White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday "I don't know" whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn broke the law in not initially disclosing payments from foreign governments and denied that the Trump administration was not withholding the data from Congress.
"That would be a question for him," Spicer told reporters at the daily press briefing. "I don't know what he filled out or what he did or did not do.
"He filled that form out prior to coming here. It would be up to the committee and other authorities to look at that.
"I don't know."
The co-chairmen of the House Oversight Committee said that Flynn, who was fired from his post in February over questions about his disclosures about this dealings with Russian officials, might have violated federal law by accepting $45,000 in a speaking trip to Moscow in 2015.
Republican Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Democratic Vice Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland said that Flynn could be criminally prosecuted because, as a former Army officer, he was barred from accepting the foreign payments.
Robert Kelner, Flynn's attorney, said Tuesday that his client told the Defense Intelligence Agency that he would be traveling to Moscow to attend a gala for the Russian state-sponsored television network.
Kelner said that Flynn also talked with DIA staff after he returned from Moscow and answered any questions they had asked.
Flynn did not initially report the $45,000 he received from the RT-TV speech — along with as much as $1.3 million for other work for political groups and government contractors — on disclosure forms when he was named national security adviser.
He filed an amended form on Friday that disclosed the new information.
Chaffetz and Cummings also accused the Trump administration of not providing the Oversight Committee with information regarding Flynn's disclosure forms and related data.
However, Spicer told reporters that the DIA had turned over the information, called a Form SF-86, to Congress — but that the request for documentation on Flynn's telephone calls and other communications was "an unwieldly request."
"They asked for three things," Spicer said. "The SF-86 was in the possession of the DIA.
"My understanding is that they have obtained that. Then, they asked for documents prior to Jan. 20, as you know through the Constitution.
"We didn't assume the White House until the 20th at noon. We don't have the documents prior to assuming the White House.
"Asked for information that listed for every call and contact that he made, which is an extraordinary number," Spicer said. "It's a very unwieldly request."
He maintained the position in arguing that the administration was not stonewalling Congress in not providing the information.
"To say we want the national security adviser, whose job it is to document every call he may or may not have made, is not a request that is able to be filled.
"My understanding is that they have gotten every report they've asked for.
"Everything that is being questioned occurred prior to Jan. 20," he later added. "Asking the White House to produce documents that were not in the possession of the White House is ridiculous."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.