Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 1, 2017
Congressional Democrats want an investigation involving Russia, the Emoluments Clause, and a top member of Donald Trump’s administration: National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. The possible violations in question came before Flynn’s appointment by Trump:
In a letter sent Wednesday to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, the lawmakers said that since Mr. Flynn retired from the Army in 2014, he has appeared regularly on Russia Today, or RT, a state-sponsored television network. The letter also notes that Mr. Flynn acknowledged he was paid to speak at a gala in Moscow celebrating RT’s 10th anniversary in December 2015. At the event, he dined alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The lawmakers said Mr. Flynn may have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits someone “holding any office of profit or trust”—meaning a public office or military position—from accepting gifts or payments from a foreign country.
“The Department of Defense has made clear that this restriction applies to retired military officers because they continue to hold offices of trust,” according to the letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Mattis and Flynn are reportedly not on the best of terms, but you have to figure that investigating this issue would make Trump very unhappy with Mattis. This is not a moment in American history when the president and his appointees are judging things on the merits, after all—no matter how good Mattis’s reputation was before he became defense secretary.
Source: http://dailykos.com
