As a top official on President Donald Trump’s transition team, former Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn actively promoted a private-sector scheme to build dozens of nuclear reactors across the Middle East known informally in the transition as the “Marshall Plan.” But he did not publicly disclose that backers of the plan had paid him at least $25,000.

Flynn communicated during the transition with the backers of the for-profit plan, billed as a way of strengthening ties between the U.S. and Arab allies looking to develop nuclear power capability. Meanwhile, the Trump adviser expressed his support for the plan with people inside the transition — and discussed its merits with others beyond Trump Tower, according to sources within and close to the Trump team at that time.


Flynn’s consulting work for the company has been previously reported, but not the extent of his involvement during the Trump transition, nor the full amount he was paid for it.

Flynn first publicly disclosed his consulting work for the Virginia-based venture, X-Co Dynamics/Iron Bridge Group, in a Feb. 11 federal filing, two days before he resigned as White House national security adviser. That group, at the time, was working with ACU, a separate entity pushing the project. Flynn did not specify how much he had been paid, and it is unclear whether he previously disclosed that work to White House officials.

Robert Kelner, a Flynn lawyer, declined to comment. Flynn has not been accused of wrongdoing in the matter, and it is unclear whether he faces any legal liability.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

But the new details underscore the way Flynn seemed to commingle his private consulting work prior to Trump’s election and his semi-official duties afterward — something that has drawn legal scrutiny and created political headaches for a Trump White House that granted him access to the government’s deepest secrets.

Congressional investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller are investigating Flynn’s activities during the Trump transition as part of their larger probes into potential Russian influence in the 2016 election. They include his failure to disclose payments he took from Russian companies in 2015 and for 2016 lobbying work funded by a businessman with close ties to Turkey’s government.

Democratic lawmakers are also looking into Flynn’s involvement in the reactor project. Reps. Elijah Cummings and Eliot Engel sent a letter dated Tuesday to Flynn’s lawyers and executives involved in the reactor plan requesting information on communications with Flynn. The pair said they were concerned that when Flynn renewed his security clearance in 2016, he did not disclose trips related to the project or other meetings with foreigners.

Federal investigators have questioned others in the wider Russian probe about Flynn activities during the transition that may have overlapped with undisclosed business work.

A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment. A transition official said the transition was not aware of any investigation into Flynn.

X-Co Dynamics and Iron Bridge have closed. ACU representatives could not be reached for comment. A lawyer representing Rear Adm. Michael Hewitt, the former CEO of X-Co Dynamics/Iron Bridge and his new company, IP3, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Messages left at Hewitt’s new firm Tuesday were not returned. Neither Hewitt nor his companies have been accused of wrongdoing or legal liability.

Flynn’s February report to the federal Office of Government Ethics disclosed that he advised X-Co/Iron Bridge from August 2015 to December 2016.

Flynn’s role in the so-called Marshall Plan does not appear tied to potential Russian election interference. But Mueller’s examination of Flynn’s transition activities unnerves Trump officials, who fear a wide-ranging investigation that finds wrongdoing in places far from where it started. A person familiar with the investigation said Mueller’s team seems particularly interested in Flynn’s post-November actions.

The "Marshall Plan,” a reference to the post-World War II U.S. plan to rebuild Europe, took its name from an ambitious business proposal, obtained by Newsweek in June, that would "bring economic development, jobs, security, stability and shared prosperity to the region.” While many Trump transition officials were unfamiliar with the idea, which never became part of any administration policy statement, high-level discussions led by Flynn took place for at least several weeks.

As described in the original proposal, the plan envisioned funding by Middle East governments at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.

The ambitious vision had prominent backers with military backgrounds. The X-Co/Iron Bridge board included former National Security Agency director and retired Gen. Keith Alexander and retired Marine Corps Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But it seems to have gone nowhere after its most powerful advocate, Flynn, was fired 24 days into the Trump administration for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.