mr. flynn exchanged text messages with the russian ambassador. on december 28th, 2016, mr. mr. flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the russian ambassador. by then it was pretty clear that the obama administration was going to take actions against russia. on december 29th, 2016, mr. flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the russian ambassador again. that day the obama administration expelled 35 -- and announced a new sanctions. we also know from the press reporting said sometimes in december mr. flynn met with the russian ambassador at trump tower, and that mr. trump's son in law was also there. the purpose of the meeting was to establish a line of communication with the kremlin. i should add that the white house and mr. flynn did not disclose this december face-to-face meeting until this month. on january 20th -- january 12th, 2017, the press reported that mr. flynn contacted the russian ambassador again. and on january 15th, 2015, vice president elect mike speenineteen -- pence said that i cannot confirm that those conversations took the diplomats, having nothing whatso

mr. flynn's conduct. the white house also publicly denied that mr. flynn and the russian ambassador discussed sanctions. of course on february 13th, 2017, mr. flynn resigned as national security adviser. now, director comey, all of these accounts are open source press reportings. given russia's long standing desire to cultivate relations with influential u.s. persons, isn't the american public right to be concerned about mr. flynn's conduct. his failure to disclose that contact with the russian ambassador and attempts to cover it up. it looks like white house attempts to sweep this under a drug. don't we as american people have a right to know and shouldn't our fbi investigate job claims? >> i can't comment. i understand people's curiosity about our work and intense interest in it and often times speculation about it. we can't do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it. i can't comment. >> i would like to turn to another topic to fl flynn. his failure to disclose until pressured last week by my colleagues on the house oversi

mr. flynn's conduct. the white house also publicly denied mr. flynn and the russian ambassador discussed sanctions and of course on february 13th, 2017 mr. flynn resigned as national security adviser. director comey all of these accounts are open source press reportings. given rush aia's desire to cultivate relations with u.s. persons isn't the american public right to be concerned about from pl flynn's conduct, his failure to disclose that contact with the russian ambassador, his attempts to cover it up, and what looks like the white house's attempts to sweep this under the rug don't we as the american people deserve a right to know and shouldn't our fbi investigate such claims? >> i can't comment. i understand people's curiosity about our work and intense interest in it and as mr. king said oftentimes speculation about it, but we kcht' do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it so i can't comment. >> i'd like to turn to another topic about mr. flynn his failure to disclose until pressured last week by my colleagues on

mr. flynn's conduct. the white house also publicly denied that mr. flynn and the russian ambassador discussed sanctions. of course, on february 13th, 2017 mr. flynn resigned as national security advisor. now, director comey, all of these accounts are open source press reportings. given russia's longstanding desire to cultivate relations with influential u.s. persons, isn't the american public right to be concerned about mr. flynn's conduct, his failure to disclose that contact with the russian ambassador, his attempts to cover it up, and what looks like the white house's attempts to sweep this under the rug? don't we as the american people deserve the right to know and shouldn't our fbi investigate such claims? >> i can't comment. i understand people's curiosity about our work and intense interest in it, and mr. king said oftentimes speculation about it, but we can't do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it. i can't comment. >> i would like to turn to another topic about mr. flynn. his failure to disclose until pressured l

mr. flynn's conduct. the white house publicly denied that mr. flynn and the russian massacre discussed sanctions. director comey, all of these pressts are open-source --orting straight given isn't the american public right to be concerned about mr. flynn's conduct? his attempts to cover it up in what looks like the white house attempts to sweep it under the rug. don't we deserve the right to know and shouldn't our fbi investigating such claims? dir. comey: i can't comment. i understand will turn off of the. well or fairly to the people we investigate or talk about. return to another topic. payments he received to russia , according torip classifiede 2017 d and long-standing, anti-u.s. messaging likely named at undermining viewers trust in the democratic procedures. this is a says that russian -- employed going back to the 20 sony -- 20's 12. how long has the intelligence community been looking at rt as an arm of the russian government? >> we are certainly aware and have been for some time. >> how long have you known about it? >> some number of ye

then mr. flynnsaid, quote, yeah, i didn't take any money from russia if that is what you're asking me, end quote. so director comey, isn't it true that the house oversight committee last week received information and released publicly that mr. flynn accepted nearly $35,000 in speaking fees and traveling fees from rt, this government, russian government-owned media outlet? >> i believe i've seen news accounts to that effect. >> moreover, isn't it also true that according to the emoluments close of the united states constitution a person holding any office of profit or trust can not accept exists or payments from a foreign, from a foreign country? and doesn't the do confident, the department of defense prohibit retired military officers from taking any consulting fees, gifts, traveling expenses hon rare yum or salary from a foreign government including commercial enterprises or owned by or controlled by a foreign government like rt? >> not something i can comment on. >> an you speak to whether or not

mr. flynn well. covid has wreaked havoc on the health and economic welfare of americans just as it has done across the globe. economically the travel industry has been especially hard hit. i understand amtrak faces a serious financial issues and other strains on its operation. we'll hear specifically about this directly from mr. flynn. i've always been a strong advocate from amtrak because it provides an important public service, the rail service. it is critical that all of us, especially everyone at amtrak, always keep in mind that it is first and foremost a national public service. though this does not mean that it should not be run well. in addition, as everyone watching knows i've been a staunch advocate for the men and women who work at amtrak. it is essential that -- especially in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic that's caused economic hardships for millions of americans and their families. that brings me to the issue of furloughs recently announced by amtrak. congress recognized th

>> to discuss your meeting with the ambassador with mr. flynn. >> i met with i think some 25 ambassadors that year and i did meet once in my office with mr. and i do not recall and i do not believe i communicated to any of that information to mr. flynn. >> are you aware of any meetings between ambassador and mr. flynn that might have occurred around the time of your meeting with the investor? >> i do not. >> in your testimony before the senate in may former acting attorney general sally yates testified that one week into the trump administration she notified the administration that mr. flynn had lied to vice-president pence about discussing sanctions with ambassador and is part of the transition team and the presence for attorney general in january were you notified when the administration was notified of mr. flynn's lies and his susceptibility to russian blackmail? >> i don't believe so. >> we now know that you are aware of the efforts of carter paige and george papadopoulos to meet and establish communication with robin -- >> that is not neces

mr. flynn, ms. griffin mentioned in her testimony and i was made aware that amtrak town hall on july 29th that you attended, your team say that the 401(k) match will return for management employees on october 1st and the pay cut for certain management employees that they took will be restored in early november. can you confirm this information is accurate? if it is, do you think it's appropriate to restore the 401(k) matches and pay for management employees when you're furloughing over 2,000 employees and cutting vital train service? >> thank you for your question, mr. chairman. so yes, it is accurate that during that town hall meeting we discussed restoring the 401(k) match. at the beginning of the pandemic, we took the initiative to reduce expenses and i referred to that in my remarks. and so we did cut the 401(k) match for all management employees. the 401(k) program that was put in place some years earlier when we eliminated the defined benefit pension plan, and in exchange for eliminating

but we have a problem with mr. flynn. mr. flynn put in a gate illegally. he locked us out of the backdoor, pretty well for five months. then he allowed limited access and after the appeal hearing, we were distributed with keys, and you mandated that the doors of the gate be open. and there were certain suggestions and certain types of construction. unfortunately and i'm completely confused as to what the building department said just now. because i understood there was an inspection of the gate and the construction work and the permits were issued on the basis of that. after that was done, a workman from mr. flynn's -- under his direction, cut off the bottom of the gate. the result was -- i made a mistake yesterday -- no, i'm sorry, the day before. and i went in and i checked the gate and i opened the side gate, and then i tried to open the other gate. and it drops to the floor. and, in fact, we had to have assistance from somebody from 620, mr. flynn's other building to help us lift the gate. i wasn't strong enough and i had another person with me and thi

mr. flynn, i want to give you opportunity to talk about the money. you talked about reestablishing routes. how important is additional dollars to any covid package we may pass in congress dedicated to amtrak, how important is that to reestablishing routes? >> it is significant. essentially, we have a very low level of funding. we have a cash burn of $250 million per month, absent additional funding to support long-distance service and discussions about furloughed employees and bringing them back, it will be difficult for us to do that. got 1:20 left. thank you for our conversation yesterday. this is important for consumers to know in a pandemic. safe amtrak is compared to airline travel as far as the spread of the pandemic goes. the airline industry has talked the potential for covid is slim. we have implemented protocols to ensure the safest environment we can for employees and passengers. we are communicating the steps we have taken to build a level of assurance and confidence so when passeng

i spoke to mr. flynn, and he would have to show about. -- show that. >> if that is the case, the corollary to the question ais is the action in the pennant to that, or is there a reason to tie them together? >> i think we should have a building in place before we do anything, because it is kind of a little bit of leverage as well, so maybe we hold it off a little bit and say i would like to see a building permit in place. >> we will see what their opinion is. >> to enter the first question you posed -- to answer the first question you posed, if the fence was installed solely in the public right-of-way, the department of public works will review the integrity of that gate. we will engage the building department and the fire department as it relates to this alleyway to insure the building requirements are satisfied. this raises a good question, because currently the permanent incentives -- is inspected. i am not sure what you would need to get a building permit relating to this gate at this point. one of th

the question is first for mr. flynn. mr. ynn i i know the continuing competing pressures you have. you've got a decrease in ridership. drop in revenue. you've got new safety protocols. and yet i know capital improvements continuing. for example the bridge along others. like you to answer how you are able to continue capital improvements in the middle of this economic and health crisis, that am track faces? >> thank you ms. norton. the capital improvements that we continue to pursue, or continue to is being pursued for long time. as you know. and pulled for the company and our writers. >> the revenue come from? >> the revenue for the improvements come from congress. it's monies that are allocated to us, working jointly with the department of transportation the federal railway administration. >> has there been any costs in the revenue. [inaudible] >> know, there have not been any cuts. theen capital funding is fairly specific as what is intended to do. and these are investments and hundred year old infrastructure. >> i'm not su

>> did you discuss your meeting with the ambassador with mr. flynn? >> the ambassador -- i met with i think some 25 ambassadors that year. i did meet once in my office with mr. kislyak. and i do not recall and don't believe i communicated any of that information to mr. flynn. >> are you aware of any meetings between ambassador kislyak and mr. flynn that might have occurred around the time of your meeting with the ambassador? >> i do not. >> okay. in her testimony before the senate in may, former acting attorney general sally yates testified that one week into the trump administration, she notified the administration that mr. flynn had lie d to vice president pence about kislyak. as part of the transition team and the president's pick for attorney general, in january were you notified when the administration was notified of mr. flynn's lie and his susceptibility to russian blackmail? >> i don't believe so. >> all right. we now know that you were aware of the efforts of carter page and george papadopoulos to meet and establish communications with the rus

and they are that mr. flynn lied about his communications with mr.russian ambassador and flynn live on taking money from the russian government and mr. flynn at eight minimum did not disclose his work as an agent of a foreign power and that the white house did not help in this concern. gentlemen, it is clear to me that mr. flynn should be under criminal investigations. i know you cannot comment. i believe it is my duty as a member of this committee to comment to the american people his engagement of lying and failure to disclose really important information in contact with a foreign ambassador do rise to the level of disclosure intent., criminal so i say this to say the american people deserve to know the full extent of mr. flynn's involvement with the russians and the extent to which it influence the 2016 election. i believe our democracy requires it. i yelled back to my ranking member. >> time expired. i recognize myself for the team that is. mr. comey and mr. rogers, you both said the russians had favored don

>> did you discuss your meeting with the ambassador with mr. flynn? >> the ambassador -- i met with i think some 25 ambassadors that year. i did meet once in my office with mr. kislyak. and i do not recall and don't believe i communicated any of that information to mr. flynn. >> are you aware of any meetings between ambassador kislyak and mr. flynn that might have occurred around the time of your meeting with the ambassador? >> i do not. >> okay. in her testimony before the senate in may, former acting attorney general sally yates testified that one week into the trump administration, she notified the administration that mr. flynn had lied to vice president pence about discussing sanctions with ambassador kislyak. as part of the transition team, and the president's pick for attorney general, in january were you notified when the administration was notified of mr. flynn's lie and his susceptibility to russian blackmail? >> i don't believe so. >> all right. with. >> we now know you were aware of the efforts of carter page and george papadopolous to meet

i now recognize mr. flynn for his five minutes. thank you. mr. flynn: thank you. ank you members of the subcommittee and staff. my name is ryan flynn. i'm the executive director for the new mexico oil and gas association. prior to taking over, i was the secretary of environment and natural resource trustee in the state of new mexico and worked in state government for approximately six years, almost six years prior to taking this role. i want to thank representative pearce for recognizing me and i want to recognize him as well. he has been a tremendous leader. his district is home to one of the most resilient and productive oil and gas plays in the world. the great permian basin. i want to talk to you a little bit about new mexico's oil and gas industry and talk to you about some challenges to oil and gas development on federal lands in new mexico and suggest some opportunities for improving blm's operations in new mexico. i want to be very clear that my goal here today is not in any way, shape or form to criticize blm individually. we have had a tremendous working

did you discuss your meetings with him with mr. flynn? mr. sessions: did i discuss mr. flynn with him? ms. lofgren: did you discuss your meeting with the ambassador with mr. flynn? mr. sessions: i met, i think, some 25 ambassadors that year. i did meet once in my office with mr. kysliak, and do i not recall and don't believe i communicated any of that information to mr. flynn. ms. lofgren: are you aware of any meetings between the ambassador and mr. flynn that might have occurred around the time of your meeting with the am -- ambassador? mr. session: do i not. ms. lofgren: former acting attorney general sally yates testified one week into the trump administration she notified the administration that mr. flynn had lied to vice president pens about -- vice president pence about discussing sanctions with the ambassador. as part of the transition team and the president's pick for attorney general, in january, were you notified when the administration was notified of mr. flynn's lie and his susceptibility to russian blackmail? mr. sessions: i don't believe so. ms. lofgren: we

and knowing that mr. flynn is under investigation, i'm going to stick to subject matters that predate both the special counsel investigation and your appointment as attorney general. the foreign policy platform at the republican national convention undertook dramatic changes made to do discussed changes to the republican foreign policy platform with mr. flynn at any point during the campaign? >> i don't recall it. i was not at the convention when the platform committee met. >> you with the lead of the campaign, but you don't recall discussing it? >> that may be a bit of a stretch. i was asked to lead, inform, and find some people who would join and meet with mr. trump to give him advice and support regarding foreign policy and i did so even though we were not a very effective group, really. >> you met with ambassador kislyak in 2016. did you discuss that meeting with kislyak with mr. flynn? did you discuss your meeting with the ambassador with mr. flynn? >> i met with some 25 ambassadors that year. i did meet o

about this 17 days ago, the night suggested on bbc news that the discussion about sanctions between mr flynnmain topic of conversation. the whole point of the conversation in the meeting, was to discuss sanctions. does that suggest to you that michael flynn was acting on his own, that he was nasty talk about sanctions? i think he was acting on behalf of other faction within the trump transition team. there were five conversations and the reason why the washington post reported no sanctions was the main item, because somebody recorded those conversations, probably within the us intelligence community and has been leaking the transcripts to certain reporters. very interesting, thank you forjoining us. the half—brother of the north korean leader kimjong—un is reported to have been assassinated in malaysia. south korean media sources say kimjong nam was killed at kuala lumpur airport yesterday morning. he's thought to have left north korea after being passed over for the leadership of the country. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins. it is a country where publicjoy is the test of

us media say that mr flynn is prepared to give testimony that mr trump's son—in—law, jared kushner, wasbers of the president's transitional team who directed intimate contact with the russians. aleem maqbool has the latest. it has sent political shock waves through washington. general michael flynn, donald trump's former national security adviser, turned himself in to the fbi, and to a judge admitted lying about his contacts with russian officials. general michael flynn! michael flynn developed a close relationship with donald trump during the election campaign, and at one point he was talked of as a potential vice—president. a truly great general. mike, thank you. at the republican national convention, he famously led chanting for hillary clinton to be imprisoned. lock her up! all the focus now is on the mistake michael flynn made after donald trump's win at the polls, when barack obama was still in office and had imposed sanctions on russia for interfering with the us election. on 29th december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in the first of a series of cal

and then mr. flynn said, quote, yeah, i didn't take any money from russia if that's what you are asking me. end quote. director comey, isn't it true that the house oversight committee last week received information and released publicly that mr. flynn accepted nearly $35,000 in speaking fees and traveling fees from rt, this government -- run-government owned media outlet? >> i believe i've seen news accounts to that effect. >> moreover, isn't it also true that according to the emoluments clause of the united states constitution a person holding any office of profit or trust cannot accept gifts or payments from a foreign country? and doesn't the dod, the department of defense, tribute prohibit retired military officers from taking any consulting fees, gifts, traveling expenses, honorariums or salary from foreign government including commercial enterprises owned by or controlled by a foreign government like rt? >> that's not something i can comment on. >> can you speak to whether or not the emodel you mea

mr. flynn's conduct. the white house also publicly denied mr. flynn and the russian ambassador discussed sanctions and of course on february 13th, 2017 mr. flynn resigned as national security adviser. director comey, all of these accounts are open source press reportings. given russians' long-standing desire to cultivate relations with influential u.s. persons, isn't the american public right to be concerned about mr. flynn's conduct, his failure to disclose that contact with the russian ambassador, his attempts to cover it up, and what looks like the white house's attempts to sweep this under the rug? don't we as the american people deserve the right to know and shouldn't our fbi investigate such claims? >> i can't comment. i understand people's curiosity about our work and intense interest in it and as mr. king said oftentimes speculation about it, but we can't do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it so i can't comment. >> i'd like to turn to another topic about mr. flynn, his failure to disclose until pressured la

exposure to mr. flynn would have been significant had he been indicted, meaning he could have potentially received many years in prison. mr. van grack, the prosecutor, says yes, your honor. so that is a remarkable moment. that's the prosecutors trying to help flynn out here. they're prosecuting flynn, but they're trying to help him out. they're telling the judge, hey, he helped us out in this other case. a and the judge in response makes the prosecutors spell out how guilty flynn might have been in that felony criminal case too. so things are not going well for michael flynn here. you should also know that the effort by flynn and his lawyers over recent days to argue heading into today's sentencing that flynn was kind of the victim here, that he didn't really mean to lie to the fbi. the fbi somehow tricked him or unfairly boxed him in to lying inadvertently, they tried that a little bit in the document that they submitted to the judge about flynn's sentencing in advance of today's hearing. that argument re

>> it was not our call as to whether or not mr. flynn was fired, we were giving them information so that they could take the action that they believed was appropriate. >> on february 14thth after general flynn resigned, sean spicer said, and i quote, there was nothing in what general flynn did in terms of conducting himself that was an issue. do you have any idea what he meant by those words? >> no. i'm not -- all i can say he didn't reach that conclusion from his conversation with us. i can't speak to how he arrived at that. >> let me ask you there was a period of time 18 days that we've referred to during the course of this and during that period of 18 days a number of things occurred. general flynn continued to serve of as the national security adviser for 18 days after you had briefed the white house about the counterintelligence risk that he posed, and during those 18 days general flynn continued to hire key senior staff on the national security council, announced new sanctions on iran's new ballistic missile program, met with japan

>> let me ask mr. flynn in your testimony i just made note so this will not be identical to what you said, but your testimony was that you could encounter a potential political impact that you indicate the u.s. soccer federation opposes the reelection of sepp blatter? >> i'm sorry i didn't hear you. >> you indicated in your testimony that the u.s. soccer federation opposed, but for someone other than sepp blatter as president? your testimony had something along these lines, and that could have caused potential political impact in our chances to host the world cup? that suggests to me that there is an awareness that the decision about where a world cup soccer match is going to be played, you would admit, is not necessarily based upon the merits. if you are worried about a vote, or the chairman of fifa having an impact on site selection that suggests to me that you are aware that something is not aboveboard, or am i overstating that? >> sorry. i think it reflects a management style. that is what i was trying t

having said that, let's understand the allegations which came out today and what mr flynn pled to is hat he told mr mueller, who was careful to shield what he knew about mr flynn's conversations in his charging documents. ron, i'm trying to work out if you are representative of other republicans, in office, i saying this is nothing to worry about. or is there a growing voice which says this is becoming too big to ignore? emily, i come at this from the perspective of being a lawyer and having served in the white house and four years, and knowing what it is like to bring the government up to speed so the president and vice presidents can assume office. the logan act is... but you would never have done these things. you would never have set up meetings with russian ambassadors in that transition period, would you? i would not have, absolutely not. but the logan act which was passed in 1799 says it is illegal for private citizens to interfere with official government business. i would contend to you as a lawyer, if you're working a federal office building in the united states, and you're

we are the tenants affected by it, not mr. flynn. goothe other issue i would likeo bring up is the gate open or closed. i have not watched it, but two weeks running, the gate is closed. your order is affixed to the wall. it says seven days a week, and the manager does not work on the weekends, so the gate is closed. gi want to ensure your order is so vague. thank you. -- is obeyed. thank you. >> any other public comments? please step forward. >> my apartment faces the alley way. i have also witnessed negate being closed. the whole reason the gate was installed and now is because of safety. i think mr. flynn has done and not to create safety for the alley. good -- has done enough to create safety for the alley. he has a camera to see what goes in and out. there is a private security that comes in in the evening to patrol the building and the alleyway. he says there is a property manager. you're there might be a new one, but for the past two and not -- there might be another one, but for the past two and a half months there was an 0no

division was part of those discussions with the fbi. >> did you discuss criminal prosecution of mr. flynn? general flynn. >> my recollection is that did not come up much in the first meeting. it did come up in the second meeting when mr. mcgann called me back and asked the morning after -- this is the morning of the 27th and asked if i could come back to his office. i went back with the nsd official. there were four topics that he wanted to discussion there. one of those was precisely that. he asked about the a applicability of certain statutes -- >> this was at the white house -- >> the white house. >> with the same two individuals on the following day? >> right. >> you went back pursuant to a phone call request or -- >> yes. the morning of the 27th after our meeting occurred on the afternoon of the 26th, the morning of the 27th mr. mcgann called me and asked if i could come back to the white house. we set up a time and i went over that afternoon bringing the same career official me from national security division who was overseeing this investigation. he had the same associate from the

jennings and even mr. flynn we've heard mr. berry's testimony about the conditions involving the preparation for the 2022 -- excuse me, 2022 soccer world cup. what is the relationship between the testimony that we're hearing, mr. bery about corruption bribery, racketeering, criminal activity, related to fifa and the findings that your organization has made in regard to what is going on in preparation for that world cup. how-is our hearing, are these two contrasting type of stories that don't belong together or are theyin mattly tied to each other. >> thank you for the question. at the end of the day when fifa made the decision to grant the bid for the 2022 world cup to occur in qatar, it took responsibility for the human rights impacts of that decision. >> how can you say that? why is that true. >> because fifa as an international organization with a billion dollars plus in reserves has a responsibility under u.n. principals to ensure that its operations do not turn a blind eye to or directly involve serious human rights abuses

so mr. flynn if you want to share with us some of the main amendments that we had today wore 40 are the ordinance and if my colleagues have questions >> thank you, supervisor. so package you have before you on page 6 in subsection 3 b adds 3 new exemptions for which the local hire policy requires it is exempting the tenant improvements estimated to cost less than $750,000 for the building permit where it is contracted by tenant >> that's effectively the projects at the port that's where the request are for the amendment. >> that's correct. the request came from the port it was a multi department meeting headed up by oewd and the mayors task force and they discussed this exemption and 3 others 2 of which are in the packet but the port was the one that was put that forgot and there was a concern that is smaller tenants on port property would have a little bit more trouble matching the needs around the local hiring and prevailing wage and about local hire >> okay. >> the second exemption for projects