Questions over Flynn lobbying for Turkey скачать в хорошем качестве

Questions over Flynn lobbying for Turkey

(10 Mar 2017) Lawyers for retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn told President Donald Trump's transition team before the inauguration that Flynn might need to register with the government as a foreign agent, but Trump was not aware of the possible move, the White House said on Friday. The disclosure by White House officials confirms the Trump transition team was aware of the situation involving the president's pick for a top national security post either before he joined the government or soon afterward. But the White House's acknowledgement raised new questions about whether Trump's transition team, and later, his White House lawyers, fully vetted Flynn after being informed about his possible filing as a foreign agent for his lobbying during the presidential campaign that may have benefited the government of Turkey. White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed questions about whether the information should have given the transition team, saying Flynn had "impeccable credentials". Trump fired Flynn last month after less than a month on the job saying he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the US. Spicer confirmed that Flynn's personal lawyer contacted Trump transition attorneys before the inauguration about the possible filing. But he added that Flynn's representative only asked for guidance and did not provide more details about the lobbying work or Flynn's business dealings. Spicer said Flynn's decision whether to file as a foreign agent was a personal matter that his own attorney would need to handle. Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., filed paperwork this week with the Justice Department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." In the filings with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his company described 530,000-US-dollar worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. The lobbying occurred from August through November while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser. According to Flynn's filings, his firm's work involved research, informational materials and a video on the cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, of orchestrating a botched coup last summer. Erdogan has called for Gulen's extradition, a request the Obama administration rebuffed. Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, has denied having any ties to Erdogan's government. But he is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an Erdogan appointee. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...