Chaffetz: Flynn In Big Trouble For Taking Foreign Payments As Former Officer

UNITED STATES - APRIL 25: House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speaks during a press conference after a classified meeting of the committee in which they reviewed documents related to former national secu... UNITED STATES - APRIL 25: House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speaks during a press conference after a classified meeting of the committee in which they reviewed documents related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn in the Capitol on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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House Oversight Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) on Tuesday agreed that President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn is in big trouble for accepting payments from foreign governments as a former military officer.

“Would you say after what you reviewed today that General Flynn is in a heap of trouble?” MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren asked Chaffetz.

“Yes, yes. Clearly — you can’t do this,” Chaffetz replied. “It’s nothing specifically with Mr. Flynn, or Gen. Flynn. It has everything to do with former military officers. They can’t go and take money from a foreign government.”

Earlier Tuesday, Chaffetz and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told reporters there was “no evidence” that Flynn made the appropriate disclosures about those payments.

“It was inappropriate,” Chaffetz said at a press conference. “And there are repercussions for the violation of law.”

Chaffetz said Tuesday evening that the House Oversight Committee has “pretty much exhausted” its capacity to evaluate Flynn’s actions.

“Now the Department of Defense, and specifically the army, they’ve got to make this final determination,” he said.

He questioned how Flynn got a security clearance given that the committee “could easily figure out” that he took the payments.

“I do have some questions for the DIA,” Chaffetz said, referring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. “But certainly I wouldn’t fault the Trump administration.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday also argued that Trump’s transition and administration were not responsible for vetting Flynn, who served as a top campaign adviser and was a named national security adviser during the transition.

“You fill out the forms and do a background check,” Spicer said. “I don’t know what he filled out or what he did or did not do.”

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