Former CIA head to answer questions about Russian meddling

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former CIA Director John Brennan is set to testify publicly about the intelligence underpinning the Obama administration's conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and could shed light on concerns about the security risk posed by President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

The former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, previously told Congress that the Justice Department was concerned that Flynn was compromised by the Russians and could be vulnerable to blackmail as Trump's national security adviser because of misleading statements he made to the vice president about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Trump in February fired Flynn over the misleading statements, but has since defended Flynn and his integrity.

Cummings said in a new letter that Flynn appeared to lie about the source of a $33,000 payment from Russia's state-sponsored television network, failed to identify foreign officials with whom he met — including Russia's President Vladimir Putin — and glossed over his firing as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration.