This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/10/michael-flynn-foreign-agent-trump-transition-team

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Trump did not know Flynn would have to register as 'foreign agent', Spicer says Trump did not know Flynn would have to register as 'foreign agent', Spicer says
(about 2 hours later)
Donald Trump was not aware his now-dismissed national security adviser Michael Flynn was probably going to have to register as a “foreign agent” for his lobbying work on behalf of Turkey, Sean Spicer said on Friday. Donald Trump did not know that his now-dismissed national security adviser Michael Flynn had lobbied on behalf of the Turkish government and potentially needed to register as a “foreign agent”, Sean Spicer insisted on Friday.
The White House press secretary told his daily media briefing that Flynn’s decision to register with the justice department was a personal decision and not one for the Trump’s lawyers to determine. The White House press secretary told his daily media briefing that Flynn’s decision to register with the justice department was a personal one and not something for Trump’s lawyers to determine.
He dismissed questions about whether Flynn’s work as a foreign agent should have given Trump pause in naming him national security adviser, saying Flynn had “impeccable credentials”. The Associated Press reported earlier on Friday that Flynn’s personal lawyer had contacted Trump transition attorneys before the inauguration about the possible filing as Flynn was being considered for appointment as Trump’s national security adviser.
Lawyers for Flynn told Trump’s transition team that Flynn might need to register, according to a White House official and a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. Spice was asked on Thursday whether Trump was aware Flynn was working as a “foreign agent” when he gave him the job, and replied: “I don’t believe that was known.”
A White House official said Flynn’s personal lawyer had contacted Trump transition attorneys before the inauguration about the possible filing as Flynn was being considered for appointment as Trump’s national security adviser. Flynn resigned in February after just four weeks as national security adviser when it came to light that he had misled the vice-president, Mike Pence, about phone conversations with the Russian ambassador about sanctions in December. The resignation came after a flow of intelligence leaks revealed that he had secretly discussed sanctions with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and then tried to cover up the conversations.
The official said the transition team was not made aware of the filing’s details and Flynn’s related business dealings, and advised Flynn’s lawyer that it was a personal matter they would need to handle. The official was not authorized to discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity. On Friday Spicer insisted that Flynn had had “impeccable credentials” for the post and dismissed concerns by saying that the retired general had complied with the law at all times. He said Flynn had simply asked the transition for legal advice on the matter and had been told to consult a personal attorney.
Among those told of Flynn’s lobbying work that may have benefited the government of Turkey was Don McGahn, Trump’s campaign lawyer who served in the transition and later became White House counsel, said the person, who was not authorized to describe confidential conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity. The AP’s report does not directly contradict Spicer’s remarks, or those of Pence, who has said he was unaware of Flynn’s foreign agent work until this week. But it suggests that some key Trump administration officials were aware before Flynn’s appointment that it was likely he would be registering as a foreign agent.
The White House has been unclear about when it was told of Flynn’s lobbying. According to the AP, one of the people told of Flynn’s lobbying work for Turkey was Don McGahn, Trump’s campaign lawyer who served in the transition and later became White House counsel.
The new details follow remarks Thursday by vice-president Mike Pence, who said he was unaware of Flynn’s foreign agent work until this week. Asked whether the president knew about Flynn’s work when he was appointed, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday that he did not believe “that was known”. Trump has long rhetorically opposed lobbying, particularly for foreign governments, a staple of his pledge to “drain the swamp”. Thus, the disclosure that one of his top national security aides was actively working on behalf of a foreign government was particularly embarrassing for the White House. Pence said the news was “an affirmation of the president’s decision to ask General Flynn to resign”.
The disclosure of the contacts between Flynn’s team and the transition does not directly contradict the remarks from Pence and Spicer, but it shows that some key Trump administration officials were aware prior to Flynn’s appointment that it was likely he would be registering as a foreign agent. On Wednesday, it was revealed that from September to November last year, while he was working as a top adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, Flynn was lobbying for a firm linked to the Turkish government, earning $530,000. He and his company Flynn Intel Group Inc filed retroactive documents with the Department of Justice only this week to register as a foreign agent.
The person with knowledge of the discussions said that the White House counsel’s office was told after the inauguration that Flynn was moving forward with the filing. The White House official said the White House counsel’s office had no recollection of a second discussion with Flynn’s lawyers. Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, US citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the justice department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the justice department rarely files criminal charges in such cases.
Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc, filed paperwork this week with the justice department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey”. The renewed controversy over Flynn came as the administration is stepping up its efforts to lobby on behalf of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which is intended to fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to repeal Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation and replace it with “something terrific”.
Flynn’s company was paid $530,000 for work for a Turkish company, according to the filings. The AHCA would eliminate Obamacare’s individual mandate, which requires Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine and roll back the expansion of Medicaid which was a key aspect of Obamacare over a three-year-period. Instead, it would institute refundable tax credits which could be used by individuals to pay for their own health insurance.
Trump asked Flynn to step down last month for misleading Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Trump met with four House committee chairs at the White House on Friday to discuss the AHCA’s progress. Earlier in the week, the bill advanced through two congressional committees on party-line votes.
The president claimed to reporters that Obamacare was designed to fail once Obama left office. “’17 would be a disaster for Obamacare, that’s the year it was meant to explode, because Obama won’t be here,” said the president.
However, Trump still faces major challenges wooing recalcitrant conservatives about the legislation. Many Republican detractors in both chambers of Congress see the legislation as not going far enough to repeal Obamacare and have particular concerns that the bill does not promptly roll back the expansion of Medicaid. Spicer seemed to feed this concern by describing Trump as “working with Congress to begin replacing the worst parts of Obamacare and replacing it with AHCA” rather than totally repealing it.
Trump is scheduled to have several of these conservative lawmakers over to the White House next Tuesday for bowling as part of his efforts to whip votes on the legislation.