Exclusive: U.S. investigators in Russia probe look at role of Flynn partner

[webfact]

Exclusive: U.S. investigators in Russia probe look at role of Flynn partner

By Nathan Layne and Julia Edwards Ainsley

 

Then White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn walks down the White House colonnade on the way to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump's joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/Files

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal investigators probing the lobbying work of ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn are focused in part on the role of Bijan Kian, Flynn’s former business partner, according to a person interviewed by the FBI. 

 

Investigators are also looking at whether payments from foreign clients to Flynn and his company, the now-inactive Flynn Intel Group, were lawful, according to two separate sources with knowledge of the broad inquiry into Flynn's business activities. That includes payments by three Russian companies and a Netherlands-based company, Inovo, controlled by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, they said.

 

The FBI's interest in Kian has not been previously reported. Kian played a central role in securing and overseeing the Inovo contract, two people with knowledge of that project said. 

 

It is not clear whether Kian is a target of the criminal investigation or whether investigators are trying to build a fuller understanding of how Flynn's company operated.

 

A person recently interviewed by the FBI in connection with the Flynn investigation said agents from the bureau's criminal division had asked as much about Kian and his work on the project with Alptekin as they had about Flynn.

 

Kian did not respond to repeated requests for comment, nor did the lawyer he recently hired, Robert Trout. The FBI declined to comment.

 

Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, did not respond to requests for comment. Alptekin declined to comment for this story but last month told Reuters that he was satisfied with the work done by Flynn Intel Group and denied any wrongdoing. 

 

The FBI has been investigating whether Flynn's consulting firm lobbied on behalf of Turkey - after being paid $530,000 by Inovo - without making the proper disclosure, Reuters reported earlier this month.

 

The federal investigation is being run by special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller has a mandate to investigate contacts between Russia and Trump's 2016 election campaign team and any related matters. Flynn was fired by the Trump administration in February after officials said he mischaracterized a series of phone calls with Russia’s ambassador last December. 

 

The top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has separately been looking into whether Flynn made false statements in applying for security clearance, said he was also scrutinizing Kian. 

 

"I have an interest in Bijan Kian and his interactions with General Flynn based on specific documents already obtained by the Committee,” Elijah Cummings told Reuters in an email. 

 

Kelner has sought immunity for Flynn in exchange for his testimony, saying his client "certainly has a story to tell."   

    

FAILED COUP OPENS A DOOR

 

In private conversations with potential clients, Kian portrayed himself as a rainmaker for Flynn, tapping into connections cultivated during a five-year tenure as a director at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, according to one person who worked with the firm.

 

Alptekin told Reuters in May that his firm hired Flynn Intel Group to research Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's activities in the United States, which he suspected were "poisoning" relations between the United States and Turkey. Like Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Alptekin blamed a failed coup in Turkey last July on followers of Gulen.

 

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement in the attempted coup and dismisses Turkey’s allegations that he heads a terrorist organization.

 

Kian oversaw key elements of the project that emerged, including a still-unfinished documentary on Gulen, according to two people involved in the project.

 

Inovo paid Flynn Intel Group a total of $530,000, starting in September, according to a Justice Department filing by the company in March. Flynn Intel Group paid $80,000 to Inovo in "consultancy fees," according to the filing, which does not provide more detail on why payments were made in both directions.

 

On Sept. 19, Kian and Flynn met in New York with Turkey's foreign minister and energy minister, who is Erdogan's son-in-law, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting.  

 

In late October, Kian invited staff of the House Homeland Security Committee to Flynn Intel Group's headquarters in Virginia. The meeting was called to show off new mobile phone security technology, but Kian also used the opportunity to try to get a congressional hearing on Gulen, according to a person at the meeting. 

 

At that point, the Flynn Intel Group had only disclosed its work for Alptekin's Inovo in a filing with Congress. It had not mentioned Inovo’s ties to Turkey.

 

When Justice Department officials became aware months later that Kian and other Flynn Intel Group officials had met with Turkish officials they insisted on a fuller disclosure, people involved in those discussions said.

 

The Flynn Intel Group made the more detailed disclosure in its March filing with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that said the work that Flynn and Kian did for Inovo “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”

 

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by John Walcott, Julia Harte and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Ross Colvin)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-21

[Dumbastheycome]

Hmmm. The  can  has  been  forced  open. 

Now  to see  what  worms  there  are  in it.

[Trouble]

Doesn't seem like much news here.  Everyone knows they are investigating Flynn and his company and will dig into those associated with the company.  Seems like Flynn's company got paid for services.  Question is whether the services were illegal and whether proper documents were filed.  Only news here is that FBI's interest in Kian had not "previously been reported. " Only an idiot would assume if the FBI is investigating Flynn's company they would not be interested in Kian.  This is what Reuters calls and "Exclusive"?

[Rancid]

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

 

Reminds me of the old proven & reliable test for witches, throw them in the river, if they float they are witches, if they drown they were actually innocent, oops.

[Dumbastheycome]

12 minutes ago, Rancid said:

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

 

Reminds me of the old proven & reliable test for witches, throw them in the river, if they float they are witches, if they drown they were actually innocent, oops.

But  what  about the ones  that  did indeed   float ?

[Dumbastheycome]

I think  most  people  detest  floaters !

[Credo]

53 minutes ago, Trouble said:

Doesn't seem like much news here.  Everyone knows they are investigating Flynn and his company and will dig into those associated with the company.  Seems like Flynn's company got paid for services.  Question is whether the services were illegal and whether proper documents were filed.  Only news here is that FBI's interest in Kian had not "previously been reported. " Only an idiot would assume if the FBI is investigating Flynn's company they would not be interested in Kian.  This is what Reuters calls and "Exclusive"?

"Doesn't seem like much news here."   

 

Well maybe not much news, but the bricks are being laid and the path is leading closer to the white house.   

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, Rancid said:

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

Reminds me of the old proven & reliable test for witches, throw them in the river, if they float they are witches, if they drown they were actually innocent, oops.

                        Perhaps you're not familiar with how investigations work.  Conclusions usually take time.  There are many threads in the Russia/Trump matter.  Many people and incidents are being connected.  Many are pointing to Trump and his people, including NY Mafia, Kushner family, Russians, Dutch, ....even some Arabs.  The Special Counsel is putting together an awesome team.   Trump, Flynn, Kushner, Manafort and at least 2 dozen others have much reason to sleep fitfully.  Thus far, it appears Flynn is the only American who will spend time behind bars, but new dirt is surfacing on the others, day by day.   Manafort and Carter Page are close behind Flynn on the most likely-to-go-to-prison list.  Trump and Kushner follow.     

 

                             This is (will be) much bigger than Watergate, and in that case dozens of people got fined and/or went to prison, and had careers destroyed.

 

                           Money is the prime motivator and a common thread connecting all the players.  Political power is a close second.  

[anon4546543]

6 hours ago, Rancid said:

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

 

Reminds me of the old proven & reliable test for witches, throw them in the river, if they float they are witches, if they drown they were actually innocent, oops.

Reminds me of the old and proven test.

Where there is smoke, there is fire

[selftaopath]

45 denies Putin's hacking - why?  45's AG doesn't care - why?  Congress has not suggested much to retaliate - why. So I wonder how many in congress (if any) are part of the scheme to elect an unqualified candidate and weaken U.S. democracy? None of the above appear to be putting "America first". 

[iReason]

11 hours ago, Rancid said:

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

 

Another desperate Trumpeteer who believes prosecutors and investigators make public their evidence and sources.

 

Delusional.

[Traveler19491]

On 6/21/2017 at 10:02 PM, Rancid said:

If the Russians did in fact do what was claimed, it would be nice to see at least one single shred of actual evidence as opposed to the current McCarthyist witch hunt.

 

Reminds me of the old proven & reliable test for witches, throw them in the river, if they float they are witches, if they drown they were actually innocent, oops.

Perhaps it's time that the Assistant AG, the Special Counsel, the FBI, CIA, NSA, and the rest of the alphabet soup wake up and realize that their actual responsibility lies not in getting at the truth, not in keeping the results of their investigation confidential so as not to tip their hand to those who are being or may eventually be investigated, not in following standard investigative procedure. NO!  Their real responsibility lies in answering to the trumpettes on ThaiVisa and heeding their demand to s**t or get off the pot! Prove now that Trump has done something wrong, or forever abandon the search for justice and holding those who may have violated the law accountable. It's high time they got their priorities straight!

 

Just gotta love the whiners. The Special Counsel is still hiring his staff, but in the eyes of the whiners, their orange messiah can not possibly have done anything wrong, because they know that there has been far more than enough time to dig out whatever might be hidden. Forget that it took two years to find Nixon's smoking gun. Forget that the cretins in the GOP spent four years investigating Clinton before bringing impeachment charges. The trumpettes require immediate resolution, and they're going to continue to whine until the U. S. government accedes to their demands!!!

 

Sorry, kids. Afraid you'll just have to go out and buy some more tissues.