WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said on Thursday it is investigating President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor Michael Flynn over payments he received from Russian government-linked firms.

The Department of Defence said it was probing whether the retired lieutenant general failed to obtain required prior approval before accepting money from foreign governments.

Flynn was specifically warned when he retired in 2014 that he had to get advance permission before accepting consulting fees, salaries, gifts, or travel expenses from a foreign government.

Flynn, the former defence intelligence chief, was fired by the White House after 24 days as Trump’s top national security aide over his communications with Russia’s US ambassador, amid intense concern that Moscow had directed a concerted effort to interfere in last year’s presidential election.

But the Pentagon investigation, launched in early April, appears focused on the more than $33,000 dollars Flynn earned to attend an RT television gala in December 2015, where he sat at a table with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It could also extend to the $530,000 Flynn was paid to lobby for Turkey during last year’s presidential election campaign.

Such payments possibly violate Defence Department and US constitutional prohibitions on retired military personnel conducting activities involving foreign governments without advance clearance. Flynn ended a 33-year army career as director of the Defence Intelligence Agency during 2012-2014.

The Flynn probe adds to a number of investigations in Congress and the Department of Justice relating to Russian interference in the 2016 election, which US intelligence says was designed to boost Trump’s prospects to win the presidency.

The Pentagon confirmed its investigation after the House Oversight Committee released a 2014 letter the DIA sent to Flynn advising specifically that he needed advance permission from Congress before accepting any payments from foreign governments.

Flynn’s lawyer has said Flynn briefed the DIA before and after his Russia trip.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2017