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Salon
Salon
Politics
Bob Brigham

Army: Flynn got illegal Russian payment

Michael Flynn BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Former Donald Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Tuesday complained about the United States Army concluding he violated the Constitution by accepting payment from the Russian government.

"The Army has determined that in December 2015 you failed to obtain the necessary approval in accordance with Army Regulation (AR) 600-29 before accepting compensation from an entity substantially owned or controlled by a foreign government in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Specifically, the Emoluments Clause prohibits the receipt of such compensation unless Congress consents," the Army wrote to Flynn.

The Army is seeking to recoup $38,557.06 from Flynn.

"The Army has determined that you did not obtain the necessary approvals before engaging in employment activities with Russia Today (RT), a foreign government controlled entity. Specifically, between December 10-13, 2015, you traveled to Russia and spoke at a conference hosted by the Russian news agency Russia Today (RT). RT requested your participation, had control over the event, and paid for your roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, visa, and a speaker's fee through Leading Authorities, Inc. (LAI). Between December 10-13, 2015, RT transferred $45,386 to LAI, from which you received $33,750 as compensation for your speaking services. In addition, you received $4,807.06 in in-kind compensation for roundtrip airfare, visa costs, hotel accommodations, and ground transportation to and from the airport in Moscow," the Army explained.

Flynn discussed the situation during an interview on the far-right Real America's Voice network.

Flynn, who was pardoned by Trump, said, "what I believe has occurred is the Department of Defense — underneath this administration, the Biden administration — they completed an investigation and they decided they are going to continue to persecute me by tagging my pay for what they call a violation of something called the Emoluments Clause."

Flynn has repeatedly pushed Trump's "Big Lie" about election fraud in the 2020 election.

"It's just another dig, another means to embarrass, they just want me to shut up," he said. "They're just going to reach into my retirement and take some money out."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

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