Trump transition aide did not disclose role in Turkish work

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

As Michael Flynn spent last fall campaigning as Donald Trump’s top national security adviser, his little-known business partner supervised much of the foreign political work for Turkish interests that has boomeranged on Flynn, now the target of a federal criminal investigation and congressional inquiries.

Flynn’s partner, Bijan Kian, joined the former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency on Trump’s national security transition team after the election. For Kian, who led most of Flynn Intel Group’s research and lobbying for a Turkish businessman, the Trump transition role offered influence in the selection of intelligence agency candidates and access to internal discussions of U.S. national security policy.

Flynn’s mishandling of his dealings with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. led to his firing by Trump from his post as national security adviser and is now a prime focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into Russian contacts with the Trump campaign. But inquiries spawned by Flynn Intel’s Turkish work pose added legal complications for both Flynn and his associates. Federal investigators are concentrating on possible criminal violations and a House oversight committee inquiry is examining Flynn’s records to determine whether he lied to federal officials about his foreign contacts and payments.

It is not clear whether Kian, whose full name is Bijan Rafiekian, has been drawn into the expanding criminal probe, but he was deeply involved in Flynn Intel Group’s creation, financing and operations, according to the Turkish businessman, people familiar with Flynn’s company and records submitted to the Justice Department. And Kian’s participation in the Trump transition — following his management of work that Flynn Intel acknowledged may have benefited Turkey’s government — reinforces concerns about the adequacy of the administration’s vetting process.

A current Trump transition official said Monday night that Kian’s records did not reflect his foreign work for Flynn Intel or indicate he planned to register with the U.S. government as an agent for his work on behalf of a foreign interest. “He did not indicate that to us in his transition documents. We would have no reason to know,” said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss Kian’s role during the post-election period. Both Kian and Flynn filed in March as foreign agents for the Turkish firm.

Kian connected Flynn with his Turkish client, helped negotiate their $600,000 contract and oversaw a documentary and an op-ed aimed at an opponent of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the client and several others who requested anonymity because of the ongoing criminal investigation. The client, Ekim Alptekin, also confirmed to The Associated Press that Kian worked for one of his Turkish companies at the same time he was working for Flynn Intel.