Flynn probably broke law by failing to disclose foreign income, House Oversight leaders say

WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn probably broke the law by failing to disclose foreign income he earned from Russia and Turkey, the heads of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday.

Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) and the panel's ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) said they believe Flynn neither received permission nor fully disclosed income he earned for a speaking engagement in Russia and lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey when he applied to reinstate his security clearance. They reached this conclusion after viewing two classified memos and a financial disclosure form in a private briefing Tuesday morning.

"Personally I see no evidence or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz told reporters after the briefing.

Said Cummings: "He was supposed to get permission, he was supposed to report it, and he didn't. This is a major problem."

Chaffetz and Cummings stressed that as a former military officer, Flynn would have needed special permission for his appearance at a gala sponsored by RT, the Russian-government-funded television station, for which he was paid $45,000. For his work lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government, he was paid more than $500,000.

"It does not appear that was ever sought, nor did he get that permission," Chaffetz said.

The Republican later added that while Flynn was clearly not in compliance with the law, "it would be a little strong to say that he flat-out lied."

Flynn's omission could cost him. Violations of this nature can be punished by up to five years of jail time, though President Trump's Justice Department ultimately would make the decision about whether to investigate or charge him.

Chaffetz stressed that the government ought to "recover the money" that was paid to Flynn by foreign entities — a figure that would at least be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

While it will not be up to the Oversight Committee to impose punishment, panel leaders pledged to pursue the matter, indicating a preference for making the documents the lawmakers reviewed public.

The future of any action may rely on a new Oversight Committee chairman. Chaffetz announced last week that he would resign from Congress in 2018 and perhaps leave much sooner — setting off a scramble to replace him on the House's chief investigative panel.

Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser and the first national security adviser of the Trump administration, was ousted in February after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Pence about his talks at the end of 2016 with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

The FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees are investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election, supposedly to help Trump. They are also exploring possible links between Trump aides and Russian officials.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on May 8. The House Intelligence Committee has also invited Yates and Clapper to testify in a public hearing that has not yet been scheduled.

The House probe in particular has been beset with controversy after the Intelligence Committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) publicly signaled that he had seen information suggesting the identity of Trump or members of his transition team may have been revealed in classified surveillance reports.

The Oversight Committee asked the White House in March for documents pertaining to Flynn's security-clearance applications, the vetting that occurred before he was named national security adviser, and all of his contacts with foreign agents, including any payments received. In particular, the committee heads requested to see a disclosure form known as the SF-86, on which Flynn was obligated to declare any foreign income.

On April 19, the White House sent the committee a reply, stating that any documents related to Flynn from before Jan. 20 — the day President Trump took office — were not in its possession, and that any documents from after that date did not seem relevant to the committee's investigation.

"The White House has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request," Cummings said.

He noted that lawmakers would be interested in seeing documents that could shed light on what Flynn told the White House and his foreign contacts before he was named national security adviser, and what led to his termination less than a month later.

During the transition period, Flynn told the incoming White House that he might need to register as a foreign agent. But Cummings would not go so far as to accuse the White House of intentionally obstructing the committee's investigation of Flynn.

While it will not be up to the committee to impose any such punishments, committee leaders pledged to pursue the matter, indicating a preference for making Flynn's documents public.

The committee is not likely, however, to pull Flynn before the committee for testimony — despite Cummings' insistence that the Oversight committee "should be holding a hearing with General Flynn."

Chaffetz said he would "highly doubt" that the committee would call Flynn to testify, deferring any such testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to command such an audience.