An inspector general for the Department of Defense has found that disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn violated military protocol and must face punitive action for accepting money from a foreign government that included sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2015 dinner.
The Washington Post reports that Flynn took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish and Russian sources:
Investigators determined that Flynn received nearly $450,000 from Turkish and Russian interests in 2015, including for an appearance in Moscow alongside President Vladimir Putin, but found no records that he had sought government approval beforehand. Their findings are detailed in a January 2021 memo to the Army released through the Freedom of Information Act on Thursday.
The Army notified Flynn in a May 2 letter, obtained by The Washington Post, that it would seek to recoup $38,557.06 from him, zeroing in on money and in-kind compensation he received for a gala dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of RT, the Kremlin-run news agency. Putin sat beside Flynn at the event and later told NBC News that he “didn’t even really talk to” him.
Craig R. Schmauder, an Army lawyer, wrote in a letter to Flynn informing him of the punishment that his failure “to obtain the approvals of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State resulted in a violation of the Emoluments Clause.”
“When there is a finding that a military retiree has violated the Emoluments Clause, the United States Government may pursue a debt collection.”
In May, Flynn admitted that he would indeed be facing punishment for his actions, remarking:
“Yeah, it means something, but at the end of the day, this country means a heck of a lot more than what they will do to me.”
Flynn could potentially face other actions if the Army inspector general determines that his connections to Russia — along with his calls for martial law to be imposed after it became clear that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election — were serious enough to warrant that he be court-martialed and stripped of his rank, which would also mean a forfeiture of his military pension.
