Donald Trump’s ex-national security adviser is reportedly being probed by the FBI over claims he discussed removing a Turkish man from America for millions of dollars.
Michael Flynn met with Turkish government officials last December to discuss the plan, according to claims being looked at by the official investigation into the Trump campaign.
The alleged plot would have seen Mr Flynn and his son paid $15 million to remove Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric blamed by the Turkish authorities for a recent coup, and fly him to Turkey.
It was reportedly discussed at a meeting in New York just weeks before Mr Flynn would enter Mr Trump’s administration.
The claims were made public by the newspaper Wall Street Journal and broadcaster NBC, who cited numerous sources. Mr Flynn’s representatives declined to comment in the reports.
The news marks another dramatic development in the investigation of Robert Mueller, the special counsel looking into links between Mr Trump’s campaign and Russia.
It has already handed criminal charges to three former Trump advisers, one for lying to the FBI and two for money laundering and other claims. Mr Trump denies any “collusion” with Russia.
Mr Flynn was a Trump campaign adviser who served in the new administration before dramatically leaving office after a scandal about his Russia contacts.
The retired general lasted just 24 days as national security adviser, resigning after misleading Mike Pence, the US vice president, about his meetings with a Russian ambassador.
He later registered as a “foreign agent” after admitting to being paid to lobby for the Turkish government before entering office.
On Friday, new allegations surfaced about a plan involving Mr Flynn that is being looked into by Mr Mueller’s operation.
The claim is that Mr Flynn met Turkish officials in mid-December at the swanky 21 Club in New York to discuss removing Mr Gulen and flying him to the Turkish prison island of Imrali.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Mr Gulen, who lives in America, for remotely leading a coup against his government last summer.
Mr Flynn had previously criticised the refusal buy Barack Obama’s administration to co-operate, writing an opinion piece for The Hill political website last November calling for his removal.
He called Mr Gulen a “shady Islamic mullah" and "radical Islamist", adding: “We should not provide him safe haven.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that “at least four” people have been asked about the December meeting by the FBI.
The newspaper added it is not clear how far the proposal went and that there was no sign that any payments were made.
NBC reported that the Turkish officials also wanted Flynn to engineer the release of Zarrab, who was arrested in Miami in March 2016 on charges of helping Iran skirt US sanctions.
Zarrab is being held without bail and faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty of sanctions violations and money laundering charges.
Last week it emerged that Mr Flynn had concerns about the way Mr Mueller’s investigation was treating his son amid reports both could soon be charged.
Flynn Jr responded to his critics by tweeting that “the disappointment on your faces when I don’t go to jail will be worth all your harassment”.