Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/michael-flynn-donald-trump-national-security-adviser.html

WASHINGTON — "Michael T. Flynn told President Trump’s transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case.

Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies.

Mr. Flynn’s disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition team’s chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynn’s lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported.

His legal issues have been a problem for the White House from the beginning and are at the center of a growing political crisis for Mr. Trump. Mr. Flynn, who was fired after 24 days in the job, was initially kept on even after the acting attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, warned the White House that he might be subject to blackmail by the Russians for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington.

After Mr. Flynn’s dismissal, Mr. Trump tried to get James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, to drop the investigation — an act that some legal experts say is grounds for an investigation of Mr. Trump for possible obstruction of justice. He fired Mr. Comey on May 9.

The White House declined to comment on whether officials there had known about Mr. Flynn’s legal troubles before the inauguration..."

The avalanche is just beginning:

"Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-contacts-idUSKCN18E106

And now this:

"President Trump’s disgraced ex-national security adviser Mike Flynn thumbed his nose at the US Senate Thursday, with his lawyer saying he would not comply with a subpoena to testify.

"The Senate wanted answers from Flynn about his own and the Trump Administration’s ties to Russia.

"Flynn had requested immunity before testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee — a move Trump called a good idea — but the upper chamber of Congress turned him down."

http://nypost.com/2017/05/18/michael-flynn-wont-honor-subpoena-to-testify-before-senate/