Former top Trump aide Flynn paid over $30,000 by Russian TV, top House Dem says
By Jim Sciutto and Ryan Browne, CNN
Updated 1:36 PM ET, Thu March 16, 2017
Washington (CNN)Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, was paid more than $33,750 by Russia's state-run broadcaster RT TV-Russia for a speech in Moscow in December 2015, a top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has learned.
The US intelligence community has long assessed RT to be a propaganda tool of the Kremlin, writing in its January report on Russian interference in the US election that the organization had participated in disinformation campaigns aimed at the US.
Flynn had previously acknowledged the speaking engagement, telling multiple news outlets in July and August that he received money for the speech. But he declined to state the amount, saying that the source of the funds was his US speakers bureau, not the Russian broadcaster, which US intelligence agencies describe as an instrument of the Russian government.
"I didn't take any money from Russia," Flynn told Yahoo News in July.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter Thursday questioning whether Flynn reported the payment as required by both law and military regulations. In addition, receiving money from a foreign government without approval from his relevant branch of service violates military regulations.
Documents obtained by the oversight committee and shared with CNN show that RT, formerly known as Russia Today, specifically earmarked Flynn's compensation as part of the payment package to the speakers bureau, Leading Authorities Inc., which also included the bureau's fee and visa expenses.
In an email exchange between RT and the speakers bureau that the House committee acquired and was reviewed by CNN, a representative from RT said that the initial asking price for Flynn's appearance as "a bit too high" and asked the company to reduce the fee.
The committee also obtained a purported copy of the check the speakers bureau provided Flynn.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/politics/michael-flynn-payments-rt-russia-tv/index.html
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