Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will invoke his 5th Amendment right because of fears that his testimony could be used against him. Besides planning to invoke the 5th Amendment in response to the subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russia, Flynn has also refused to turn over the documents that the committee subpoenaed.
Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford acknowledged that it is Flynn’s right to invoke the 5th Amendment. But, he said the Senate would nevertheless reach the truth “one way or another." Lankford stressed that the committee needs facts and not speculation and anonymous sources.
Flynn’s defiance and non-compliance could, in theory, land him in jail, New York Daily News noted, although it added that the scenario is unlikely. In March, Robert Kelner, Flynn's lawyer, said that the former adviser would like to tell his story if circumstances permit.
Witch-hunt environment
Like his boss, U.S. President Donald Trump, the former adviser cited the highly politicized witch-hunt environment and the lack of assurances against unfair prosecution as his reason for refusing to testify, the New York Post reported. The senate committee rejected his request for legal immunity in exchange for Flynn’s cooperation in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Flynn served as Trump's contact with Russian officials during the campaign. He was forced to quit after he lied to other members of the Trump administration about the contents of his conversation with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition period from the Obama to the Trump administration.
Funds from foreign governments
The Senate testimony is just one of the legal problems hounding Flynn, whose former job as a lobbyist is also under scrutiny, particularly for payments he received from foreign sources. According to the New York Daily News, Flynn did not register as a foreign lobbyist despite receiving half a million dollars from the Turkish government.
Another payment, this time from RT, a state-sponsored TV station in Russia, is being investigated by the House Oversight Committee. Democratic Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings said Flynn appears to have lied during a federal security clearance probe about the source of payment.
He said Flynn said in an early 2016 review that his trip to Moscow was paid for by U.S. companies, but it was really paid for by RT. Cummings informed Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chair of the committee, of Flynn’s apparent lie in a letter.
