Democratic Sen. Mark Warner believes retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn violated the Logan Act in conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., but he doesn’t have proof of that just yet.
Warner said on CNN he wants to see the transcripts of Flynn’s conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, in order to confirm his suspicions. He said that’s among a number of questions he wants answered.
“What we want to know is what kind of contacts Flynn had with the Russian ambassador. We want to see the transcript,” Warner said.
“Clearly what happened is Flynn, who at that point was a private citizen, he in effect, it appears, was trying to undermine the existing policy of the United States.”
Questions are swirling around whether Flynn told Kislyak the Trump administration would lessen President Obama’s sanctions against Russia once President Trump came into office. There’s no proof of those statements at this point, but critics of the administration believe that if this occurred, it would violate the Logan Act.
That law prevents unauthorized individuals from negotiating with foreign governments on behalf of the United States.
Warner said he also wants to know more about Flynn’s financial relationship with Russia Today, a state-run Russian news organization, and Flynn’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Flynn’s security clearance already being revoked also raises questions.
“This is troubling on a whole host of areas,” he said.
