A former business partner of Michael T. Flynn has been charged with conspiracy and acting as an agent of a foreign government for his efforts to have Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen extradited from the United States. According to the indictment, Kian, who ran a lobbying firm with Flynn, conspired with a Turkish businessman to illegally influence government officials and public opinion in the United States against Gulen. “We are ready to engage on what needs to be done,” Kian wrote to the businessman, Ekim Alptekin, on July 27, 2016, according to the court records. Flynn, Kian, and Alptekin met with high-level Turkish officials in New York that month, according to the indictment. He is charged with the same crimes as Kian, as well as making false statements, but he remains in Turkey.

Source: Washington Post December 17, 2018 15:17 UTC