National security advisor is not a position that has to be approved by the Senate, meaning that opportunities to question Michael Flynn before he sat down in the White House were few. Flynn admitted that he had traveled to Russia as a guest of state-owned media RT and attended a diner with Vladimir Putin. That much would have been hard to deny considering there were not just photos of Flynn at the event, but video of him giving Putin a standing ovation. But when it came to how much he had been paid for his role as former American general on hand to criticize American foreign policy, Flynn refused to say.
After it became clear that Flynn was covering up conversations with the Russian ambassador, and was willing to lie long and often, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) put in a request to see what was available on Michael Flynn. As it turns out, not only did Flynn collect more than $45,000 for his dinner with Vladimir, that wasn’t the only Russian company putting rubles in Flynn’s wallet.
The documents reveal that Flynn also received $11,250 from a Russian charter cargo airline and $11,250 from a top Russia-based cybersecurity corporation.
Donald Trump’s national security advisor was paid by a Russian cyber security company? That seems mildly interesting.
Congressman Cummings has the receipts and the transcript of a session in which Flynn not only failed to mention he was paid by other companies, he tried to make it seem as if he wasn’t paid by RT.
Q: Have you appeared on RT regularly?
Flynn: I’ve appeared on Al Jazeera, Skye New Arabia, RT. I don’t get paid a dime. I have no media contacts. … [I am interviewed} on CNN, Fox.
Q: Why would you go on RT, they’re state run?
Flynn: Well, what’s CNN?
Q: Well, it’s not run by the state — you’re rolling your eyes.
That’s Michael Flynn suggesting that CNN is a state run media agency, just like RT. But then, Michael Flynn would say that, since he was an unregistered foreign agent taking money from Russian companies as just part of the half-million dollars of outside funds he was collecting. He was both violating Pentagon rules about the actions of ex-military officials and in breech of federal laws about foreign agents. He had good reason to lie.
All while working on the Trump campaign on his way to becoming national security advisor. That’s some really great vetting.