Flynn's ex-business partner under investigation for ties to Turkey

Federal investigators are zeroing in on Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was a partner at the now-dissolved Flynn Intel Group, and have questioned multiple witnesses in recent weeks about his lobbying work on behalf of Turkey, NBC reported
Iranian-American Bijan Kian (L) and Michael Flynn (R).
Thursday, 23 November 2017 05:01

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on the Donald Trump campaign, Russia and the 2016 U.S. election has honed in on a former business associate of ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for his role in failing to disclose that Flynn's lobbying firm was conducting work for foreign governments, U.S. media reported.

Iranian-American Bijan Kian was a business partner in the Flynn Intel Group and did lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government, NBC News reported.

Federal investigators have interviewed multiple witnesses in recent weeks about Khan’s work for Turkey. The grand jury convened for the investigation will soon have a chance to question some of those witnesses, NBC News reported on Wednesday citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter,  the report said.

In early March, Flynn registered the Flynn Intel Group as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for working on behalf of a firm owned by a Turkish national with links to Turkish institutions.

The Flynn Intel Group, managed by Flynn, was paid $530,000 for lobbying on behalf of a Netherlands-based firm called Inovo BV, owned by Turkish-American businessman Ekim Alptekin. Months later, the firm filed the required paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), acknowledging that the work "could be construed to have principally benefitted the Republic of Turkey," according to the filing.

Shortly after the registration, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn held talks with Turkey while serving as an adviser to Trump.

Mueller's team is interested in Kian's role in the Inovo BV contract as well as foreign lobbying efforts that the Flynn Intel Group may have yet to disclose, according to the sources familiar with the investigation, NBC reported. Emails subpoenaed by the Special Counsel's Office revealed September 20, 2016, meeting between Kian, Flynn and pro-Russia Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, according to the report.

Kian previously served as a board member of the Export-Import Bank. He is also a co-founder of the Nowruz Commission, a D.C.-based nonprofit that hosts an opulent annual Nowruz, or Iranian New Year, gala, which Flynn and Alptekin both attended in the past, it added.

Reuters previously reported that Mueller was interested in Kian, but not that he was a subject of the investigation or that witnesses would be testifying about his actions in front of the grand jury.

Flynn reportedly discussed ways to extradite U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, one of the masterminds of last year's coup attempt.