Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was paid more than $50,000 by Russian companies just before he joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign as a formal adviser, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.
The newspaper, citing documents obtained by a congressional oversight committee, said Flynn received $11,250 from a Russian air cargo company "that had been suspended as a vendor to the United Nations following a corruption scandal."
He also received a similar amount from a cybersecurity company in Russia that was looking to expand its business with the U.S. government, the newspaper reported.
The Journal said both business engagements came in the summer and fall of 2015.
Both came about a "year after he had been fired as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and while he continued to maintain a top-secret level security clearance," the Journal noted.
And in December 2015, Flynn was also paid $33,750 by the Kremlin-backed news organization RT for a speech about foreign policy and intelligence matters at a conference in Russia, the newspaper said.
He joined the Trump presidential campaign in Feb. 2016.
CNN reported that Flynn had previously acknowledged the speaking engagement and told news outlets he received money for the speech. However, he said the source of the money was his U.S speakers' bureau and not the Russian broadcaster.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is now questioning whether Flynn reported the payment as required by law and military regulations, CNN reported.
And the Journal said the documents it reviewed did not show what other work he may have been doing outside his role as a paid speaker.
Flynn was forced to resign as Trump's national security adviser in February after he failed to disclose the extent of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.
The Journal pointed out that he filed paper last week with the Justice Department confirming his company was paid $530,000 to work on behalf of the interests of the Turkish government.
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