Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The ranking member of the House Oversight Committee says he has new documents that appear to show former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn lied to investigators who were conducting his security clearance review.
In a letter Monday to the committee’s chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., urged the oversight chairman to subpoena the White House for documents that detail its process for vetting Flynn.
While the White House has largely blamed the Obama administration for failing to vet Flynn, Cummings, citing investigators’ records, claims Flynn lied to officials who interviewed him in February of 2016 as part of his security clearance renewal.
Flynn appeared to tell investigators his trips to Russia and other countries were paid for by American companies. The former Trump adviser has publicly claimed he was paid by a speakers’ bureau for his appearance at a Moscow gala for Russian television network RT, but documents previously obtained by the committee indicate the government-funded channel paid Flynn more than $45,000 for his 2015 appearance.
“General Flynn had a duty to be truthful on his security clearance renewal form and during his interview with security clearance investigators,” Cummings wrote in his letter to Chaffetz, which quoted the report.
According to the investigators’ report, Flynn also claimed he had “insubstantial contact” with foreign nationals, though he sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is difficult to understand how General Flynn could have believed that his dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin was ‘insubstantial contact,'” Cummings wrote.
The letter from the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee comes hours after Flynn refused to comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. The panel had requested documents from Flynn.
“While we recognize General Flynn’s constitutional right to invoke the Fifth Amendment, we are disappointed he has chosen to disregard the Committee’s subpoena request for documents relevant and necessary to our investigation,” Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement. “We will vigorously pursue General Flynn’s testimony and his production of any and all pertinent materials pursuant to the Committee’s authorities.”
An aide to Chaffetz declined to comment on the letter.
Flynn’s attorney declined multiple requests for comment Monday from ABC News.
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