Ex-Trump aide Flynn denies Muslim cleric kidnap plan claims

The lawyer for former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn has strongly denied media reports suggesting that a client of his may have been involved in a plan to seize a Muslim cleric and deliver him to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars, branded the allegations as “outrageous” and “false.”

Cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, is accused by Turkey’s government of orchestrating last year’s failed coup there. Ankara wants him extradited. Gulen denies any involvement.

Reports by NBC and the Wall Street Journal say that in January 2017, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating claims that Flynn met senior Turkish officials before President Trump’s inauguration and was offered some 15 million dollars to deliver Gulen back to Turkey.

Flynn is one of the central figures in Mueller’s investigation into allegations of Russian interference in last year’s US election. The media reports claim the alleged plan involving Flynn and Turkish officials was discovered during Mueller’s wider investigation.

Flynn had been fired by Trump after just 24 days into the job for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations with then Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak last year.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will relentlessly pursue Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Gulen, a former ally of the Turkish leader, but now his nemesis.

“Out of respect for the process of the various investigations regarding the 2016 campaign, we have intentionally avoided responding to every rumour or allegation raised in the media,” Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner told the press.

“But today’s news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false.”