Congress Joins The Rest Of Us: Admits That Mike Flynn Broke Federal Law (VIDEO)

When Michael Flynn was shoved out as National Security Advisor in February, it was obvious to most people that he was getting the boot because of his ties to Russia and Turkey.

Flynn had lied, and several progressive news outlets, including this one, called him on it. It was clear to anyone who paid attention to facts that Flynn had been working to promote foreign interests. It was obvious to anyone who can read that Flynn had been chatting it up with Russian officials, and that both VP Pence and Trump himself knew all about it.

The conservatives out there weren’t having it, of course. When we pointed out that Mike Flynn had called the Russian Ambassador and had done business with both Turkey and Russia, we were called “conspiracy theorists” and, of course, “fake news.”

And yet here we are, two months later, and Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the head of the House Oversight Committee, has suddenly come out with a shocking announcement.

“I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law.”

For those readers who have not yet mastered the intricacies of Trump-speak, this is a tortured way of saying “It sure looks like Flynn committed a felony.”

The statement refers to the fact that General Flynn failed to notify anyone in the government that he had been paid a whopping $45,000 to give a speech to the Russian government owned television station RT-TV.

Chaffetz was backed up by his Democratic counterpart, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Cummings pointed out that the law demands that anyone applying for security clearance must reveal any payments received from a foreign government. Flynn didn’t do that. He never wrote on his paperwork that he was taking money from two foreign governments.

The law says that his actions constitute a felony, punishable by up to five years in jail.

Ever the diplomat, Cummings didn’t come right out and admit that he thought Flynn belongs in jail. But he did go on the record to criticize the White House for refusing to provide documents relating to the Flynn case. He said:

“We received a response from the White House refusing to provide any of the documents we requested. This is a major problem.”

We agree. We believe that when a member of the administration commits a felony, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We believe that any President who wants to uphold the law and serve the nation should immediately provide every document requested by those in Congress who are seeking to find the truth.

We have to point out that Jason Chaffetz himself is under a whole lot of scrutiny. For unknown reasons (ahem), the conservative bulldog has decided to leave office early.

Maybe he is throwing General Flynn under the proverbial bus as a way to deflect attention from himself. Or maybe, just maybe, we lefties were right last February when we pointed out that Mike Flynn was breaking the law by representing the United States while taking money from Russia and Turkey.

All I know for sure is that the water is getting murkier by the day, and the Trump administration should be plenty worried.

Featured image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr.

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"