April 1 (UPI) — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn filed revised financial disclosure forms on Friday that included payments from three Russian companies with ties to the Kremlin shortly before he joined President Donald Trump‘s campaign.
Flynn was paid $45,000 as a guest speaker by RT, the Russian state-sponsored news outlet regarded by the U.S. government as a propaganda instrument. He was also paid $22,500 by two companies with close ties to the Kremlin for speeches. The speeches came in December 2015, shortly before he formally became a foreign policy adviser to Trump.
The payments were not listed on Flynn’s first financial disclosure submitted to the federal government after Trump tapped him to be the national security adviser.
Flynn was fired from that position after misrepresenting the contents of a conversation with the Russian ambassador in December, before Trump took office and shortly after the Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia for its cyberattacks that attempted to influence the outcome of the presidential election in Trump’s favor. Flynn told administration officials the sanctions were not discussed in his call with the ambassador, but a transcript later showed that was untrue.
This week, Flynn’s lawyer sent a letter to the Justice Department and the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, offering his client’s testimony in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution. The Justice Department has responded to the request.
The FBI and both congressional panels are conducting investigations into Russia’s election-related hacking and misinformation campaign as it relates to the 2016 race.
