Spicer defends Flynn’s past lobbying that may have helped Turkey

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said he does not believe President Trump knew that his former national security adviser had conducted lobbying work for a Turkish-linked firm during the presidential campaign.

That work led retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to retroactively register this week with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Flynn, a Trump campaign confidant who briefly served in the administration as national security adviser, disclosed Wednesday that his firm received more than $500,000 for work for a Dutch company helmed by a Turkish businessman.

That work came in the final months before Election Day while Flynn informally advised the Trump campaign.

{mosads}Spicer, noting that Trump has defended Flynn for “talking to individuals within the realm of the duties [he was] going to perform,” added that Flynn was not being compensated by the Trump transition.

“He was a private citizen at the time, and when you are a private citizen, you are allowed to engage in legal activities,” Spicer said.

“There’s nothing nefarious about doing anything that’s legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed.”

When pressed on whether Trump would have tapped Flynn to be national security adviser if he had been aware of the work on behalf of Turkey, Spicer said he would not answer a hypothetical.

While the work in question began in August 2016, Flynn filed his registration retroactively this week, and his firm told the Justice Department that the work “could have been construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”

But the filing stresses that neither the Turkish government nor any other foreign government influenced his work. 

During the same period, Flynn also penned an op-ed for The Hill in which he argued for America to come to Turkey’s aid, a piece the FARA filing confirmed was “based, in part, on the research conducted” while working for the Turkish-linked firm. The piece, which blasts the man accused of orchestrating a coup against the Turkish government, was sent to the Turkish-linked group before submission.

Americans must file with the Justice Department as foreign agents if their client receives support from a foreign government. 

Flynn had a brief, tumultuous time in the White House. He reorganized key parts of the National Security Counsel but ultimately resigned after it became clear that he misled Vice President Pence about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump’s inauguration.