House Democratic leaders are pressing former national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents and details related two trips he made to the Middle East in 2015 that they argue he failed to disclose - in part or in whole - on security clearance forms.
The Democrats on the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, in their letter, said the extent of Flynn's unreported foreign contacts and financial interests was "unclear" from 2014, when he was forced out as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, until 2017 when Trump made him the national security adviser.
Cummings and Engel said Monday that the broader pattern has led them to pry deeper into the information Flynn has left off of his 2016 security clearance application.
"If this press report is accurate, General Flynn's failure to report this trip and any contacts with foreign government officials about this Saudi-Russian nuclear proposal appears to be a potential violation" of the law, Cummings and Engel wrote, stressing that they have "no record of General Flynn identifying on this security clearance renewal application.even a single foreign government official he had contact with in the seven years prior" to submitting the form. The joint venture, which the letter notes was first noted in a Newsweek article, involved USA companies, a Russian state-sponsored company and Saudi financing, and was geared towards providing "nuclear power to the Arab world".
Investigators note Flynn testified on June 10 that he had taken a recent trip to the Middle East and discussed nuclear power issues, and one week after he testified, Saudi Arabia and Rosatom (Russia's nuclear energy agency) signed a deal.
Flynn, who was sacked after serving for only 24 days as national security adviser, has been a central figure in the Russian Federation probe.
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At that time, the committee chairman was Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
Shortly after the trip, Saudi Arabia and Russian Federation announced a $100 billion agreement to build 16 nuclear power plants in the country. The White House said it was unaware of that work, though Flynn at the same time had an active role with Trump's campaign.
The two Democrats are requesting, by the end of the month, documents and communication related to Flynn's travel, and information on his - or the Flynn Intel Group's - relationship with X-Co Dynamics Inc./IronBridge Group and ACU Strategic Partners.
ACU Strategic Partners managing director Alex Copson did not immediately respond to an email from the AP seeking comment.
As the Cummings-Engel letter on Monday noted, "According to a financial disclosure form that General Flynn submitted after he was sacked as National Security Advisor, he did not begin advising X-Co Dynamics Inc./IronBridge Group until August 2015", two months after his trip to Israel and Egypt. "I don't deal with the finances". Chaffetz said neither department could find any evidence that Flynn had done so, adding that Flynn could face jail time.
The letter cites a recent Newsweek article detailing Flynn's previously undisclosed trip and a plan that involved Saudi Arabia selling energy from the nuclear projects to USA allies in the Middle East and a promise from those Gulf countries to purchase $100 billion in arms from Russian Federation that otherwise would have been sold to Iran. He further said he was "working on developing business with another country". The hotel Flynn says he stayed at does not exist, and there is no record of a travel companion he took with him, Cummings and Engel wrote. They go on to note that Saudi Arabia was the first foreign country that Trump visited as president, and that the Trump administration recently "concluded" an arms deal with the country, questioning "what advice or input General Flynn may have offered relating to these matters, if any".
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