The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is pressing the FBI for documents related to the security clearance of Michael G. Flynn, the son of Mike Flynn who served less than three weeks as President Trump’s national security advisor before being pressured out of the office amid rising questions about his foreign contacts and disclosures.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md, is making this push for the information exactly one year after he originally requested information on everyone involved in the Trump transition, and after never receiving anything in response.
In December of 2016, then Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on television that “Gen. Flynn’s son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever.”
Later the same day, Pence told Jake Tapper on CNN that Michael G. Flynn was in fact helping with the transition on things like scheduling and administrative upkeep. Pence also admitted that the transition team had put in for a security clearance for the younger Flynn.
“But do you need a security clearance to do scheduling?” Tapper asked.
“I think that’s the appropriate decision for us to move forward, avoid any further distraction,” Pence answered.
Cummings is hoping to revisit the issue after a year of getting nowhere.
“Since I sent my initial letter to Vice President-Elect Pence on November 16, 2016, the Committee has obtained troubling new information about the lack of truthfulness of Michael Flynn, Jr. in multiple contexts — including the lack of truthfulness that caused President Trump to fire him from the transition team,” Cummings said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Unfortunately, Vice President-Elect Pence declined to respond to my request for information about the security clearance of Michael Flynn, Jr. and others, and he declined to answer direct questions from the press,” he wrote. “These actions raise serious questions about the information Michael Flynn, Jr. submitted in his security clearance application relating to his foreign contacts and foreign sources of funding.”
In the intervening months, the committee and news reports have unearthed numerous connections between the younger Flynn and Russia, including emails between him and Russia Today, or RT, the state-sponsored television outlet.
An appearance at an RT gala in 2015 by Mike Flynn led to fears during the transition and the first weeks of the administration, because he had been paid to appear at the event.
According to a report by CNN last week, Mike Flynn had become increasingly concerned that the ongoing probe by special counsel Robert Mueller might expose his son to some kind of legal exposure.
