Flynn May Have Broken Law by Not Disclosing Russia Dealings, Lawmakers Say
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday
that "to ask for every call or contact that a national security adviser made is pretty outlandish, if you will." In a letter to the lawmakers, the White House cited concerns about disclosing classified information with regard to Mr. Flynn’s interactions as national security adviser — adding it simply does not possess the information predating his time in the administration.
By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN and ADAM GOLDMANAPRIL 25, 2017
WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, may have violated federal law by not fully disclosing his business dealings
with Russia when seeking a security clearance to work in the administration, the top oversight lawmakers from both parties in the House said Tuesday.
Mr. Chaffetz and Mr. Cummings also said White House officials refused their request to
turn over other internal documents related to the hiring and firing of Mr. Flynn.
Mr. Chaffetz and Mr. Cummings said they do not plan to call Mr. Flynn before their panel, deferring to an ongoing Pentagon investigation
and the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the House’s investigation into Russian interference in the election.
The troubling finding came after Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah
and chairman of the House oversight committee, and other lawmakers on the panel reviewed classified documents related to Mr. Flynn, including the form he filled out in January 2016 to renew his security clearance, known as a SF-86.
As part of the review, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the committee’s senior Democrat, said Mr. Flynn did not disclose
in those documents payments totaling more than $45,000 he received from the Russian government for giving a speech in Moscow in 2015.