The Defense Department's Inspector general said Thursday it has launched an investigation into whether former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn "accepted payments in violation of the Emoluments Clause, implementing laws, or Department of Defense regulations."
The IG's office will look into whether Flynn “failed to obtain required approval prior to receiving” the payments, according to an April 11 letter from Defense Department Acting Inspector General Glenn Fine to Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, The Washington Post reports.
The probe was revealed as the House Oversight Committee reported that documents show Flynn was warned in 2014 against accepting foreign payments.
The caution came from the Defense Intelligence Agency as Flynn entered retirement, according to CNN.
"These documents raise grave questions about why Gen. Flynn concealed the payments he received from foreign sources after he was warned explicitly by the Pentagon," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House committee.
"Our next step is to get the documents we are seeking from the White House so we can complete our investigation. I thank the Department of Defense for providing us with unclassified versions of these documents."
The new developments come as the inspector general of the Department of Defense launched a probe of Flynn earlier this month, CNN reported.
Just two days ago, Chaffetz and Cummings said Flynn may have violated federal law by not disclosing business dealings with Russia when seeking a security clearance to work in the White House, The New York Times reported.
The committee had reviewed classified documents relating to Flynn. Cummings said Flynn did not disclose payments totaling more than $45,000 he had received from the Russian government for giving a speech in Moscow.
Flynn was ousted as national security adviser in February after it was revealed he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about talks he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States last year, according to the newspaper.