Relatives of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, one of the key subjects of multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, made a rare public statement Monday to call attention to the “tremendous financial burden” the probes are placing on former advisers to President Donald Trump.
“The enormous expense of attorneys’ fees and other related expenses far exceed their ability to pay,” said Joe Flynn and Barbara Redgate, the retired general’s brother and sister.
The relatives made the statement to bring attention to a legal defense fund they have formed to help raise money for the man who briefly served as the nation’s top national security official under President Donald Trump. Flynn joined the Trump campaign as an adviser in 2016, and President Trump later named him as his first national security adviser. He was forced to resign, however, after just 24 days on the job, when it was revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with Russian officials during the presidential transition, ABC News reports.
Flynn, a decorated military officer who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 until his retirement in 2014, was only out of the spotlight briefly. He emerged as an early target of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to investigate Russian interference in the campaign. Congress also began pursuing information from Flynn, but the retired general has so far provided only limited information to the House and Senate committee’s charged with investigating election interference.
Rep. Elijah Cummings told ABC News last week that his committee was looking deeply into Flynn’s foreign contacts in 2015 and 2016 that they said he failed to disclose during reviews of his security clearance. Those communications — which involved high-ranking foreign officials and business executives — were so numerous they could not have been inadvertent omissions or incidental contacts, Cummings said.
“He has, over and over again, omitted information that he should have disclosed,” Cummings said. “It’s not an aberration, and that’s clear.
The omissions are a serious matter. While Cummings said intentionally omitting foreign contacts when applying for security clearance can carry a five-year prison term, he also acknowledged that penalties are rarely so severe. The leverage alleged transgressions provide, however, could prove useful to prosecutors seeking to use the threat of prosecution to compel Flynn’s assistance in the broader investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
Former FBI Director James Comey provided a window into that strategy during his three hours of testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this year.
“There is always a possibility if you have a criminal case against someone and you bring them in, squeeze them, flip them, [that] they give you information about something else,” Comey said.
Flynn has remained silent publicly about the ongoing probes. ABC News caught up with him this summer at a beach in Newport, Rhode Island, his hometown. “I’m just having a great time with the family here,” Flynn said.
“I’m doing good, [but] I’m not going to make any comments.”
Flynn’s family established the defense fund, his relatives said, “to help ensure that he can defend himself,” and this morning the retired general tweeted from his personal account for the first time since late last year to express his gratitude.
“Lori and I are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs,” Flynn wrote. “We deeply appreciate the support of family and friends across this nation who have touched our lives.”
Experts told ABC News that such funds are complicated entities, in part because efforts must be made to ensure that they do not become vehicles for outside parties to attempt to influence his willingness to cooperate.
Flynn’s legal defense fund will not accept contributions from foreign nationals, a contribution from anonymous sources or contributions from the Trump campaign or Trump Organization, according to a source close to Flynn.
“Mike devoted 33 years of his life to our country serving in the United States Army, spending years away from his family while he fought this nation’s battles overseas, including the War On Terror,” his brother and sister said as part of their plea for financial support.
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