Michael Flynn's legal team is asking a judge to block a request by his ex-partner, Bijan Kian, for records of legal advice provided to Flynn or his now-defunct firm, Flynn Intelligence Group. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Legal Legal battle between Michael Flynn and former business partner heats up

Lawyers for former national security adviser Michael Flynn are fighting an effort by his former business partner to subpoena records of legal advice Flynn received as his foreign lobbying work came under federal investigation.

Earlier this month, Flynn's ex-partner, Bijan Kian, issued subpoenas to seek files and correspondence for use in a trial Kian is facing on charges of lying to authorities and conspiring to evade the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with work Flynn and Kian allegedly did on behalf of Turkey.


Now, Flynn's lawyers are asking a judge to block the request for records of legal advice provided to Flynn or his now-defunct firm, Flynn Intelligence Group.

Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to a felony false-statement charge brought by special counsel Robert Mueller's office and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

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One potential flash point in the legal dispute could come if Kian's legal team tries to argue that Flynn is resisting the subpoena because of his cooperation deal. Efforts by prosecutors to interfere with a defendant's access to witnesses or evidence can result in strong action by the courts, in some instances including dismissal of the case.

The motions filed Friday and made public Monday acknowledge that as part of Flynn’s cooperation, his lawyers shared “certain factual information” with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, Va., relating to the foreign-lobbying investigation. A former in-house lawyer for Flynn’s firm, Robert Kelley, also submitted to an interview, court papers say.

Flynn’s attorneys say prosecutors agreed that Flynn wasn’t waiving his attorney-client privilege by sharing that information with prosecutors. Alexandria-based U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga has set a hearing on the issue for March 29.

One of the subpoenas issued at Kian's request went to Covington & Burling, the law firm representing Flynn in his dealings with Mueller's office. The other went to a former attorney for Flynn's business, Kristen Verderame.

Kian's trial is set to open July 15. Flynn is expected to be the key witness at the trial. His own sentencing on the false statement charge has been postponed twice to allow him to get credit for any testimony he winds up offering against his former colleague.

