Flynn lawyers cut off talks with Trump team 02:32
(CNN)Special
Counsel Robert Mueller's team has postponed an anticipated grand jury
testimony linked to his investigation into Michael Flynn amid growing indications of possible plea deal discussions.
Additional
witnesses were expected to be questioned soon including a public
relations consultant hired by Flynn's lobbying firm who was given an
early December date deadline to appear before the grand jury, according
to a person at the company.
Ahead of the delay, the impression was that the testimony needed to happen soon, the source said.
"Time seems to be of the essence," said the source at Sphere Consulting, the PR firm where the consultant worked.
The
grand jury testimony was postponed, the person said, with no reason
given. There could be many reasons for a delay, including scheduling
issues.
The
consultant's expected testimony comes as the investigation into Trump's
former national security adviser's business dealings has taken a new
turn.
Flynn's attorney told Trump's
legal team last week that he would no longer share information about
the investigation, a move that signals Flynn is beginning conversations
with the government that could involve a plea deal or a cooperation
agreement. ABC News reported that Flynn's attorney met with special counsel's attorneys on Monday.
Sphere's
government relations arm, SGR LLC Government Relations and Lobbying, is
one of several companies Flynn Intel Group hired to work for Inovo BV, a
Netherlands-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin,
according to filing made by Flynn Intel Group under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act (FARA). Inovo hired Flynn to research Fethullah Gulen,
an exiled Turkish cleric who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
accused of being behind the 2016 attempted military coup to overthrow
him, the filing said.
Inovo paid
Flynn's group $530,000 for the research, which was supposed result in a
video documentary but it was never finished. Sphere's SGR was paid
$40,000.
Sphere has been
cooperating for months with the investigation. The inquiry was
originally opened before the appointment of the special counsel,
according to the source. Sphere, which was subpoenaed around June, was
described as "a cooperating witness at best." Sphere has not been
accused of any wrongdoing.
Interviews conducted by special counsel investigators have included questions about the business dealings of Flynn and his son
such as their firm's reporting of income from work overseas, two
witnesses interviewed by the team told CNN. The Foreign Agents
Registration Act requires people acting as agents of foreign entities to
publicly disclose their relationship with foreign countries or
businesses and financial compensation for such work.
Another
area of interest to Mueller's team is Flynn's alleged participation in
discussions about the idea of removing Gulen, who has been living in
exile in Pennsylvania, sources said. In the past, a spokesman for Flynn
has denied that such discussions occurred. Flynn's attorney, Robert
Kelner, has called reports of an alleged kidnapping scheme "outrageous"
and "false." Kelner could not be reached for comment.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel, declined to comment.
Flynn
disclosed its work for Inovo in a lobbying disclosure form in September
2016. Months later, in March 2017, it filed a FARA disclosure form
stating "because of the subject matter of the engagement, Flynn Intel
Group's work for Inovo could be construed to have principally benefitted
from the Republic of Turkey."
Sphere
entered the assignment in August 2016 when it was approached by Bijan
Kian, Flynn's business partner, to publicize the proposed documentary to
promote investing in Turkey, according to the Sphere source. At Flynn's
direction Sphere created a Gulen-themed Monopoly graphic, according to
Flynn's FARA disclosure. A lawyer for Kian declined to comment. No
explanation was given for why the graphic was created.
Two
other consultants hired by Flynn, journalists David Enders and Rudi
Bakhtiar, a former CNN anchor, were brought in to work on the
documentary, according to the FARA form. The Wall Street Journal, citing
people familiar with the investigation, reported the Federal Bureau of
Investigation has contacted Enders and Bakhtair to set up interviews.
Enders and Bakhtiar have not responded to CNN's requests for comment.
The
documentary was never completed. But Sphere did place Flynn's election
day op-ed on Gulen in The Hill newspaper, according to the source at the
company and the FARA filing. Flynn's FARA filing distances that op-ed
from the work he did for Inovo acknowledging it was shared with Inovo
but: "To the best of our knowledge, Inovo did not communicate with the
Republic of Turkey regarding the op-ed or provide the draft op-ed to the
government."
Through Flynn and
Kian, Sphere met Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, who wanted Sphere to
do PR work to get Gulen extradited, according to the source at Sphere.
According
to a memo sent to Flynn's firm, Sphere told Alptekin in November, when
the firm first met with him, that none of this should be done through a
publicity campaign, but rather should pursued through lawsuits.
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