Former national security adviser Michael Flynn “lied” to investigators about who funded his 2015 trip to Russia, says the top Democrat on the US House Oversight Committee.
"The Oversight Committee has in our possession documents that appear to indicate that General Flynn lied to the investigators who interviewed him in 2016 as part of his security clearance renewal," said Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings in a letter on Monday.
The lawmaker claimed that Russian international television network RT actually payed for the visit rahter than “US companies,” Flynn had mentioned.
"Specifically, the Committee has obtained a Report of Investigation dated March 14, 2016, showing that General Flynn told security clearance investigators that he was paid by `US companies' when he traveled to Moscow in December 2015 to dine at a gala with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The actual source of the funds for General Flynn's trip was not a US company, but the Russian media propaganda arm, RT," claimed the Democratic lawmaker.
The general was reportedly paid $45,000 to deliver a speech alongside Putin.
Flynn has, meanwhile, rejected a subpoenae that requires him to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. According to his lawyer, Flynn is ready invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
The general had previously agreed to testify before the House and Senate intelligence committees but in exchange for immunity, an offer turned down by the committee leasers.
US President Donald Trump dismissed Flynn in February, after his misleading of Vice President Pence and other White House officials about conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.