Michael Flynn was notified in the letter that he was prohibited from the "receipt of consulting fees, gifts, travel expenses, honoraria, or salary ... from a foreign government unless congressional consent is first obtained." | AP Photo Pentagon inspector general launches Flynn investigation

The Pentagon’s inspector general is now investigating Michael Flynn over payments he received from foreign governments after retiring from the Army, according to documents released Thursday by the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

The documents also show the Defense Intelligence Agency warned Flynn after his 2014 retirement as the agency’s director that he was barred from accepting payments from foreign governments.


The intelligence agency informed President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser in a letter that, as a retired military officer, he was still subject to the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars government officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments.

Flynn was notified in the letter that he was prohibited from the "receipt of consulting fees, gifts, travel expenses, honoraria, or salary ... from a foreign government unless congressional consent is first obtained."

In a letter dated earlier this month, the Pentagon's IG informed the House Oversight Committee it was investigating the matter.

“These documents raise grave questions about why General Flynn concealed the payments he received from foreign sources after he was warned explicitly by the Pentagon,” Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the oversight committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement.

Cummings also accused the White House of keeping Congress in the dark.

“Earlier this week, the White House refused to produce even a single document in response to the bipartisan document request that I sent with our Republican chairman,” Cummings told reporters Thursday. “There is obviously a paper trail that the White House does not want our committee to follow.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer rejected that argument and sought to shift blame onto the Obama administration for giving Flynn a security clearance.

“General Flynn was a career military officer who maintained a high level security clearance throughout his career in the military. His clearance was last reissued by the Obama administration in 2016 with full knowledge of his activities that occurred in 2015,” Spicer said at Thursday’s press briefing.

Flynn resigned in February as national security adviser after it became clear he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his phone calls with Russia’s ambassador. He has since come under scrutiny for lobbying work he did on behalf of Turkey and a paid speech he gave in Moscow in 2015 at an event celebrating the Russia propaganda outlet RT. At the event, Flynn was seated at a table with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Cummings and Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) held a joint press conference Tuesday in which they said Flynn might have broken the law by not disclosing the payments when he filed paperwork last year to renew his security clearance.

Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, responded to the Tuesday press conference with a statement saying Flynn briefed the DIA “extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip.”

But in a third letter released Thursday by Cummings, the DIA says it has not located any records “referring or relating” to Flynn’s “receipt of money from a foreign source.”

In a new statement Thursday, Kelner said he disagrees with Cummings' characterization of the third letter.

“DIA’s letter actually confirms, in a terse section that is partly redacted, that General Flynn provided information and documents on a thumb drive to the Department of Defense concerning the RT speaking event in Moscow, including documents reflecting that he was using a speakers bureau for the event,” Kelner said. “General Flynn provided two briefings to the Department — one before and one after the event. The Department was fully aware of the trip.

“We urge DIA and the Committee to release the full, unredacted letter, along with the documents that General Flynn provided to DIA during the briefings and details concerning the in-person briefings provided by General Flynn to DIA,” he continued.”