House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and top Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) have announced that the committee could not find evidence that President Donald Trump’s former National Security adviser Michael Flymm reported payments for his foreign work.
Chaffetz and Cummings reviewed classified military documents, which showed them that “Flynn did not ask permission or inform the government about payments he got for appearances before Russian organizations and for lobbying that helped Turkey’s government.
Fox News reported:
This raises concern whether Flynn violated a constitutional ban on foreign payments to retired military officers.“The law requires him to seek permission … from the secretary of state and the Department of Defense,” Chaffetz said. “The response we’re getting [from those agencies] is there is no information, and that, we believe, is the potential violation.”Chaffetz and Cummings said there was no evidence Flynn complied with federal law. They said Flynn could be criminally prosecuted, and they said Flynn should surrender the money he was paid.
Flynn received $45,000 “for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia.” Last month, ex-CIA Director James Moosley revealed that he attended a meeting with Flynn and Turkish foreign ministers to discuss removing Fehtullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania, that President Recep Tayyip Erodogan has blamed for for many attempted coups.
Flynn offered to testify before the intelligence committees in Congress for their investigation into Russian interference in our election if official gave him immunity. The House and the Senate have not accepted the offer. Cummings said he would like it if Flynn testified, but “such a hearing appears unlikely.”
Chaffetz reiterated that the Russian interference investigation remains with the intelligence committee and the Oversight Committee plays “more of a support role.” He stated that he remains doubtful his committee “will call Flynn to testify.
The committee asked for documents and related items from the White House and Defense Department. The White House denied the request:
Legislative affairs director Marc Short said the committee is requesting documents that are not in possession of the White House because they involved Flynn’s activity prior to President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Other documents sought by the committee, from after Jan. 20, involve sensitive information, he said.”It is unclear how such documents would be relevant to the stated purpose of the committee’s review, which according to your letter is to examine Lt. Gen. Flynn’s disclosure of payments related to activities that occurred in 2015 and 2016, prior to his service in the White House,” Short wrote in a letter dated April 19 that was sent to committee leaders.
Flynn resigned in February after news surfaced that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about talks he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions former President Barack Obama passed against Russian due to interference with our election.
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