Michael Flynn

Flynn’s Son Now a Target of Russia Probe

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“Michael G. Flynn, the son of President Trump’s former national security adviser, is a subject of the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign,” NBC News reports.

“The inquiry into Flynn is focused at least in part on his work with his father’s lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group… It’s unclear when the focus on Flynn began.”

“Mueller has brought onto his team a federal prosecutor known for convincing subjects to turn on associates. Any potential criminal liability for Michael G. Flynn could put added pressure on his father.”

Mueller Looking at Flynn Role In Pursuit of Clinton Emails

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Special counsel Robert Mueller “is examining what role, if any, former national security adviser Mike Flynn may have played in a private effort to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The effort to seek out hackers who were believed to have stolen Mrs. Clinton’s emails… was led by a longtime Republican activist, Peter W. Smith. In correspondence and conversations with his colleagues, Mr. Smith portrayed Mr. Flynn as an ally in those efforts and implied that other senior Trump campaign officials were coordinating with him… He also named Mr. Flynn’s consulting firm and his son in the correspondence and conversations.”

Mueller Seeks White House Documents on Flynn

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“Investigators working for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, recently asked the White House for documents related to the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and have questioned witnesses about whether he was secretly paid by the Turkish government during the final months of the presidential campaign,” the New York Times reports.

“Though not a formal subpoena, the document request is the first known instance of Mr. Mueller’s team asking the White House to hand over records.”

Flynn Discloses Link to Mercer-Backed Firm

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Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, “is revealing a brief advisory role with a firm related to a controversial data analysis company that aided the Trump campaign, the AP reports.

“The disclosure of Flynn’s link to Cambridge Analytica will come in an amended public financial filing in which the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general also discloses income that includes payments from the Trump transition team… Cambridge Analytica was heavily funded by the family of Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager who also backed the campaign and other conservative candidates and causes.”

Putin Says He Barely Knows Michael Flynn

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Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC News that he had very limited personal interaction with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, despite a 2015 photo that shows the two sitting next to each other at dinner during an event to celebrate Russian TV network RT.

Said Putin to Megyn Kelly: “You and I, you and I personally, have a much closer relationship than I had with Mr. Flynn. You and I met yesterday evening. You and I have been working together all day today. And now we’re meeting again.”

Mueller Expands Probe to Flynn’s Turkish Ties

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Special counsel Robert Mueller “is expanding his probe to assume control of a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn,” three sources told Reuters.

“The move means Mueller’s politically charged inquiry will now look into Flynn’s paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman in 2016, in addition to contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after the Nov. 8 presidential election.”

Top Russians Discussed How to Influence Trump Aides

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“American spies collected information last summer revealing that senior Russian intelligence and political officials were discussing how to exert influence over Donald Trump through his advisers,” the New York Times reports.

“The conversations focused on Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman at the time, and Michael Flynn, a retired general who was advising Mr. Trump.”

“Details of the conversations, some of which have not been previously reported, add to an increasing understanding of the alarm inside the American government last year about the Russian disruption campaign.”

Flynn Gets Hit with House Subpoenas Too

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The House of Representatives will join the Senate in slapping subpoenas on Michael Flynn, Politico reports.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) also said the committee was now receiving responses to requests for information from other witnesses. He declined to name those witnesses but said the committee ‘may be sending out subpoenas in tranches.'”

Axios: “Both the House and the Senate committees’ continued efforts to subpoena Flynn suggest that they’re not giving up on this just yet. And that’s further reflected in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s subpoenas from yesterday that targeted Flynn’s businesses, which they believed couldn’t be protected by the Fifth Amendment.”

Flynn Gets Two More Subpoenas

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“The Senate intelligence committee says it will subpoena two of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s businesses,” NBC News reports.

“The committee has already subpoenaed Flynn for documents regarding his contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. Flynn has refused to hand over that information.”

“The committee also sent a letter to Flynn’s attorney Tuesday questioning the legal basis of Flynn’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right over a request for documents rather than testimony.”

Christie Says He Warned Trump About Flynn

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that if it were up to him, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn never would have had a White House job, CNN reports.

Said Christie: “I think it’s safe to say that General Flynn and I didn’t see eye-to eye. I didn’t think that he was someone who would bring benefit to the President or to the administration, and I made that very clear to candidate Trump, and I made it very clear to President-elect Trump.”

Flynn Will Decline Senate Subpoena

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Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will decline the Senate Intelligence committee subpoena for his testimony and invoke 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination, the AP reports.

The Washington Post notes “the Fifth Amendment protects you from making incriminatory comments about yourself — but it doesn’t protect you from things you’ve said in the past. Documents are similarly a form of past behavior to which the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply.”

“The risk to Flynn is that the Senate committee demanding the documents could vote to hold him in contempt. If they were to do so, the full Senate would be asked to weigh in on the matter and, if the Senate agreed to hold Flynn in contempt, the matter would be referred to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington for criminal charges. In other words, Flynn could end up being convicted of a crime for withholding the documents and face prison time — regardless of what the documents say.”

Russians Saw Flynn as the Way to Influence Trump

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“Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Donald Trump and his team,” sources told CNN.

“The conversations deeply concerned US intelligence officials, some of whom acted on their own to limit how much sensitive information they shared with Flynn, who was tapped to become Trump’s national security adviser.”

Trump Said Firing Flynn Was a Mistake

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“Two days after firing Michael Flynn as his national security adviser in February, President Trump told several aides and friends he should have kept him instead,” Politico reports.

Said one: “I was kind of stunned. I asked him. You fired him already. What are you going to do?”

“It has left White House officials and outside advisers perplexed: Why is Trump so determined to defend a man at the center of a federal investigation that is damaging his administration, and a man he has accused of lying to his vice president?”