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Michael Flynn Misled Pentagon About His Russia Ties, Letter Says
By MARK MAZZETTI and MATTHEW ROSENBERGMAY 22, 2017

WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn misled Pentagon investigators about his income from Russian companies and contacts with Russian officials when he applied for a top-secret security clearance last year, according to a letter released Monday by the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Mr. Flynn, who resigned this year as President Trump’s national security adviser, told investigators in February 2016 that he had received no income from foreign companies and had only “insubstantial contact” with foreign nationals, according to the letter. In fact, Flynn had two months earlier sat beside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at a Moscow gala for RT, the Kremlin-financed television network, which paid Mr. Flynn more than $45,000 to attend the event and give a separate speech.

His failure to make those disclosures and his apparent attempt to mislead the Pentagon could put Mr. Flynn in further legal jeopardy. Intentionally lying to federal investigators is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Separately, he also faces legal questions over failing to properly register as a foreign agent for lobbying he did last year on behalf of Turkey while advising the Trump campaign, which is also a felony.

The House Oversight letter, written by Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, was made public hours after Mr. Flynn formally rejected a subpoena from senators investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and chose to instead invoke his right against self-incrimination, a person familiar with his decision said.

Mr. Flynn had been ordered by the Senate Intelligence Committee to hand over emails and other records related to any dealings with Russians as part of that panel’s investigation into Russian election meddling. His decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right puts him at risk of being held in contempt of Congress, which can also result in a criminal charge.

The controversies surrounding the Trump White House’s ties to Russia have overshadowed the early months of the new administration, and Mr. Flynn has been at the center of the maelstrom. He is under scrutiny both by congressional committees and by federal law enforcement agencies for his ties to Russia and his business dealings with Turkey.

In February, Mr. Trump asked James B. Comey, then the F.B.I. director, to end the bureau’s investigation into Mr. Flynn, a request some legal experts have said amounts to obstruction of justice.

Lawmakers had previously asserted that Mr. Flynn had failed to disclose the income he had received for the Moscow trip to obtain security clearance to work in the White House, but the letter released on Monday shows he had misled investigators during a previous attempt to renew his clearance, months before Mr. Trump won election.

Mr. Cummings quoted directly from the Pentagon report detailing his clearance process. The Pentagon document itself, a “Report of Investigation” from March 2016, was not included with his letter sent to Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who is chairman of the Oversight Committee.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/politics/michael-flynn-fifth-amendment-russia-senate.html?