Special counsel’s Russia probe includes Flynn’s son

The lobbying activities of Michael Flynn, the son of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, are being examined by the special counsel investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the probe.

The inquiry into the younger Flynn, first reported by NBC News, follows other indications this week that investigators are increasing pressure on his father, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who briefly served in the White House before being ousted for misleading statements about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking at the younger Flynn because of his role as chief of staff to his father at the Flynn Intel Group, a lobbying and consulting firm, according to the people familiar with the inquiry.

Two senior House Democrats this week requested information from the elder Flynn and some of his business partners about a joint U.S.-Russia proposal to sell nuclear power plants in the Middle East.

The letter sent Tuesday by Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., sought details of Flynn’s travels to the Middle East in 2015 to promote the nuclear project — trips that the lawmakers said were not disclosed by Flynn in early 2016 as required.

“It appears that General Flynn violated federal law” by omitting certain travel and foreign contacts from his renewal application for a security clearance, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Flynn’s attorney and two business partners.

Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment on the letter. An attorney for the younger Flynn, Barry Coburn, declined to comment on the NBC report.

CAROLYN KASTER/AP 2016 The inquiry into the younger Michael Flynn, left, follows indications of increasing pressure on his father, right.