Former national security adviser Flynn didn't initially disclose Russia speeches
— -- President Trump's fired national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, did not disclose speeches for Russian groups in his initial financial disclosure form, according to two separate documents provided by the White House today.
The form that does disclose the paid speeches was signed by Flynn and dated March 31, the day before the forms were released to members of the public and after news broke that Flynn requested immunity in exchange for cooperating with investigations.
Flynn's first disclosure, dated February 11, did not include a paid speech for Russian propaganda outlet RT –- as well as payments for speeches from two other Russian companies: Volga Dnepr Airlines and Kaspersky.
The second disclosure does not list the exact amounts he received for the speeches but indicated that Flynn received more than $5,000 from RT. According to a letter from Rep. Elijah Cummings Flynn was paid $45,000 by RT for the speech.
Cummings wrote a letter to the House Oversight Committee last month requesting information about whether Flynn fully disclosed payments from foreign sources.
According to his lawyer, Flynn began the process of filing his disclosure form shortly before his resignation, but suspended it after stepping down and thus, missed the opportunity to consult with White House Counsel or the Office of Government Ethics. When the White House contacted him this week to complete the process, he updated and finalized the form.
"When asked this week to itemize the speaking events, he did so," Flynn's attorney said today, noting that Flynn's "first draft did show his speaker fee arrangement with the speakers bureau."
The White House declined to comment on Flynn's disclosures.
The former Army Lt. General was asked to step down after news broke that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Though Flynn initially denied discussing U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia with Kislyak, he later admitted that he had given Pence "incomplete information."
