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WSJ: Mueller probes Flynn role in plot to deliver cleric to Turkey
WSJ: Mueller probes Flynn role in plot to deliver cleric to Turkey
Washington (CNN)Former
White House national security adviser Mike Flynn and his son are
alleged to have been offered as much as $15 million to forcibly remove
from the US a Muslim cleric wanted by Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The
Journal reported the FBI questioned at least four people in regards to a
mid-December meeting in New York at the "21" Club. Discussions between
Flynn and Turkish representatives supposedly took place there, according
to the Journal.
The
Journal said the people who described the alleged proposal didn't attend
the December meeting and didn't have direct knowledge of the details.
There's no indication that money changed hands or that an agreement was
made.
The discussions allegedly
included how to transport Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim leader who Erdogan
has accused of being behind a failed military coup to overthrow him, on a
private jet to the Turkish prison island of Imrali.
The Journal reported attorneys for Flynn and his son declined comment.
CNN reported earlier this week
that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are examining
Flynn's alleged participation in discussions about the idea of removing
the cleric who has been living in exile in Pennsylvania. In the past, a
spokesman for Flynn has denied that such discussions occurred.
CNN
also reported that Flynn has expressed concern about the potential
legal exposure of his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who, like his father, is
under scrutiny by Mueller, multiple sources familiar with the matter
tell CNN.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey told CNN in March
about an earlier meeting in September 2016 where Flynn also met with
representatives of the Turkish government and discussed potential ways
to send a foe of Turkey's president back to face charges in that
country.
Woolsey claims that those
present discussed sending Gulen back to Turkey to face charges --
possibly outside the legal US extradition system.
"What
I saw and heard was sort of the end of the conversation -- it's not
entirely clear what transpired because of that," Woolsey said on "CNN
Tonight" with Don Lemon. "But it looks as if there was at least some
strong suggestion by one or more of the Americans present at the meeting
that we would be able, the United States would be able, through them,
to be able to get hold of Gulen, the rival for Turkey's political
situation."
At the time, a spokesman for Flynn denied the allegation.
"The
claim made by Mr. Woolsey that General Flynn, or anyone else in
attendance, discussed physical removal of Mr. Gulen from the United
States during a meeting with Turkish officials in New York is false,"
Flynn spokesman Price Floyd said in a statement at the time. "No such
discussion occurred. Nor did Mr. Woolsey ever inform General Flynn that
he had any concerns whatsoever regarding the meeting either before he
chose to attend or afterwards."
If
proven, the alleged plan to kidnap the cleric with the aid of foreign
money directly violates US criminal code and could result in up to a
20-year sentence for the Flynns, according to Michael Zeldin, a CNN
legal analyst.
"Under
this statute, both domestic kidnapping in violation of US law, and if
it was a crime in Turkish law, both would be specific unlawful
activities, so anyone who engages in the effort to bring money into the
US for the purpose of kidnapping another violates the statute. That's a
20-year felony," Zeldin said.
If the cleric were to die once in Turkish hands, that could mean a life sentence for the pair, Zeldin said.
"This
probably has nothing to do with the Trumps, but this is a very serious
crime," he said. "Theoretically, if they did this international
kidnapping and the Turkish government killed this guy, that could be a
life sentence for the Flynns. You don't really want to be involved in a
scheme like this, no matter how broke you might be."
The Mueller investigation into the Flynns is part of an overall probe into the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia.
Flynn
is also under legal scrutiny by Mueller's team for undisclosed lobbying
that he did during the presidential campaign on behalf of the Turkish
government, according to sources familiar with the matter. It's against
the law to lobby in the United States on behalf of a foreign government
without informing the Justice Department.
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