Administration

Oversight committee asks White House, FBI for Flynn records

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Wednesday that it has requested all documents from the White House and several agencies on former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s interactions and payments from foreign sources.

Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) made the request in a series of letters to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director James Comey.

Lawmakers called on the agencies to produce by April 3 “documents relating to Flynn’s foreign contacts and payments, security clearance applications, and other related documents between the time of his retirement in 2014 to present day,” the panel said in a statement.

Chaffetz and Cummings wrote in their requests that their committee is reviewing whether Flynn “fully disclosed his payments from Russian, Turkish, or other foreign sources, including but not limited to payments he received from the Kremlin-backed media outlet known as RT (formerly Russia Today).”

Lawmakers are pushing for documents between Flynn’s departure as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 and the present.

Flynn was ousted from his Trump administration position in February after it was revealed he misled Vice President Pence and other senior officials about his conversation of U.S. sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn’s connections with RT and other foreign sources have raised eyebrows from critics who opposed his nomination.

The former national security adviser, who served as a top adviser on Trump’s campaign, disclosed earlier this month $530,000 in lobbying that he said could have benefitted the Turkish government.

The Oversight panel also disclosed this month that Flynn had received $56,250 in payments during the presidential race for work for two Russian firms and the Kremlin-backed news outlet.

Alongside the House Oversight Committee, members of the House Intelligence Committee have also expressed interest in speaking with Flynn about his contacts with the Russian officials.

“We’re working on the next stage but that’s not yet. Right now we’ve given people the opportunity to come forward freely to testify publicly, you know this week, next week,” Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told CNN on Tuesday.

Updated: 1:45 p.m.