Flynn's Turkish lobbying linked to Russia
Source: Politico
The former national security advisers client had business dealings in Russia and worked with an executive in Russian oil companies on Turkish lobbying projects.
By ISAAC ARNSDORF 04/25/17 05:14 AM EDT
The Turkish man who gave Mike Flynn a $600,000 lobbying deal just before President Donald Trump picked him to be national security adviser has business ties to Russia, including a 2009 aviation financing deal negotiated with Vladimir Putin, according to court records.
The man, Ekim Alptekin, has in recent years helped to coordinate Turkish lobbying in Washington with Dmitri David Zaikin, a Soviet-born former executive in Russian energy and mining companies who also has had dealings with Putins government, according to three people with direct knowledge of the activities.
This unusual arrangement, in which Alptekin and Zaikin have helped steer Turkish lobbying through various groups since at least 2015, raises questions about both the agenda of the two men and the source of the funds used to pay the lobbyists. Although Turkey is a NATO ally, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has grown increasingly authoritarian and friendly with Putin. And the hiring of Flynn by Alptekin came at a time when Flynn was working for Trumps campaign and Putins government was under investigation for interfering with the U.S. election.
Flynns lawyer, Robert Kelner, declined to comment. In a filing with the Justice Department, Flynn said he relied on assurances from Alptekin that he was not directly or indirectly funded by a foreign government. But shifting explanations and a web of business ties raise questions about the arrangement.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/25/michael-flynn-turkey-russia-237550
riversedge
(70,310 posts)mpcamb
(2,878 posts)Unfortunately the R's run committee has only 7 parttimers working on the investigation.
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/24/the-senates-investigation-into-trumps-russia-ties-is-staffed-by-only-7-people-part-time/
They had 46 working on the Benghazi fiasco.
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/04/24/senate-46-staffers-investigate-benghazi-7-trumprussia.html
You might want to write your congress person about this...
OnDoutside
(19,974 posts)Morning Joe never mentioned it.....which is rather odd. They referred to Flynn receiving $500,000 of Turkish money.
yellowcanine
(35,701 posts)TomCADem
(17,390 posts)...how their own NSC Chairman would have such ties.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Sadly the nation's attention is still fixated on how much Obama is getting paid for speeches, and why Chelsea Clinton is still running for president in 2020 even though she said a million times that she isn't...