Fired former national security advisor Mike Flynn exalted that a nuclear deal involving Russia was ‘good to go’ just minutes after President Trump took the oath of office, House Oversight panel Democrats said based on a whistleblower’s claims.
The whistleblower came forward this summer and spoke to the committee about attending an inauguration party and meeting Alex Copson, managing partner of ACU Strategic Partners.
Flynn, who pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI, did consulting work with the form as part of a deal to build nuclear reactors across the middle east. He flew to the region on behalf of the project in June of 2015.
The deal was in partnership with Russia with Saudi financing. It gave Flynn a potential monetary incentive to get sanctions imposed on Russia during the Obama administration lifted immediately.
‘GOOD TO GO’: A whistleblower claims fired national security advisor Mike Flynn texted about a deal to build nuclear reactors from the dais where President Trump was giving his inaugural address
According to the whistleblower account, Copson said the inauguration was ‘the best day of my life’ owing to progress on the nuclear deal, which was now ‘going to make a lot of very wealthy people.
According to a letter by Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Copson then showed the whistleblower his phone, which contained a message from Flynn.
The message said the project was ‘good to go.’ It continued that Copson should contact colleagues to ‘let them know to put things in place.’ The whistleblower could not read the text of the message, but said the timestamp said 12:11 pm, meaning just minutes after Donald Trump assumed the presidency.
‘Our committee has credible allegations that President Trump’s National Security Advisor sought to manipulate the course of international nuclear policy for the financial gain of his former business partners,’ wrote Cummings, Politico reported in a story on the letter.
Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (R), talks with National Security Advisor Michael Flynn inside of the inaugural parade reviewing stand in front of the White House
According to a letter by Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Flynn business partner Alex Copson showed a whistleblower a tex message from Flynn
The letter was written to the new Oversight Committee chair, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina. These grave allegations compel a full, credible, and bipartisan congressional investigation,’ Cummings wrote.
The lawmaker’s office determined that at 12:11 pm, Trump was about ten minutes into his inaugural speech, promising that every decision would be to ‘benefit American workers and American families.
According to the whistleblower account, Copson said Flynn was making sure sanctions would be ‘ripped up,’ which would allow money to start flowing to the project.
The letter says Flynn blamed Obama for having ‘f***** everything up in my nuclear deal with the sanctions.’
Obama had fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI during its probe of Russian interference in the presidential election
Two days after the election, Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn, CNN reported.
The whistleblower was ‘extremely uncomfortable’ with the situation, and made notes about it and Copson’s name.
The letter tells Gowdy it is difficult to discern what happened because he would not subpoena Flynn, the White House, or Copson.
Flynn didn’t reveal his relationship with ACU Strategic Partners until August after leaving it off previous government forms.
Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI during its probe of Russian interference in the presidential election, including about conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. about sanctions.
Cummings wrote that Mueller’s office had asked him to hold back the information until ‘they completed certain investigative steps’ – which apparently have now been concluded.