House Investigators Hit Flynn and Gates With Subpoenas

WASHINGTON (CN) – They spent weeks cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller but their work isn’t over yet. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates each received subpoenas Thursday from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.

The subpoenas instruct the former Trump campaign insiders to appear for sworn testimony on July 10 and to provide the records Schiff has requested by June 26.

Flynn has been cooperating with prosecutors since 2017 when he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, managing to delay his sentencing on that basis. As part of his plea, Flynn admitted that he lied to investigators about whether he and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak discussed the future of sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration.

Gates also admitted lying to the FBI last year. The former deputy campaign chairman to President Donald Trump was also a longtime business associate of convicted ex-lobbyist Paul Manafort, who was convicted in Virginia last year of bank and tax fraud.

Through his cooperation with Mueller’s team, Gates appeared as the star witness in those proceedings, testifying that Manafort shared internal campaign polling data with accused Russian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik.

This summer meanwhile Flynn is expected to be a star witness in the trial of his former business partner Bijan Rafiekian at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Kian is charged with failing to register as a foreign agent for Turkey.

According to the indictment, while Flynn was working on the Trump campaign, Kian schemed to lobby on behalf of Turkish officials to oust Fethullah Gulen, a dissident cleric living in the U.S. for years. 

With no date set yet for his sentencing, Flynn fired his entire legal team Wednesday and retained Sydney Powell to represent him. Powell is an outspoken critic of the special counsel, frequently appearing on Fox News to suggest that the Russia investigation was corrupt.

The change in attorneys drew President Trump’s attention on Thursday morning.

“General Michael Flynn, the 33 year war hero who has served with distinction, has not retained a good lawyer, he has retained a GREAT LAWYER, Sidney Powell. Best Wishes and Good Luck to them both!” the president tweeted.

Schiff’s subpoena request acknowledges Flynn has regularly cooperated with prosecutors but the emphasis was plain.

“While the Committee recognizes that your cooperation agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice only requires you to testify for the Department, your cooperation with the Committee’s investigation nonetheless provides an opportunity to demonstrate to the court that you have met the high standard of cooperation that you represented to the court that you set for yourself,” Schiff wrote. “It would further underscore to your sentencing judge that ‘you’ve done everything you possibly can for the United States of America, not just the Department of Justice.”

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