The House Intelligence Committee sent subpoenas to former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and ex-Manafort protege Rick Gates on Wednesday, according to an announcement from committee chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Schiff is demanding that the pair cooperate with the panel’s investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. politics during the 2016 presidential campaign and after. The subpoena mandates that Gates and Flynn turn over an unspecified list of documents and information by June 26, with in-person testimony set for both on July 10.
“As part of our oversight work, the House Intelligence Committee is continuing to examine the deep counterintelligence concerns raised in Special Counsel Mueller’s report, and that requires speaking directly with the fact witnesses,” Schiff said in a statement, adding that both Flynn and Gates “so far have refused to cooperate fully with Congress.”
“That’s simply unacceptable,” the statement reads.
Gates was a longtime political consultant who worked with former Trump campaign manager and current convicted felon Paul Manafort. After cutting a plea deal in February 2018, Gates has been cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Flynn is currently awaiting sentencing in D.C. federal court, after pleading guilty in a separate cooperation agreement. The subpoena comes one day after he hired right-wing bomb thrower Sidney Powell as his new defense attorney, signaling that the retired general intends to seek a pardon from President Trump.
In a letter to Flynn released by the committee, Schiff cites a tongue-lashing that the onetime National Security Adviser got from a D.C. federal judge during his aborted December 2018 sentencing hearing. At that hearing, Flynn agreed to postpone his sentencing until his cooperation was absolutely complete.
“Your cooperation with the Committee’s investigation nonetheless provides an opportunity to demonstrate to the Court that you have met the ‘high standard’ of cooperation that you represented to the Court that you set for yourself,” Schiff wrote in the letter.
Schiff has been investigating potential counterintelligence threats related to ongoing Russian interference in U.S. affairs.
Read letters sent by Schiff to Gates and Flynn below:
