House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) discussed former national security adviser Michael Flynn today, and what moves could be expected, moving forward, in regards to payments Flynn received from foreign governments.
“Our committee [has] actually been looking at something,” Chaffetz said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“We have paperwork that’s due from the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department today, but we may be doing something later this week related to his payments that he received from not only Russia but Turkey as well,” he continued.
“You’re just not allowed to accept these types of payments as a former military officer.”
Apparently, along with the work Flynn was doing as a foreign agent for Turkey, he had received some payments from various Russian outfits.
Flynn failed to disclose payments from Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Kapersky Government Security Solutions, Inc., each of which paid him $11,250 after commission.
RT, the state-run Russian news site paid around $45,000, plus perks, for a speaking engagement in 2015.
Flynn’s original filings from February conveniently left those payments out. The amended disclosure came last week.
Chaffetz and the Oversight Committee are prepared to get the Government Accountability Office (GAO) involved, and are sending a letter this week for a final determination.
“It’s not a criminal referral,” he said. “But a referral to the GAO, and then the penalty most likely — at least based on precedent — would be he’d have to repay all that money that he did take.”
He also rejected Flynn’s call for immunity.
“I don’t think he should get immunity,” he said. “Immunity for what?”
That’s what we want to know.
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