text: The Trump administration has denied a request from the House Oversight Committee for more information on payments that former national security adviser Michael Flynn received from foreign governments, including from the Kremlin-backed television station RT and other Russian firms. 
   
   Legislative affairs director Marc Short said the committee is requesting documents that are not in possession of the White House because they involved Flynn's activity prior to President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Other documents sought by the committee, from after Jan. 20, involve sensitive information, he said. 
   
   "It is unclear how such documents would be relevant to the stated purpose of the committee's review, which according to your letter is to examine Lt. Gen. Flynn's disclosure of payments related to activities that occurred in 2015 and 2016, prior to his service in the White House," Short wrote in a letter dated April 19 that was sent to committee leaders. 
   
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   In March, the committee sent a letter to the White House, the Defense Department and several other administration heads asking for a range of records related to the payments received by Flynn, who also worked on Trump’s campaign and the presidential transition. 
   
   On Tuesday morning, the committee reviewed a batch of documents responsive to the request from the Pentagon behind closed doors. 
   
   Those documents, said both chairman Jason Chaffetz Jason ChaffetzTucker Carlson: Ruling class cares more about foreigners than their own people Fox's Kennedy chides Chaffetz on child migrants: 'I’m sure these mini rapists all have bombs strapped to their chests' After FBI cleared by IG report, GOP must reform itself MORE (R-Utah) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), suggest that Flynn broke the law by declining to disclose the payments from both Russia and Turkey in his application to renew his security clearance. 
   
   "Personally, I see no data to supper the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said. 
   
   But both Chaffetz and Cummings stopped short of accusing the White House of obstructing their investigation. 
   
   "I wouldn't call it obstruction," Cummings said. 
   
   Flynn had also declined to disclose the payments in his original financial disclosure forms submitted in February. 
   
   He filed an amended disclosure last month reporting payments for speeches from three Russian-linked companies, including RT, but the move has remained under scrutiny amidst the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election. 
   
   According to Cummings, Flynn applied to renew his security clearance — using a form called a SF-86 — in January of 2016, just month after he traveled to Moscow to give a paid speech. During a dinner at that appearance, he was seated with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
   
   There is "no evidence in the documents that he reported funds he received for his trip" and "no evidence he sought permission to obtain these funds from a foreign source," Cummings said Tuesday, noting that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact in an SF-86 is a felony. 
   
   Flynn was forced to resign in February after it came to light that he had misled Vice President Pence and the public about the content of a phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyac. 
   
   The former intelligence official has offered to testify before the Senate and House Intelligence committees — which are both investigating Russian interference in the election — in exchange for immunity, but neither committee has accepted the offer. 
   
   Chaffetz said Tuesday that Flynn could potentially be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in remittance to the U.S. government. 
   
   But the authority to levy that penalty would rest with the administration — not with the committee. 
   
   Although Cummings said that he would like to see Flynn appear before the committee, such a hearing appears unlikely. Chaffetz argued that the "lead" in any Russia-related investigations is the Intelligence Committee. Oversight, he said, is in "more of a support role." 
   
   "I highly doubt" the committee will call Flynn to testify, Chaffetz said. 
   
   This story was updated at 11:56 a.m. ||||| The lead Democrat and Republican on the House Oversight Committee meted out a rare bipartisan rebuke of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday after seeing private information that confirmed the former administration official failed to disclose foreign income from Russia and Turkey. 
   
   [Flynn did not initially reveal income from Russia-related entities] 
   
   The public criticism by the senior Republican on the House’s chief investigative panel is unusual and presents a dilemma for the White House, which was accused of failing to provide everything the committee asked for — an assertion White House press secretary Sean Spicer disputed. 
   
   Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), suggested that Flynn broke the law. Flynn was ousted in February after misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. 
   
   The lawmakers said they believe Flynn neither received permission nor fully disclosed income he earned for a speaking engagement in Russia and lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey. They reached the conclusion after viewing two classified memos and a disclosure form in a private briefing Tuesday morning. 
   
   (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post) 
   
   “Personally I see no evidence or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law,” Chaffetz told reporters after the briefing. 
   
   Added Cummings: “He was supposed to get permission, he was supposed to report it, and he didn’t. This is a major problem.” 
   
   The bipartisan criticism of Flynn is a striking departure from the partisan discord that has defined recent Oversight Committee investigations. Democrats have often complained of being shut out of major decisions in high-profile investigations such as the Benghazi probe. 
   
   It comes as the House and Senate intelligence committees move into a new phase of their investigations into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election, including alleged ties between campaign aides and Russian officials. The FBI is also investigating Russia’s suspected interference in the elections and ties to the Trump campaign. 
   
   After a rocky start, the House Intelligence Committee is gaining steam with a new head of the Russia investigation. Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.) — who stepped in after the committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), recused himself — has scheduled a classified briefing next Tuesday with the directors of the FBI and National Security Agency. He has invited former CIA director John Brennan, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and former acting attorney general Sally Yates to testify in an open hearing. 
   
   The Senate is also taking action. Yates and Clapper are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on May 8. 
   
   Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that his panel had “finished the initial round” of over 20 interviews and planned to “pick that pace up” with more in the near future. 
   
   (Reuters) 
   
   Flynn is on the list of officials Burr hopes to bring in for an interview. The senator noted the panel had been interested in speaking to him “from the beginning.” 
   
   “In many cases in investigations like this, you get one shot at people,” Burr said, explaining why they had not yet invited him. “So we want to make sure we’re as thorough as we possibly can be.” 
   
   Chaffetz and Cummings stressed Tuesday that as a former military officer, Flynn would have needed special permission for his December 2015 appearance at a gala sponsored by RT, the Russian-government-funded television station, for which he was paid $45,000. For his work lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government, he was paid more than $500,000. 
   
   “It does not appear that was ever sought, nor did he get that permission,” Chaffetz said. 
   
   The Republican later added that while Flynn was clearly not in compliance with the law, “it would be a little strong to say that he flat-out lied.” 
   
   Democrats immediately pounced on the news, claiming that it was yet another drip of damaging information implicating the Trump world’s relationship with Russia. 
   
   “The disturbing news that General Flynn may have violated the law in connection with his security clearance may be just the tip of the iceberg,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. “These revelations highlight the importance of the intelligence committee working in a bipartisan way to request and receive documents with respect to any financial arrangements Flynn and others in similar positions may have had with foreign governments,” he said. 
   
   According to the New York Times, Flynn isn’t the only member of Trump’s team who left his contacts with foreign officials off his official security-clearance application — Jared Kushner left his meetings with Russian officials off the same form. 
   
   Chaffetz and Cummings stressed that Flynn’s omission could cost him. Violations of this nature can be punished by up to five years of jail time. The FBI could open an investigation into the matter, and if it has not already, Congress could ask them to do so. 
   
   Those decisions will probably be up to the Justice Department’s new deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, whom the Senate confirmed Tuesday by a vote of 94 to 6. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from matters involving the Trump campaign. 
   
   The bar for prosecution is high. The law requires investigators to show that Flynn “knowingly and willfully” made false statements. Prosecutors would not be able to make a case if Flynn’s forms were inaccurate because of carelessness or an honest mistake. 
   
   Chaffetz stressed that the government should “recover the money” paid to Flynn by foreign entities, a figure that would at least be in the tens of thousands of dollars. But Chaffetz announced last week that he would resign from Congress in 2018 and perhaps leave much sooner — setting off a scramble to replace him. On Tuesday, Chaffetz also said the House Intelligence Committee would be the panel to compel any testimony from Flynn. 
   
   Spicer would not say in his Tuesday briefing whether Flynn may have broken the law. 
   
   “That would be a question for him and the law enforcement agency. I don’t know what he filled out or what he did or didn’t do,” Spicer told reporters. “He filled that form out before coming here, so it would be up to the committee and other authorities to look at that.” 
   
   He insisted the Trump administration had provided all the documents Congress requested. 
   
   “Every document they asked for it’s my understanding they’ve gotten,” he said. 
   
   The Oversight Committee asked the White House in March for documents pertaining to Flynn’s security-clearance applications, the vetting that occurred before he was named national security adviser, and all of his contacts with foreign agents, including any payments received. In particular, the committee heads requested to see a disclosure form known as the SF86, on which Flynn was obligated to declare any foreign income. 
   
   On April 19, the White House sent the committee a reply, stating that any documents related to Flynn from before Jan. 20 — the day Trump took office — were not in its possession and that any documents from after that date did not seem relevant to the investigation. 
   
   Spicer added Tuesday that records requests for Flynn’s conversations with foreign contacts were “unwieldy,” arguing it was Flynn’s job “to talk with foreign counterparts on a daily basis.” 
   
   “To document every call that he may have made is not exactly a request that is able to be filled,” he said. 
   
   [Oversight Committee jockeying heats up in wake of Chaffetz announcement] 
   
   Flynn counsel Rob Kelner of Covington & Burling said his client has spoken extensively with the government about the matter. “As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DoD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings,” Kelner said in a statement. 
   
   [Here’s what we know about Trump’s ties to Russian interests] 
   
   The documents that committee members reviewed Tuesday came from the Defense Intelligence Agency and showed that Flynn had not declared any income from Russian or Turkish sources, committee leaders said. 
   
   Kelner also noted that lawmakers might be interested in seeing documents that could shed light on what Flynn told the White House and his foreign contacts before he was named national security adviser, and what led to his exit less than a month later. During the transition period, Flynn told the incoming White House that he might need to register as a foreign agent. 
   
   David Nakamura and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. 
   
   Read more at PowerPost ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the congressional probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election (all times local): 
   
   11:20 a.m. 
   
   The senior members of Congress on the House Oversight Committee says classified military documents show that the Trump administration's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, did not ask permission or inform the U.S. government about payments he received for appearances before Russian organizations in 2015 and for lobbying that helped Turkey's government. 
   
   Flynn's failure to obtain permission from military authorities for the payments raises concern whether Flynn violated a constitutional ban on foreign payments to retired military officers. That's according to Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings. 
   
   The two leaders of the oversight committee said there was no evidence Flynn complied with federal law. They said Flynn could be criminally prosecuted, and they said Flynn should surrender the money he was paid. 
   
   ___ 
   
   10:55 a.m. 
   
   The White House is refusing to provide lawmakers with information and documents related to President Donald Trump's first national security adviser's security clearance and payments from organizations tied to the Russian and Turkish governments. 
   
   The White House was responding to requests made last month by the House Oversight committee. The committee made six requests, and the White House cited reasons it could not comply with each of them. 
   
   Trump has said he fired Michael Flynn because of misleading comments he made to the vice president about his discussions with the Russian ambassador during the transition. Flynn is among the Trump associates being investigated by Congress and the FBI for possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. 
   
   _____ 
   
   8:45 a.m. 
   
   Former acting attorney general Sally Yates is scheduled to appear at a congressional hearing next month on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 
   
   Yates is to appear May 8 along with James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence. 
   
   The hearing before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee was announced Tuesday morning. 
   
   It will mark her first appearance on Capitol Hill since she was fired in late January after refusing to defend President Donald Trump's travel ban. ||||| WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, may have violated federal law by not fully disclosing his business dealings with Russia when seeking a security clearance to work in the White House, top House oversight lawmakers from both parties asserted on Tuesday. 
   
   The revelation came after Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah and chairman of the House oversight committee, and other lawmakers on the panel examined classified documents related to Mr. Flynn, including a form he filled out in January 2016 to receive his security clearance. The form is known as an SF-86 and is required by anyone in the government who handles classified information. 
   
   As part of the review, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the committee’s senior Democrat, said Mr. Flynn did not disclose in those documents payments totaling more than $45,000 that he received from the Russian government for giving a speech in Moscow in 2015, among others. 
   
   The development is the latest trouble for Mr. Flynn, who also did not disclose payments from Russian-linked entities on a financial disclosure form that the Trump administration released in late March. Earlier in March, Mr. Flynn filed papers acknowledging that he worked as a foreign agent last year representing the interests of the Turkish government, causing another uproar and more unfavorable headlines for the Trump administration.
target: – Michael Flynn's Russia headache just got worse: The two heads of the House Oversight Committee say the erstwhile national security adviser probably broke the law in regard to his foreign business dealings, reports the Washington Post. GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings say they reviewed classified military documents and found that Flynn never received the proper permission to accept payments for a speech in Russia and for lobbying on behalf of Turkey. That means Flynn could face criminal prosecution and may have to surrender any money received, reports the AP. "As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey, or anybody else," said Chaffetz of the former general, per the New York Times. “"And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for a violation of law." Added Cummings: "He was supposed to get permission, he was supposed to report it, and he didn’t." The White House has denied the panel's request for more documents related to Flynn's hiring and subsequent departure, reports the Hill. Flynn resigned in February over phone calls he made to the Russian ambassador before assuming office. (His lawyer has floated the idea of immunity in exchange for testimony.)