Federal investigators are now looking into the work of former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s former business partner, Bijan Kian, as part of their investigation into Flynn’s work as a foreign lobbyist, according to a report published Tuesday.
Sources told Reuters that investigators are probing whether payments made by foreign clients to Flynn and his company, Flynn Intel Group, were legal. Those payments include those from three Russian companies and a fourth, Inovo, based in Netherlands and owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin.
According to Reuters, Kian played a key role in Flynn’s firm earning the Inovo contract but it’s not clear whether he is under criminal investigation.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told Reuters he is also looking into Kian.
“I have an interest in Bijan Kian and his interactions with Gen. Flynn based on specific documents already obtained by the committee,” Cummings said.
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee is separately investigating whether Flynn made false statements when applying for his security clearance.
Federal prosecutors are investigating the deal between Flynn and Alptekin as part of a grand jury probe and whether Flynn and his firm lobbied on behalf of the Turkish government without disclosing the efforts.
The former national security adviser’s firm received $530,000 from Inovo between September 2016 and November 2016. Flynn Intel Group was tasked with producing a documentary and conducting research on Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes was behind a coup last year.
Flynn never disclosed the work he did for Alptekin, but retroactively filed a lobbying disclosure form in March.
President Trump fired Flynn in February after he made misleading statements to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials.
