Mueller investigation zeroes in on Michael Flynn

Bijan Kian (pictured) connection and activities with the Turkish government is under scrutiny by Robert Mueller

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is looking into the activities of a former business associate of retired General Michael Flynn and his role in Flynn’s now defunct lobbying group.   

Federal investigators have zeroed in on Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was a partner at the now-dissolved Flynn Intel Group.  

The move, according to NBC News, suggests Mueller is closing in on Flynn and the failure of his company to disclose work it performed on behalf of foreign governments. 

Meanwhile, Flynn’s lawyers informed the White House it would no longer discuss the Mueller investigation with the Trump administration’s legal team, according to The New York Times. 

The break-off in communications indicates, according to the Times, that Flynn is cooperating with Mueller’s investigation. Sharing of information between a cooperative witness and a person or institution still under investigation is considered unethical.

Mike Flynn (right) with former business partner Bijan Kian who has become a subject of interest in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation

obert Mueller

Mike Flynn (right) with former business partner Kian who has become a subject of interest in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’sinvestigation

Prosecutors are especially interested in Kian’s work on behalf behalf of Turkey, whose government earlier this year reportedly lobbied Flynn to illegally extract a controversial imam living in Pennsylvania just weeks before Donald Trump’s Presidential inauguration. 

The grand jury convened for the investigation and will soon have a chance to question individuals witnesses about Kian’s activities, NBC News reported. 

Flynn's lawyers informed the White House it would no longer discuss the Mueller investigation with the Trump administration's legal team

Flynn’s lawyers informed the White House it would no longer discuss the Mueller investigation with the Trump administration’s legal team

Mueller’s rapidly progressing probe has already landed indictments against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates.

The Special Counsel Office is looking into whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election. It is also looking into possible collusion allegations between Moscow and the Trump campaign. 

Flynn’s company has garnered heavy scrutiny since it was revealed that it was paid $530,000 for lobbying on behalf of a firm called Inovo BV, owned by a Turkish-American businessman. 

Months later, the company admitted in documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) that their work ‘could be construed to have principally benefitted the Republic of Turkey.’

According to sources familiar with the Mueller investigation, prosecutors are interested in Kian’s ties with Inovo BV and other lobbying efforts performed by The Flynn Intel Group on behalf of foreign governments that may have yet to be disclosed.

NBC News has previously reported that the Special Counsel’s Office has gathered enough evidence to indict Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn.

The former National Security Adviser was fired just 24 days into the administration after he reportedly lied to Vice President Mike Pence about a meeting he held with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

The Special Counsel Office is looking into whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election (pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin)

The Special Counsel Office is looking into whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election (pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin)

 

 

 

  

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk