{"slug":"michael-flynn-army-emoluments-finding-foreign-payments","title":"Army Finds Michael Flynn Violated the Emoluments Clause With 2015 Payment Tied to Russia's RT, Seeks $38,557 (2022)","date":"2015-12-01","lastUpdated":"2026-10-10","description":"A January 2021 Defense Department inspector general memo found that retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn received payments in 2015 from Russian and Turkish-linked entities, including for an RT gala in Moscow in December 2015, with no record that he sought the approvals required of military retirees. On April 28, 2022 the Army determined he had violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, and in a May 2 letter said it would seek to recoup $38,557.06 tied to the RT appearance. Flynn became National Security Advisor on January 20, 2017.","summary":"The inspector general's memo, released under the Freedom of Information Act, listed the RT gala, an October 2015 Kaspersky Government Security Solutions conference, and consulting work for Inovo BV, a Dutch company that assisted the Turkish government, totaling nearly $450,000 per Stars and Stripes. The Army's determination and debt recoupment concerned the RT payment only. Flynn called the inquiry 'persecution and harassment and embarrassment.'","category":"corruption","severity":"pre-office","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2022-07-08/flynn-unauthorized-foreign-payments-6588377.html","title":"Retired general Michael Flynn cited for unauthorized foreign payments","publisher":"Stars and Stripes"},{"url":"https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/army-michael-flynn/index.html","title":"Army seeking to recoup nearly $40,000 from Michael Flynn for foreign payments","publisher":"CNN"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["emoluments","foreign-payments","Russia","pre-office"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2015-12-01","title":"RT gala in Moscow","summary":"Flynn is paid to appear at RT's 10th-anniversary gala in Moscow in December 2015 (the sources give the month, not the day)."},{"date":"2022-04-28","title":"Army determination","summary":"The Army determines Flynn violated the Emoluments Clause and forwards its findings to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service."},{"date":"2022-05-02","title":"Recoupment letter","summary":"The Army notifies Flynn it will seek to recoup $38,557.06."}],"location":{"name":"Moscow, Russia"},"custom":{"posture":"documented","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Michael Flynn","role":"Retired U.S. Army lieutenant general (private individual in 2015)"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2026-10-10","summary":"Added for the Before Office record. Flynn first joined the administration as National Security Advisor on January 20, 2017."}],"keyPoints":["Retired service members must obtain approval from their service secretary and the Secretary of State before accepting payments from foreign governments or entities they control","The January 2021 DoD inspector general memo found no record that Flynn sought approval for payments from RT, a Kaspersky-affiliated entity, or Inovo BV in 2015","The Army determined on April 28, 2022 that Flynn violated the Emoluments Clause","An Army lawyer's May 2, 2022 letter said Flynn's failure 'to obtain the approvals of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State resulted in a violation of the Emoluments Clause' and requested recoupment of $38,557.06","Flynn later pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about separate, in-office conduct and was pardoned in 2020; CNN reported the pardon allowed the inspector general investigation to proceed"],"verificationStatus":"cross-referenced","postureNote":"Department of Defense Office of Inspector General memo to the Army (January 2021); Army determination of an Emoluments Clause violation (April 28, 2022) and notice of debt recoupment of $38,557.06 (May 2, 2022). Administrative finding, not a criminal charge.","subjects":["michael-flynn"],"legalStatus":"official-finding"}}