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Michael Flynn said to have lied to the Pentagon about his Russia connections

Ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee says Flynn hid Russia ties while applying for top-secret clearance.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh
CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

On the same day former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn rejected a Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena by asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee issued a letter saying Flynn misled the Department of Defense in order to cover up links to the Russian government.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) wrote to Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that the committee “has in our possession documents that appear to indicate that General Flynn lied to investigators who interviewed him in 2016 as part of his security clearance renewal.”

Specifically, Flynn allegedly told the Pentagon that he had been paid by “U.S. companies” for a December 2015 trip to Moscow, when in fact he received $45,000 from the Russian state-owned media company RT.

If Flynn did in fact lie to investigators, he could face “up to five years in prison,” the New York Times reports.

Flynn is a central figure in the investigation of alleged collusion between Russian intelligence officials and members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle. An adviser to Trump’s campaign, Flynn later became his first national security adviser, only to be abruptly forced out after it became public that he had failed to disclose conversations with a Russian diplomat regarding U.S. sanctions on the country.

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Since then, further leaks have confirmed that the Trump transition team received numerous warnings regarding Flynn’s compromised position, yet brought him on anyway.

The Senate subpoena that Flynn rejected on Monday had ordered him to turn over records regarding his ties to Russia.