Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote on Twitter that he and his wife “are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs." | Andrew Harrer/Getty Images Legal defense fund set up for Michael Flynn

The family of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn has set up a legal defense fund for him, soliciting donations to ease the “tremendous financial burden” from the ongoing investigations into his actions and the 2016 presidential campaign.

“The enormous expense of attorneys' fees and other related expenses far exceed their ability to pay,” Flynn’s brother and sister said in a statement emailed to reporters early Monday. “To help ensure that he can defend himself, we have set up a legal defense fund, and we are asking Mike's supporters, veterans, and all people of goodwill to contribute whatever amount they can to this fund.”


The fund will not accept donations from foreign nationals, nor will it accept money from the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization. The statement said the fund will also not accept anonymous donations, but did not specify whether it would disclose its list of donors.

Flynn, a retired general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was among President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters during the campaign and was named national security adviser ahead of last January’s inauguration.

But Flynn became increasingly wrapped up in the multiple ongoing investigations into Russian interference in last year’s election and ultimately resigned just weeks after Trump’s inauguration amid media reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature of conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Flynn himself thanked his brother and sister Monday morning via Twitter, writing in a pair of posts that he and his wife “are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs. We deeply appreciate the support of family and friends across this nation who have touched our lives.” The former national security director added a link to the defense fund’s website to the second post.

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In the weeks after Flynn’s quick resignation from the Trump administration, the retired general offered testimony to the FBI and the Congressional committees leading the Russia investigations, but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

That Flynn has sought immunity has struck some as ironic, given the zeal with which he accused Democrat Hillary Clinton of illegal behavior stemming from her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. Flynn took apparent delight in the “lock her up” chants that so often swept through Trump campaign rallies, and answered a question about the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s email practices on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last year by saying that “when you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime.”

Without a promise of immunity, Flynn has been subpoenaed by Congress and after initially invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, later surrendered some documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is overseeing one Russia investigation.

“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,” Flynn’s brother and sister wrote in their statement. “Please help us to support Mike and his family now.”