators also revealed last month that Flynn had received $530,000 for work his lobbying firm did that, according to the committee, likely benefited the Republic of Turkey.
The House and Senate intelligence committees have been leading the primary investigations into
Russia's interference in the US elections and possible coordination
with top aides to the Trump campaign. However, the House oversight panel
has taken a particular focus on Flynn's work -- drilling down in a
series of requests.
Flynn was forced to resign from
his role as Trump's national security adviser after it was discovered
he withheld information about discussions he had with Russian ambassador
to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn is one of four former Trump aides at the center of the FBI's probe and is a top target for House and Senate investigators as well.
Since he resigned, Flynn has retained a lawyer and has offered to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution -- an offer nobody has apparently taken him up on.
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