The ranking leaders of the House Oversight Committee, Democrat Elijah Cummings and Republican Jason Chaffetz, told reporters Tuesday that former national security adviser Mike Flynn did not comply with the law when he accepted payments from the governments of Russia and Turkey.
It’s the latest in a series of damning reports alleging that Flynn regularly violated disclosure laws and engaged in serious conflicts of interest both before and during his 23-day tenure as national security adviser. NBC News reported in March that a Turkish businessman paid Flynn nearly $500,000 to lobby for Turkish interests while he attended top-level intelligence briefings during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Flynn did not immediately register as a foreign lobbyist after the businessman retained his firm’s services.
Cummings and Chaffetz spoke to reporters after “viewing classified memos and the lieutenant general’s disclosure form,” NBC News reports. They said there was “no evidence” to support the claim that Flynn disclosed a $45,000 payment for appearing on a Russian television show.
“I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law,” Chaffetz told reporters, according to a transcript from CNN.
Flynn resigned from his role after the Washington Post reported that, as a private citizen, Flynn communicated last fall with the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, despite vigorously denying those allegations to reporters and Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn has offered to testify if he receives immunity from prosecution.
