Defiant Michael Flynn to snub Senate over Russian papers

Washington: Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn will decline to comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 US election, according to media reports on Monday.

Mr Flynn will invoke his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Fox News reported, citing sources close to Mr Flynn.

The committee had first requested documents from Flynn in an April 28 letter, but the retired lieutenant general had declined to cooperate with the committee’s request.

Mr Flynn was forced to step down from his post in the White House in February after it was discovered that he had misled vice-president Mike Pence regarding conversations he had with a Russian official during the presidential transition period.

He had wrongly informed Mr Pence that he had not discussed US sanctions on Russia that were imposed as punishment for meddling in the 2016 election.

Since his resignation, several details have emerged. Sally Yates, then the acting attorney general, warned the Trump administration that Mr Flynn could be compromised because of his misleading conversations nearly three weeks before the resignation.

Mr Flynn had also received tens of thousands of dollars in payments from Russian sources.