--- title: Jason Chaffetz: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law description: Rep. Jason Chaffetz said it appears former national security advisor Michael Flynn broke the law by not disclosing his business dealings with Russia. canonical: https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-25T16:52:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:35:43.069Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republican Oversight Leader: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law og:description: "As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia." og:url: https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9132cfc418a2e6d5/69887bf9524fc0b2fcdf6940/congress-committee-darnell-earley-flint-water-subpoena.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: House Republicans Vote To Pick Their Party's Nominee For Speaker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republican Oversight Leader: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law twitter:description: "As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9132cfc418a2e6d5/69887bf9524fc0b2fcdf6940/congress-committee-darnell-earley-flint-water-subpoena.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Oversight Leader: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 25, 2017 4:52 PM UTC  Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, speaks to members of the media after a closed House Republican election meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, speaks to members of the media after a closed House Republican election meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 25, 2017 4:52 PM UTC Rep. Jason Chaffetz said former national security advisor Michael Flynn appears to have broken the law when he accepted payments from entities linked to Russia and Turkey. “As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else,” [said](http://www.snappytv.com/tc/4548416) Chaffetz, a Utah Republican and chairman of the House oversight committee. “And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for the violation of law.” Chaffetz spoke Tuesday after a meeting in which the committee reviewed classified documents related to the investigation, [CNN reports](http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/25/politics/michael-flynn-house-oversight-committee/). “I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law,” Chaffetz said of whether Flynn disclosed the money he was paid for a speech he gave to Russian television network RT. Chaffetz and his Democratic counterpart Rep. Elijah Cummings also said in a joint statement that Flynn did not seek or receive the necessary permission from the military for his foreign business entanglements. “Gen. Flynn had a duty and an obligation to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them,” Chaffetz said, [the Wall Street _Journal_ reports](https://www.wsj.com/articles/chaffetz-no-indication-flynn-complied-with-legal-requirements-on-overseas-payments-1493134172). “It does not appear to us that that was ever sought, nor did he ever get that permission,” Mr. Chaffetz said. Chaffetz announced last week that he will [not seek reelection](http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/19/politics/jason-chaffetz-not-seeking-re-election/) to Congress in 2018\. Flynn was [forced to step down](http://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/?iid=sr-link3) as national security advisor in February after revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about whether he had discussed Russian sanctions with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/"},"headline":"Republican Oversight Leader: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law","datePublished":"2017-04-25T16:52:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:35:43.069Z","description":"\"As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia\"","url":"https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/","keywords":["Congress","russia","jason chaffetz","Michael Flynn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9132cfc418a2e6d5/69887bf9524fc0b2fcdf6940/congress-committee-darnell-earley-flint-water-subpoena.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9132cfc418a2e6d5/69887bf9524fc0b2fcdf6940/congress-committee-darnell-earley-flint-water-subpoena.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House Republicans Vote To Pick Their Party's Nominee For Speaker","caption":"Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, speaks to members of the media after a closed House Republican election meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015.","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/","name":"Republican Oversight Leader: Michael Flynn Apparently Broke the Law"}}]}] ```