Although he’s been off he radar lately fired former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is back in the news, and that news isn’t very good — for him. First there’s the report that Flynn failed — yet again — to disclose receiving foreign money while working on a $100 Billion nuclear power plant deal involving Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Democrats sought information from three American companies in June after Newsweek reported that Flynn traveled to the Middle East in the summer of 2015 to broker a $100 billion deal between the companies, Saudi Arabia and Russia's nuclear power agency. In response, officials from the US companies provided statements to the Democrats, confirming Flynn's trip in 2015.
When Flynn returned to the US several months later and reapplied for his security clearance, he never disclosed the trip or the contacts he had with foreign nationals as part of the trip, the Democrats say.
It is illegal under federal law to knowingly falsify or conceal relevant information from a security clearance form. The Democrats reviewed Flynn's paperwork and subsequent interview with the FBI -- routine practice to get a security clearance -- and said that Flynn never disclosed the summer 2015 trip.
Flynn reported received $25,000 for his participation in this deal and not only did he not report it fully to the FBI, as a former flag office of the U.S. Military he was required to get prior permission for such payments from the Pentagon, which he didn’t even after he was warned to do so. That’s on top of taking $45,000 from RT whose employees the FBI has required to register a foreign agents, and $12,500 from Kaesperski Labs whose anti-Virus software has been been ordered removed from all U.S. Government computers since the Russian government has the power to compel Kaesperski to reveal confidential details about their users and their systems and another $530,000 for consulting work on behalf of Turkey which was actually paid for by a Russian Oligarch.
But, wait, it gets worse. Yes, really.
Just to play catch up besides the fact of Flynn’s current legal exposure investigators have begun looking not only at Flynn, but also at his son who accompanied him on his 2015 trip to Russia.
WASHINGTON — Michael G. Flynn, the son of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, is a subject of the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, according to four current and former government officials.
The inquiry into Flynn is focused at least in part on his work with his father's lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group, three of the officials said. It's unclear when the focus on Flynn began.
And now as it turns out the Guardian has reported that this deal didn’t end in 2015, it continued while Flynn was in the White House up until the point he was ultimately fired, and then even afterward.
US congressional investigators are examining whether Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, secretly promoted a plan by private business interests to build US-Russian nuclear power plants in the Middle East while he was serving in the White House.
...
It said that consulting groups that were allegedly working with Flynn on the project, X-Co Dynamics and ACU Strategic Partners, provided information to the committee and are being asked to provide more documents. There is no suggestion that either company is under investigation.
The letter also alleges that Thomas Cochran of ACU, who provided the congressional investigators with some information, said that even after Flynn was fired from his post, the proposal the retired general promoted continued to be seen as part of the Trump administration’s diplomatic “toolkit”. Cochran said that he believed it was seen by both the US president and the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, as a “valuable private sector mechanism” for stabilising and improving relations with Russia. The joint project was also seen as a way to accelerate US-Russia cooperation in the Middle East.
…
The plan called for the creation of an international consortium of US, French, Dutch, Russian, Gulf Arab, British, Ukrainian, and Israeli companies to design and build 40 nuclear power reactors. The plan included a service to maintain control of dangerous spent fuel. One slide provided to the committee said that Rosoboron, a Russian state-owned weapons exporter that is under US sanctions, would provide “total regional security” for the project.
This right here leads to a very big problem for the Trump White House, this is the second such deal — starting with the Trump Tower Moscow deal that was being worked by Felix Sater and Michael Cohen during the election — where Trump himself, and now Rex Tillerson, where involved with trying to do business with a sanction Russian company.
So on top of falsifying his SF86 forms, lying repeatedly to the FBI, violating Pentagon rules on taking for money, violating the Logan Act by attempting to affect foreign policy as a private citizen, trying to get copies of Hillary’s emails from Russian hackers illegally and failing to register as a foreign agent for Flynn, secretly meeting with Russian government lawyers and potential spy/hackers in order to get political dirt on Hillary for Don Jr & Kushner, rampant money-laundering allegations with Russians and Ukrainians and asking the Russians for “Help” with the election by Paul Manafort in addition to multiple potential Obstruction of Justice charges for Trump this is now two violations of the Trading With the Enemy Act which can — if the violation is willful — call for a prison sentence for as long as 10 to 30 years.
Punishment for violations of the sanctions can be severe. Civil fines range from $11,000 to $1 million for each violation. Civil fines may be imposed even if the violation was committed unknowingly and with innocent intent. The majority of the fines imposed are most likely the result of corporations simply failing to recognize trade transactions involving a targeted country or SDN. Additionally, criminal penalties may be levied for willful violations and include fines from $50,000 to $10 million and imprisonment from 10 to 30 years
So this is no joke, it’s serious as a heart attack, and this would perfectly explain why Trump may have been so adamant to have James Comey “Let Flynn Go”, demanded his personal loyalty and then ultimately fired him when he refused to do that.
He had a lot to lose. Tons.