Vice President Pence Caught in a Lie About Michael Flynn Acting as a Foreign Agent While Working for Trump Campaign and Transition Team

Vice President Mike Pence has a problem.
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Yesterday Pence told Fox reporter Brett Baier that Thursday was the first day he heard that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was working as a lobbyist for the Turkish government while he was advising the Trump campaign and serving on the transition team.
 
Most Washington watchers had a pretty good idea about it on Election Day, when The Hill published an opinion piece by Flynn calling for the extradition of a Turkish cleric living in the U.S. The article was odd, especially given the timing  and Flynn’s prominence during the Trump campaign. (During the campaign Flynn had led crowds in cheers of “Lock her up,” calling for Hillary Clinton’s imprisonment.)
 
Rachel Maddow had multiple stories on her MSNBC program featuring Flynn, at least on of which explained that Flynn was paid to speak at a Russian government-sponsored trip to Russia, in which he started a standing ovation for Vladimir Putin.
 
Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted today that President Trump did not know that Mike Flynn was lobbying for Turkey, and referred to Flynn as a private citizen. (Flynn, as a lieutenant general, is not a private citizen.)

The Daily Caller (a conservative news site) published an article on November 11 describing Flynn’s commitment to the Turkish government.
 
Flynn made more than $500,000 from his agreement with Turkey, so it seems doubtful that it would have slipped his mind.
 
This week Flynn retroactively filed paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Willfully failing to file (retroactive does not count) is a felony.
 
Most damning for Pence, however, is that Representative Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter – addressed to Mike Pence, as head of the transition team – on November 18, raising questions about Flynn’s conflicts of interest.
 
Pence denying that he knew about Flynn’s deal with Turkey can be found here.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pence-on-new-flynn-revelations-affirmation-of-trumps-decision-to-ask-for-resignation/
 
The Daily Caller article from November can be found here.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/11/trumps-top-military-adviser-is-lobbying-for-obscure-company-with-ties-to-turkish-government/
 
The Rachel Maddow Show from November can be found here.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-makes-extreme-choice-in-flynn-for-nsa-812931139909
 
The clip from Sean Spicer’s press conference can be found here.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/09/michael-flynn-foreign-agent-sean-spicer
 
Michael Flynn at a Trump rally in July 2016, leading a chant with supporters, can be found here.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pence-on-new-flynn-revelations-affirmation-of-trumps-decision-to-ask-for-resignation/
 
 The letter from Representative Cummings to Vice President Pence can be found here.

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