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19 angry Democrats roasting over an open fire
As Flynn Case Winds Down, Investigation of Turkish Lobbying Persists
Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a secret Turkish lobbying effort that once involved Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, even as Mr. Flynn’s role in the special counsel’s investigation winds down, according to people familiar with the inquiry.
The Turkey case appears to fit as one of those inquiries because Mr. Flynn has direct knowledge of aspects under scrutiny. Prosecutors are examining Mr. Flynn’s former business partners and clients who financed a campaign against Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania whom the Turkish government has accused of helping instigate a failed coup.
Federal prosecutors had begun investigating Mr. Flynn after he wrote an op-ed for The Hill newspaper on Election Day 2016 attacking Mr. Gulen as a “radical Islamist” and a “shady Islamic mullah.” The prosecutors began examining whether Mr. Flynn was working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey.
Investigators later learned the op-ed was part of a larger effort by Mr. Flynn on behalf of Turkey. Mr. Flynn’s company was ultimately paid $530,000 to investigate Mr. Gulen by a company run by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/us/politics/michael-flynn-turkey-investigation-virginia.html
Facebook Board Backs Sheryl Sandberg’s Handling of Research on Investor George Soros
Facebook Inc.’s board of directors threw its support behind Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on Wednesday, saying that it was “entirely appropriate” for her to ask if George Soros had shorted the company’s stock after the billionaire investor called the social-media giant a “menace.”
Facebook’s general counsel Colin Stretch sent a letter from the board to Patrick Gaspard, president of Mr. Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Mr. Gaspard has been among those who have criticized or questioned Ms. Sandberg’s handling of the matter.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-board-backs-sheryl-sandbergs-handling-of-research-into-investor-george-soros-1544038662