The White House has denied the House Oversight Committee’s request for more information on payments that former national security adviser Michael Flynn accepted from Russia and other foreign entities. Flynn was reportedly not completely forthcoming about the payments in financial disclosure forms in February while applying for a security clearance.
The committee was hoping to get more context to determine whether Flynn lawfully disclosed the Russian payments. Yet, in a letter to the committee, White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short rejected their wishes, arguing some of their requests were not relevant to the investigation.
"It is unclear how such documents would be relevant to the stated purpose of the committee's review, which according to your letter is to examine Lt. Gen. Flynn's disclosure of payments related to activities that occurred in 2015 and 2016, prior to his service in the White House," Short wrote in a letter dated April 19, sent to committee leaders.
Short added that they simply don’t have all of the documents for which they are asking, referring the committee to the Department of Defense.
Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and fellow committee member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) did view at least some relevant documents on Tuesday, however, briefing reporters on their findings.
"I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said.
Flynn resigned in February after misleading Vice President Pence on his prior contact with Russian officials.