i now recognize mr. flynn for his five minutes. thank you. mr. flynn: thank you. thank 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 workin

mr. flynn. the chair now recognizes mr. sclotchy for his five minutes. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify today. my name is mark scolotchy, a professor of law at the colorado law school. i want to note i began my written testimony by asking we each commit to each other we will engage in a meaningful way on the important issues that are the subject of this hearing, and i am offering this testimony today in the hope that we can have a constructive dialogue. i want to make three points regarding oil and gas programs on federal lands. first, oil and gas production on federal lands remains strong despite a weak market and lackluster interest in new leases and development. second, efforts to accelerate leasing and development under current marking conditions are misguided because what they could do is lock up federal oil and gas resources even as they deny the public a fair return on these valuable assets. in this regard, by the way, the committee's focus really should be on improving and re

but we need to know why it is the president, the president's family, mr. flynn, mr. sessions and on and on and on, nobody has come forward and said, hey, here's what we talked to the russians about. here's what happened. so that's why we have the special prosecutor. that's why we have congressional investigations. and it is also why the attorney general of the united states is now under a great cloud that could be projurious. >> don junior releases e-mail after changing his story. >> this is what has happened continual from everybody from the president to his children to the attorney general of the united states to the national security adviser, mr. flynn, to the president of the united states. everyone has changed their story under duress, yet nobody has come forward and said, here's what the hell happened. >> john dean, if this reporting is true, this entanglement with russia goes all the way up to the top law enforcement officer in the land. he has recused himself, but is that enough? >> well, he certainly has put himself in jeopardy with this situation by not com

mr. flynn's efforts during the presidential transition to establish relations with russian officials.rom the report, smith offered to make introductions to mr. flynn's son who worked as chief of staff in his father's company and that smith was helping flynn's son. now the journal's reporting to be specific does not define the role flynn held to find the hacked clinton e-mails, but it does detail for the first time these specifics we just described in part to the watershed accusations against the trump campaign of collusion to influence the election. don't expect public congressional testimony, though, from mr. smith himself. mr. smith died at 81 years old on may 14th. that was about ten days after his "wall street journal" interview. joining us now is former fbi senior agent and terra maller, spokesperson and senior policy adviser for the counterextremism project and former c.i.a. military intelligence. what do you make of this report that came from the "wall street journal," these connections we just mentioned some of them with mike flynn and peter smith and potentially trump campaig

mr. smith was telling people he was talking to mike flynn about what he was doing, the quest to find theseupposedly hacked e-mails and e-mails to his associates, mr. smith wrote he wanted to make introductions to people he was trying to recruit to mike flynn's son, who was then running the flynn intel group, mike flynn's consulting company. >> that company was called out if one ema ill to a recruitment e-mail as being among a small group of people that were working with peter smith in this endeavor. so he's really painting a par trait of mike flynn as somebody who know what is he is up to as peter smith tells the story said flynn was supportive of it, essentially. >> he talked to a group of several hackers that had potentially gotten some e-mails, two of those groups are russians. do you know, are those the same russian hackers we talk about when we talk about meddleth in the u.s. election? >> it's a great question. we don't know that. when smith set out to do the work. he told me he believed they would eventually make contact with hackers, as he put it, around the russian government. it's

and the russian ambassador did a lot of damage to mr. flynn? >> i think we would all agree at this table that any leak of classified information causes immense damage to national security. >> i'm overseas talking to a foreign leader, which i do a lot. if they're collecting on that foreign leader, i want to know is it possible for somebody in the administration to get a hold of the conversation and unmask me? is that possible? >> yes. i mean -- >> is it possible for me to know if that happened? >> as mr. brooker explained, the notification that that happened -- >> i'm talking about me. can i find that out, yes or no? do i have the legal right as a united states senator to find out if my government is monitoring conversation between me and a foreign leader and if anybody had access to that conversation? >> we have worked with the chair and ranking member of the intelligence committees to support member requests for questions on gates. >> is it legal or not? does the law allow me to get that information? >> it's my understanding, senator, we have

clinton's server and transmit them to mr. flynn via an intermediary. this does not prove michael flynn was involved. we know that president trump has gone to tremendous, even reckless lengths to protect michael flynn. the president chose not to fire flynn as national security adviser despite repeated warnings from the acting attorney general that flynn had been lying about his conversations with the russian ambassador and was exposed to possible criminal liability for it, and was susceptible to russian blackmail. he only fired flynn after those lies were leaked to the press. the president asked james comey to back off flynn. asked other officials to lean on comey to do so. he fired comey when he did not comply. the president has defended flynn, despite firing him for lying. >> michael flynn, general flynn is a wonderful man, i think he's been treated very unfairly by the media. as i call it, the fake media in many cases. and i think it's really a sad thing that he was treated so badly. >> flynn himself has gone silent publicly, in march, he said he was

russian hackers discussing how to obtain e-mails from miss clinton's server and then transmit them to mr. flynn via an intermediary. until this week, and the disclosure of jump junior's e-mails. that was the very first evidence of a trump ally seeking to collude with russian hackers. now the story has taken a strange twist. the "wall street journal" had reported that smith died shortly after he was interviewed. but yesterday the "chicago tribune" said the death was not for natural causes. smith reportedly kill himself in a minnesota courtroom, leaving a suicide note during which he said, no foul play was involved with his death. there's a lot in his operation to get the e-mails. what connections he may or may not have had with the campaign and there's a good chance we'll be hearing about that in the future. ste. so it has the bad breath germ-killing power of this... with the lighter feel... of this. try listerine® zero alcohol™. >>> i thank vice president pence. he showed true back bone himself in indiana when he expanded medicaid for his citizens. >> virginia governor terry mccall deliver taki

when sally yates, the acting attorney general told the white house counsel that mr. flynn did exactly nothing until the washington post brought the story. there is a lot to investigate here and i'm glad that the house intelligence committee has gotten back on track with a bipartisan investigation. senate intelligence committee is doing the same thing. mr. mueller is doing the same thing. we will see where it all ends. >> do you think they are going to focus on the democratic involvement with the russians as well? were you asked about any of these things from the house intelligence committee this week? >> i have already told you that i was asked not to talk about specific questions and i said i would respect that. >> okay. >> but in general terms, i think they are looking at everything. >> yeah. >> so hopefully -- you know, i absolutely have nothing to hide. and i think the facts that you stated at the beginning of this program are wrong. and i think if you go back and check them, you will find -- >> i'm checking them over and over, john. it is not wrong. we know that you w

. >> would you agree that whoever leaked the conversation between mr. flynn and the russian ambassador did damage to the surfline? >> -- to mr. flan? if they are collecting on the foreign leader i want to know is it possible for somebody in the a hold oftion to get the conversation and unmask me? is that possible? yes -- i mean -- >> is it possible for me to know if that happened? >> the notification that happened-- >> can i find that out, yes or no? to find outal right if my government has monitored a conversation between me and it for later? and if anybody had access to the conversation. >> we have worked with the chair the ranking members to support member request for questions on gates. >> is it legal or not for me to make that ruling? >> is my understanding we have a request from you and we are processing it. >> mi ever going to get it in my lifetime? if you're not going to give it to me tell me why. i wish my colleagues would appreciate what he is trying to do and give him a little extra time. so what's the deal. there is anything people are entitled to

next up will be mr. flynn, the tax leader. [inaudible] prior to joining pwc, ms. olson led the washington tax practice and served as assistant secretary for tax policy at the u.s. department of treasury from 2002 until 2004. ms. olson has also previously served as a senior economic advisor to two presidential campaigns and federal tax advisor to a national commission on economic growth and tax reform. miss olson also held positions with the chief counsel's office of the irs, a special assistant to the chief counsel, attorney advisor in the legislation are rigid relations division and attorney in san diego district council in 2001. she was the first woman to serve as chair is the american bar association section on taxation. she received her ba, mba and jd from the university of minnesota. third we will hear from eric solomon, the codirector of the national tax department of ernst and young in washington d.c. mr. solomon formally served as a treasury department and irs holding various roles in the office of tax policy. at the treasury from 1999 until 2009. in both

clinton's server, and then transmit them to mr. flynn via an intermediary." this is clip one from my producers, matt tate, who is one of the unnamed sources in that story outs himself and says i am one of the sources in this story and he says this gentleman, mr. smith, who is now dead, had not contacted him and he was studying the email hack itself for what security breaches happened and what the email hack itself of the dnc meant from an objective point of view, no the partisan. he said smith had not contacted me about the dnc hack but rather about his constriction that clinton's private email server had been hacked in his view almost certainly both by the russian government and likely by multiple other hackers, too, and his desire to ensure that the fruits of those hacks were exposed prior to the election. he mentioned that he had been contacted by someone in the "dark web" who claimed to have a copy of emails from secretary clinton's private server and he wanted me to help validate whether or not the emails were genuine." you have a theory what all of this

fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flynn before and during the russian investigation, yet mr recused himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership -- to the people elected representatives. that's why the fbi director has a ten-year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director, as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit is a ceiling, not a floor. and while independents from partisan influence is critical and this committee tends to closely examine the circumstances of mr. comey's firing, history shows that the ten-year term limit isn't there to protect the fbi director from politicians or politics, it's there to protect -- to help pr

that means lieutenant general flynn is an adverse wit to mr. mccabe in a pending procedure. d allegedly wanted it pursued very aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making dis paraging remarks about flynn before and during the russian investigates investigation yet mr. mccabe never reduced himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he is handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the directors accountable to his leadership and to the people elected representatives. that's why the fbi director has a ten-year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit say ceiling not a floor and while influence is critical and this committee inten

they say that in addition to saying that he was in contact with mike flynn in this effort to get information on hillary clinton, mralso circulated a document that listed not just flynn but also steve ban upon the, kelly anne conway and sam colvis, a low profile go the trump indiana i company now a senior adviser at thing a culture accident. they were all mentioned by peter smith as people he was in communication with, in contact with are related to this effort to contact the russian hackers. this is a second beat on the first story of what collusion might have looked like if it happened. investigative reporter is joining us to talk about last night's allegations and this now reporting tonight. peter smith, he has some very interesting information on his background that might tell us whether he was tied to the trump campaign. he joins us next. it's a good thing we brought the tablets huh? yeah, and i can watch the game with directv now. oh, sorry, most broadcast and sports channels aren't included. and you can only stream on two devices at once. this is fun, we're having fun. yeah, we are. no, you're not jimmy. don

addition to saying that he was in contact with mike flynn in this effort, again, to work with russian hackers to get information on hillary clinton, mrsmith also circulated a document that listed not just flynn, but also steve bannon, kellyanne conway, and sam clovis, who was low profile but important policy adviser to the trump campaign. he is now senior adviser at the agriculture department. in addition to flynn, bannon, conway and clovis all mentioned by peter smith as people he was in communication with, in contact with related to this effort to contact the russian hackers. this is a second beat on the first story we have had about what collusion might have looked like if it happened. investigative reporter michael isikoff was -- is joining us tonight to talk about the man at the center of both last night's allegations, last night's reporting from "the wall street journal," and this new reporting tonight. peter smith, mike isikoff has some very interesting information on his background that might tell us a little bit more about what we might expect about whether he was tied to the trump campaign. isikoff joins us next. noo introd

in addition to saying tea was in contact with mike flynn in this effort, again to work with russian hackers to get information on hillary clinton, mrlated a document that listed not just flynn, but also stephen bannon, kellyanne conway and sam clovis, who was a low profile but important policy adviser to the trump campaign and now senior adviser at the agriculture department and in addition to flynn, they all mentioned by -- by peter smith as people he was in communication with, in contact with, related to this effort to contact the russian hackers. this is a second beat on the first story we've had about what collusion might have looked like if it happened. reporter michael isikoff is joining us to talk about the man at the center of last night's allegations and this new reporting tonight. peter smith, we have interesting information on his background that might tell us more about what we can expect if he was tried -- tide to the trump came. he joins us next. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... with reduced

flynn. records reported that mr. blumenthal transported documents to secretary clinton on behalf of a political party and the country of georgia. the justice department never explained why did not require -- if the justice department did nothis at tiffany's require registration, it should simply say so. particularly when the trump administration requires michael flynn to retroactively register under the law in a large part because he wrote an op-ed for the hill newspaper. it also required paul manafort to register for their work on behalf of the ukrainian government. there has been a lot of foreign agents attempting to influence u.s. policy. a group of unregistered agents allegedly worked to undermine the -- act. act was passed in honor of -- who uncovered .assive financial fraud he was then arrested by the same corrupt officials and later died in prison under suspicious circumstances. the act allows the president to sanction individual human rights abusers and freeze their assets and the use s -- and freezes their a

mr. mccabe never recused himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled the investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership. and to the people elected representatives. that is why the fbi director has a 10 year term limit and there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director as president trump did to former director james comey. the term limit is a ceiling, not a floor. while independence from partisan influence is critical in this committee and it tends to closely examine circumstances of mr. james comey's firing history shows that the 10 year term limit is not there to protect the fbi director from politicians or politics. it is there to protect, to help prevent the fbi director from overreaching or a

flynn. president trump's disgraced former national security adviser. and they reported that investigators have examined reports from intelligence agencies that describe russian hackers discussing how to obtain e-mails from mrston's e-mail server and give them to flynn. until this week, and the does closure of trump jr.'s e-mails, that report was the very first concrete evidence of a trump ally seeking to come collude with russian hackers. now, the story has taken a strange and macabre twist. "the wall street journal" reported that smith died shortly after he was interviewed. yesterday, it was reported that smith killed himself just days after talking to "the joushl," leaving a suicide note in saying that no foul play whatsoever was involved in his death. police say there is evidence to korb rate that claim and you can read all the details in "the tribune," but there's a lot that remains very unresolved. whatten conexts he may or may not have had with the xaun. there's a good chance we'll hear more about that in the future. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... with reduced redness,... thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and

mr. mcgahn that the underlying conduct that general flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself. >> what was that underlying conduct? >> i hate to frustrate you again but i'm going to have to because my knowledge of his underlying conduct is based on classified information. so i can't reveal what that underlying conduct is. >> naveed, is there any way to compare that set of statements from her under oath and the circumstantial evidence that's emerging in this report. >> when you think about this and you think about an intelligence operation, while we can't look at the evidence and whether it proves the standard of a crime, i think what you're starting to see is this concept of non-attribution, this opaqueness, these murky ties are in fact what i would say is the fingerprints of a very clear intelligence operation. >> when you say non-attribution, what is that? >> that's a very good point. so if we think about this idea that the russians are involved in this, it's very unlikely that a russian intelligence officer -- you know, when they plan out an operation, they want to make tha

mr. trump instructed other advisers to leave the oval office, then asked comey to drop the investigation of former national security adviser michael flynn but the president told the "times," he did not shoo people out of the room. >> i don't remember even talking to him about any of this stuff. his testimony is loaded up with lies. >> reporter: in a long, rambling interview, the president also reminisced about his recent trip to paris and to napoleon's tomb, and he gave a history lesson about how napoleon and hitler lost major battles against russia, because their armies froze to death. the president seemed fascinated, mentioning it more than once that french president emmanuel macron has a fondness for holding hands. "people don't realize he loves holding my hand," mr. trump said, "and that's good as far as that goes." >> a white house spokesperson said today that, yes, president trump is disappointed in attorney general sessions, but he has not lost confidence in him and has no plan to fire him. anthony? >> mason: chip reid at the white house, thank you, chip. the special counsel is now looking into the trump business empire, in the i

mr. mccabe was also named in a sex discrimination lawsuit by a female fbi agent who alleged retaliation. just last week it was reported that lieutenant general michael flynn wrote a letter in support of the female agent. that means lieutenant general plan isn't adverse witness to mr. mccabe any pending proceeding. yet mr. mccabe supervised the criminal investigation of flint and allegedly wanted it pursued very aggressively. according to press reports three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flynn before entering the russian investigation. yet mr. mccabe never refused himself from the flint investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he is handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i've asked inspector general to add this to the ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with tremendous amount of power.ns that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership and to the people elected representatives. that's why the fbi director has a ten year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability

mr. hickey, despite conducting -- trump's former national security advisor advisor michael flynn and former campaign manager paul manafort only filed after their activities were disclosed. doesn't that undermine the purpose of fera? >> good morning, senator, i can't comment on particular cases, what i will say is that we do our level best to identify conduct through whatever source we can and act on it by sending either a voluntary letter of inquiry or opening a criminal case. >> so regardless of whether you can comment on particulars, i'm getting to the delay in registering under fera and i'm wondering whether a delay in registering at some point can amount to a willful violation of fera. >> i think that's a good question, senator. the statute makes it clear that if you register late, that does not preclude a prosecution and there may be a number of facts that raise an inference of willfulness. certainly the goal of the statute is to make sure that agents register immediately upon becoming agents of principle. >> so perhaps we need to strengthen that part of the law because you mentioned t

mr. mccabe supervised that criminal investigation of flynn and alleged lead wanted to pursue it aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flinn before and during the russian investigation, yet mr. mccabe never recused himself from the flinn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspect or general to review this, and it is trusted with a tremendous amount of power and that power is unsubject to appropriate checks with the abuse of the civil liberties. the directors are accountable to his leadership and to the people elected representatives. that's yet fbi director has a ten-year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit is a sealing and not a floor and while independence from partisan influence is critical and this committee intends to closely examine the circumstances of mr. comey's firing, h

mr. manafort. he had an obligation to register, and he is registered. >> reporter: mike flynn, who also retroactively filed paperwork under fera, was criticized for promoting a foreign government while not disclosing his business relationship. >> i didn't know at the time he was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from a group that was representing turkey. that is the kind of thing we want to get ahold of. >> reporter: another republican said the obsession with the trump team's russia contacts was overblown and the democrats should not get a pass. >> if we're going to get to the bottom of this, we need to investigate the whole story. that includes looking at serious allegations of foreign influence over the clinton campaign. >> reporter: the committee chairman highlighted a perceived double standard, citing secretary of state clinton and sidney blumenthal, her close confident. >> if they thought mr. bluhm en that you will -- blumenthal's, they should have said so. >> reporter: the trump tower meeting with manafort and donald trump jr., and the u.s. opposition research firm behind the unverifie

an example of what would bother me, general flynn who i admire his service to our country but he said that we should extradite mr. ger woman, the guy that erdogan hates so much. i didn't know at the time he was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from a group that was representing turkey. that's the kind of thing we want to get a hold of, is that correct? >> we did advise general flynn that we believed he had a registration obligation, sir. >> but that kind of conduct is what we're all worried about. >> or may have. >> may have. so let's get back to what senator klobuchar was talking about. you've got russian bots that are actively pushing fake news and news helpful to one candidate, although to the others into our political system. so you got all these russians sitting around making up crap and sending bad articles to key districts to influence outcomes of an election. this time it may be against the democratic party, next time it may be against the republican party, next week it could be iran or north korea, it goes on and on. what happens or what power do we have if somebody in the united states coordi

mr. trump instructed other advisers to leave the oval office, then asked comey to drop the investigation of former setional security adviser michael flynnt the president told the "times," he did not shoo people out of the room. bo >> reporter: in a long, rambling li interview, the president also reminisced about his recent trip to paris and to napoleon's tomb, and he gave a history lesson about how napoleon and hitler lost major battles against russia, because their armies froze to death. the president seemed fascinated, ningioning it more than once that french president emmanuel macron has a fondness for dolding hands. a white house spokesperson said today that, yes, president trump is disappointed in attorney is dral sessions, but he has not rast confidence in him and has in himn to fire him. anthony? >> mason: chip reid at the white >>use, thank you, chip. the special counsel is now looking into the trump business n pire, in the investigation of russian meddling in the u.s. wection and whether anyone in d.e trump campaign was involved. mare's julianna goldman. >> reporter: in that "new york times" interview, president iaump had a war

blackmailed by the russians and yet they are prepared tonight to fire private flynn who is willing to rick his or her life for our country. >> mry, you get the last word. how often do you allow yourself to think about what if some news arrived, god forbid a thousand times tonight from the north korea that was real. what if news arrived from the middle east that was the kind of real and scary news we've seen for years. that's going to show how much or how little of a presidential super structure we have. >> yeah, absolutely, brian. you know, we're seeing reports that rex tillerson is exas per rates and there are at least rumors going around he's been talking about leaving his job early. general mattis presumably was -- he appears that he was blindsided by today's announcement on the transgender policy. reason to think he may be frustrated with president trump. increasing word of problems with h.r. mcmaster who is being overruled who is frustrated in his interactions with the president. the point being you have a national security team where there's discord, there's confusion and there seems to be growing confusion and exasperati

response to the russia question asked mr obama so well known for well look as you probably know i am a hard liner several things are true first of all general flynn did not violate the law his contacts with the russian ambassador were perfectly proper legal and appropriate and within the scope of his job he was attempting to arrange a telephone conversation between president putin and president trump that's the beginning of a dialogue we need to give peace a chance and he did not discuss sanctions which would have been improper according to the partial disclosure of the context and content of the conversation there was no discussion president trunk should not have fired a general flynn i think he rushed to judgment and it was unfortunate secondarily for senator sessions a member of the senate foreign relations committee to have a conversation with the russian ambassador is proper legal and there's nothing wrong with it there's no evidence of of that anything inappropriate was discussed so yes i don't disagree i think it's time for the trump administration to push back in they begin doing so this weekend. candidate trunk was indeed wiretapped by t