Lawmakers Say Michael Flynn Sidestepped Disclosure Rules

Spicer said that the president was confident in his decision to fire Flynn in February on grounds that Flynn had misled the vice president about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during the transition. "It was inappropriate. And there are repercussions for the violation of law", the Republican representative added. Now, he is the subject of multiple investigations.

"They are extremely troubling", Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said of documents viewed by the committee during a classified briefing at the Capitol.

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

As a former military officer, "Flynn had an obligation to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them", Chaffetz said. "What keeps me up at night are members of the Islamic State, whatever you want to call them", Flynn said.

A The New York Times story says U.S. Army investigators have found no record that Flynn has "filed the required paperwork for the trip" to Russian Federation in 2015, nor reported the income he received, as is required by the emoluments cause in the U.S. Constitution. He alos was paid more than $500,000 for lobbying on behalf of Turkey, according to the Washington Post story.

Flynn declined to disclose the payments from Russian Federation in his original financial disclosure forms submitted to the White House in February.

The lawmakers said Flynn would have needed permission to deliver a paid speech at a gala sponsored by the Russian-funded television station RT in 2015, where he sat at the same table with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a discussion about the issue on Radio Sputnik's Fault Lines, host Lee Stranahan noted to his co-host Garland Nixon that the media relentlessly discusses the speech Flynn gave at the RT event, but they never show viewers the footage or even mention that video exists.

The lead Democrat and Republican on the Committee displayed a rare show of unity in jointly rebuking Mr Flynn after seeing information that confirmed the former Trump administration official had failed to disclose foreign income received from Russian Federation and Turkey.

In addition to those probes, the oversight panel is looking into whether Flynn fully disclosed payments from Russian, Turkish or other foreign sources.

Cummings also criticized the White House for refusing to turn over documents the committee requested about Flynn's vetting before his appointment and his foreign contacts during his three-week stint as national security adviser.

Cummings said a similar request for information from the White House had resulted in a "refusal to provide the committee with a single piece of paper". Short said that much of that information was classified.

"We received no internal documents relating to what General Flynn reported to the white house when they vetted him to become national security adviser".

During the transition period, Flynn told the incoming White House that he might need to register as a foreign agent.

"To ask the White House to produce documents that were not in possession of the White House is ridiculous", said White House press secretary Sean Spicer, according to NBC News. President Trump, when he was running, said no one is above the law.

The Utah 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".

On that same point, the White House claiming executive privilege is apparently on the table as a possible response to congressional requests for information. Did anyone in the White House know about those payments?

But the authority to levy that penalty would rest with the administration - not with the committee. But Chaffetz and Cummings said he appeared not to have disclosed those funds on his application.