Ex-US NSA worries about son in Russia probe

Washington, Nov 9 (IANS) Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has expressed concern about the potential legal exposure of his son, who is also being probed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller over alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the media reported.

Interviews conducted by special counsel investigators have included questions about the business dealings of the former official and his son Michael Flynn Jr., such as their firm's reporting of income from work overseas, informed sources told CNN on Wednesday.

Flynn Jr., who served as his father's chief of staff and top aide, was actively involved in his father's consulting and lobbying work at their firm, Flynn Intel Group, which included taking overseas trips, such as to Moscow in December 2015.

During that trip, Flynn dined with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a black-tie gala for the RT television network.

Flynn's business dealings have been the subject of federal investigation since November 2016, prior to Mueller's appointment in May.

Flynn is also under legal scrutiny by Mueller's team for undisclosed lobbying that he did during the presidential campaign on behalf of the Turkish government, reports CNN.

It is against the law to lobby in the US on behalf of a foreign government without informing the Justice Department.

Another area of interest to Mueller's team is Flynn's alleged participation in discussions about the idea of removing a Turkish cleric who has been living in exile in Pennsylvania, sources said.

A spokesman for Flynn has denied that such discussions occurred.

It was not immediately clear that either of the Flynns will face charges once the investigation is complete.

According to the investigators, Flynn and his son both followed and shared material from Twitter accounts that were recently revealed to be controlled by Russian trolls.

The House intelligence committee last week released a list of Twitter handles associated with Russia's election-meddling efforts.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)