Flynn received gifts from Russian firms

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, received gifts from Russia’s state-run television network that might have violated the U.S. Constitution, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said today. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released documents showing the Russian network RT, designated by the United States as a propaganda arm of the Russian government, paid Flynn $33,750 for appearing at a Moscow event in December 2015, as well as thousands more in expenses and for other speeches. Flynn stepped down a month ago over allegations he tried to conduct diplomacy with the Russians before Trump became president. The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution forbids Americans from receiving gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval. Cummings said Flynn “violated the Constitution by accepting tens of thousands of dollars from an agent of a global adversary that attacked our democracy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.