{"slug":"trump-michael-flynn-turkey-lobbying-lies","title":"Michael Flynn: Turkey Lobbying Cover-Up, Foreign Agent, NSA Lies to FBI","date":"2016-11-01","lastUpdated":"2017-12-01","description":"Michael Flynn served as Trump's National Security Advisor for 24 days before resigning after it emerged he had lied to FBI agents about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. But Flynn's problems preceded the Russia contacts: during the presidential campaign, while serving as a senior Trump advisor, Flynn had been paid $530,000 to lobby for Turkish interests — work he did not disclose and eventually registered for retroactively as a foreign agent. He was the most senior official in the Trump administration to be criminally charged in the Mueller investigation.","summary":"Flynn was paid over $530,000 by a Turkish-controlled entity while serving as one of Trump's most prominent campaign surrogates in 2016 — work he initially did not disclose and later retroactively registered as foreign agent activity. He lied to FBI investigators about his December 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election interference. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017, cooperated with Mueller, then attempted to withdraw his plea, and was ultimately pardoned by Trump in November 2020.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/politics/michael-flynn-turkey.html","title":"Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey's Interests During Trump Campaign","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/national-security/michael-flynn-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-fbi-on-contacts-with-russian-ambassador/2017/12/01/e4f3d3a0-d6df-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html","title":"Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI about contacts with Russian ambassador","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/michael-flynn-pardoned-trump-national-security-advisor-14aedb18cc414a7ead5b05eb06d87bda","title":"Trump pardons Flynn, ending case of former national security adviser","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/file/1007346/dl","title":"Flynn Statement of Offense — FARA and false statements","publisher":"U.S. Department of Justice"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Flynn","Turkey","FARA","Russia","first-term","obstruction","national-security"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2016-08-01","title":"Flynn lobbying for Turkish interests during campaign","summary":"Flynn is paid approximately $530,000 by Inovo BV to produce pro-Turkish research and analysis, including an op-ed published on Election Day calling for the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gülen — a key demand of the Erdogan government. Flynn does not disclose the foreign lobbying work."},{"date":"2016-12-29","title":"Flynn calls Kislyak about sanctions","summary":"After the Obama administration exposes and expels 35 Russian intelligence operatives and imposes sanctions for election interference, Flynn calls Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak multiple times. Flynn later lies about the substance of these calls."},{"date":"2017-01-10","title":"FBI interviews Flynn about Kislyak calls","summary":"FBI agents interview Flynn about his contacts with Kislyak. Flynn denies discussing sanctions — a claim the FBI already knew was false from intercepts. The lie would form the basis of his guilty plea."},{"date":"2017-01-26","title":"Sally Yates warns White House","summary":"Acting AG Sally Yates warns the White House twice that Flynn had lied about the Kislyak calls and was potentially subject to Russian blackmail. Trump does not remove Flynn for 18 more days."},{"date":"2017-02-13","title":"Flynn resigns after 24 days as NSA","summary":"Flynn resigns as National Security Advisor after the Washington Post reports on his calls with Kislyak and the White House becomes aware of Yates' warnings. He had served for 24 days."},{"date":"2017-03-10","title":"Retroactive FARA registration","summary":"Flynn retroactively files a Foreign Agent Registration Act disclosure, acknowledging his work for Turkish-connected interests during the 2016 campaign."},{"date":"2017-12-01","title":"Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI","summary":"Flynn pleads guilty to making false statements to FBI investigators about his conversations with Kislyak. He agrees to cooperate with the Mueller investigation."},{"date":"2020-11-25","title":"Trump pardons Flynn","summary":"Trump issues a full pardon to Flynn, ending the criminal case. The pardon is issued weeks after the 2020 election. Flynn had spent years fighting to withdraw his guilty plea."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"American national security interests; democratic processes; rule of law — senior NSA advised on policy while secretly lobbying for foreign government","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Michael Flynn","role":"National Security Advisor (24 days); senior Trump campaign advisor","institution":"White House / Trump campaign"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Appointed Flynn despite warnings from Obama and DOJ Acting AG Sally Yates; later pardoned him","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2017-12-01","summary":"Updated with Flynn's guilty plea."}]}}