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Michael Flynn Is Reportedly Refusing To Meet With Senate Intelligence Committee

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Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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Former national security advisor Michael Flynn is again refusing to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the second time he has done so in recent months.

CNN reports that Flynn declined to appear as a witness before the committee, which is conducting an investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential campaign.

Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, has been at the center of that Senate investigation, as well as one being led Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The focus on Flynn appears to center around his business dealings last year while serving as an adviser to the Donald Trump campaign, as well as interactions he had with Russian government officials after the election but prior to Trump’s inauguration.

The Intelligence Committee has also showed interest in an effort carried out last year by a Republican operative to obtain emails that Hillary Clinton said she deleted from her private server. That operative, Peter Smith, attempted to obtain the emails from foreign hackers who claimed to have the documents. Smith, who committed suicide in May, indicated to associates last year that Flynn was involved in the project. He was not able to obtain any of Clinton’s emails.

A spokesperson for the Senate Intelligence Committee declined The Daily Caller’s request for comment about Flynn’s latest refusal to cooperate with its investigation.

Flynn also rebuffed the committee’s request for an interview back in May. The panel responded by subpoenaing Flynn’s business records. He complied with that subpoena by turning over more than 600 pages of records.

Flynn has offered to testify before both the Senate Intelligence and House Intelligence Committees in exchange for immunity, though neither panel as accepted the proposal.

Flynn was fired on Feb. 14 for reportedly misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn initially denied that he talked about sanctions with Kislyak, though it has since emerged that the subject was discussed.

Flynn’s lobbying work on behalf of the Turkish government has also been a focus of investigators on the Senate panel as well as in Mueller’s office. While serving as an adviser to Trump, Flynn signed a $600,000 contract with a Turkish businessman linked to the Turkish government. Flynn filed as a foreign agent of Turkey in March after being encouraged to do so by the Justice Department.

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