WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, refused Monday to comply with a Senate subpoena seeking records of his dealings with Russia, invoking his constitutional protection against self-incrimination.
Lawyers for the former -star Army general said he would not cooperate with the Senate Intelligence Committee inquiry because the "escalating public frenzy against him" and the Justice Department's recent appointment of a special counsel put him at legal risk if he turned over the documents.
Flynn, who was forced to resign from the White House in February, is a key figure in the growing political scandal. The FBI is investigating whether members of the Trump campaign cooperated with Russian intelligence agencies during or after the 2016 race.
The subpoena "seeks to compel General Flynn to offer testimony through the act of producing documents that may or may not exist," his lawyer, Robert Kelner, and two other attorneys wrote in a letter to the Senate committee.
Under the circumstance, they wrote, "General Flynn is entitled to, and does, invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against production of documents."
The Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena sought records of all Flynn's meetings with Russian officials, and any communications he had with the Trump campaign about Russia going back to 2015.
The committee said it would continue to try to obtain the documents.
In a statement, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the committee chairman, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee's top Democrat, said they are "disappointed he has chosen to disregard the committee's subpoena request for documents relevant and necessary to our investigation.
"We will vigorously pursue General Flynn's testimony and his production of any and all pertinent materials pursuant to the Committee's authorities," they said.
Flynn's lawyers warned that they would fight to protect the records.
Flynn "has more than a reasonable apprehension that any testimony he provides could be used against him," they wrote.
"Multiple members of Congress have demanded that he be investigated and even prosecuted. He is the target on a nearly daily basis of outrageous allegations."
The Senate panel last month turned down a request from Flynn's lawyers that he be given immunity from prosecution in return for testimony. His lawyers said Flynn would testify "should the circumstances permit."
Adding to his troubles, a Democratic lawmaker said Monday that Flynn may have lied to federal investigators when he claimed he was paid $33,750 by a U.S. company for making a 2015 speech in Moscow.
"General Flynn told security clearance investigators that he was paid by 'U.S. companies' when he traveled to Moscow in December 2015 to dine at a gala with Russian President Vladimir Putin," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Investigations Committee, said in a statement.
"The actual source of the funds for General Flynn's trip was not a U.S. company, but the Russian media propaganda arm, RT," Cummings said, referring to the government-run television system.
Trump ordered Flynn to resign three weeks into the new administration after news reports disclosed that he had lied to White House colleagues, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S.
The day after firing Flynn, Trump met with FBI Director James B. Comey and asked him to halt the bureau's investigation of Flynn, the New York Times reported
"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Trump told Comey, according to the report. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."
Trump later fired Comey.
In addition to the Senate intelligence investigation, Flynn is under scrutiny by three other congressional committees, the Pentagon inspector general, the FBI counterintelligence investigation and a federal criminal investigation in northern Virginia.
A grand jury there also has issued subpoenas for documents, reportedly about Flynn's business dealings with Turkey and Russia before he entered the White House.
