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NYT
WASHINGTON
The House Intelligence Committee will issue subpoenas to Michael T. Flynn, President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, the committee's senior Democrat said on Wednesday, escalating Flynn's troubles with Congress.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California said Flynn had declined the panel's request for documents and an interview as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in last year's election.
"Those subpoenas will be designed to maximize our chance of getting the information that we need," Schiff told reporters during a newsmaker breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor.
"And I think we need to use whatever compulsory methods are necessary to get the information that he possesses."
Schiff said he hoped the committee would issue the subpoenas this week, before Congress leaves for a one-week recess. It was unclear whether the subpoenas would seek documents or Flynn's testimony, or both.
The subpoenas could not be issued without at least some support from Republicans, who make up the majority of the committee. A spokeswoman for Rep. K. Michael Conaway of Texas, the Republican leading the investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Conaway has repeatedly refused to comment on the details of the investigation while it is continuing.
The announcement comes mere hours after the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas Tuesday afternoon to Flynn's two firms, seeking information that could shed light on his work lobbying on behalf of Turkish interests last year, among other connections.
On Monday, Flynn, in a letter from his legal team, rejected a subpoena for documents from the Senate committee, citing the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination.
He also declined the Senate committee's invitation for an interview.
Flynn's rejection of the Senate's subpoena puts him at risk of being held in contempt of Congress, a rarely invoked process that, should lawmakers choose to pursue it, could result in a criminal citation.
The Flynn Intel Group was paid more than $500,000 to represent Turkey in a dispute with the US government, while Flynn was advising the Trump campaign.
