On Monday, two of the four Trump former associates who were asked by the Senate to cough up Russia-related documents — Paul Manafort and Roger Stone — reportedly complied with the request. This left Carter Page and Michael Flynn twisting in the wind and made matters look especially dire for Flynn, who had just announced his intent to invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. Now, a leading Democrat is adding even more fuel to the Russian vodka-soaked fire, as the New York Times reports.
Previous reports have indicated that Flynn failed to disclose Russia payments on his personal disclosure form that was released by the White House. Now, the NY Times reveals a letter from Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat of the House Oversight committee, who claims that Flynn also lied to Pentagon investigators (while applying for security clearance in February 2016) about these payments. Further, he told investigators that he’d only made “insubstantial contact” with foreign parties. This, of course, leaves out his 2015 dinner-party seat next to Vladimir Putin at a gala (where he was paid to give a speech to RT, the Russian state-run propaganda outlet). Here’s how this could further impact Flynn’s situation:
[Flynn’s] failure to make those disclosures and his apparent attempt to mislead the Pentagon could put Mr. Flynn in further legal jeopardy. Intentionally lying to federal investigators is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Separately, he also faces legal questions over failing to properly register as a foreign agent for lobbying he did last year on behalf of Turkey while advising the Trump campaign, which is also a felony.
As many have said in recent months, Flynn’s fate appears to be the grimmest of the four Trump associates who are entrenched within the Russia probes, and this looks terrible for Trump as more information comes to light. Not only did Obama and Sally Yates send out their respective warnings about Flynn, but the president also reportedly tried to kill the FBI’s investigation into his first national security advisor.
To make matters even more absurd, Chris Christie spoke out today to claim that even he warned Trump about Flynn. “I didn’t think that he was someone who would bring benefit to the President or to the administration,” Christie stated. “And I made it very clear to President-elect Trump.”
(Via New York Times & CNN)