And Flynn’s speech, for which he received tens of thousands of dollars, is now being investigated by a House panel and the Pentagon’s inspector general; lawmakers accuse him of violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars government officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments.

It’s true Flynn notified the DIA he was traveling to Moscow to give a speech. New documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee show DIA exchanged emails with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow “to ensure embassy awareness” of the speech.

But the DIA, which maintains Flynn’s security clearance, was only in charge of keeping tabs on Flynn’s foreign travel — and was not responsible for tracking any payments he might have received from foreign governments. For that, Flynn would have needed “advance approval” from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of state, according to Army regulations — and congressional investigators say they’ve seen no evidence he sought or received such permission.

And while Flynn was in contact with the DIA in 2016 to update his foreign travel records, according to documents released Thursday by lawmakers, he did not report any foreign payments in his paperwork to renew his security clearance last year — something congressional investigators say could be a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

In other words: While Spicer is correct, the U.S. government was aware of Flynn’s trip to Moscow, it does not appear Flynn informed the government he was being paid for the trip. And congressional investigators say that as a retired military officer, he would have been required by law to do so.

“The bottom line is that there’s a violation of the Emoluments Clause,” Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told POLITICO Friday. “He got no permission to receive foreign money, nor did he report it.”

In two statements this week, Kelner sought to defend his client by noting that Flynn “briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of the Department of Defense, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip.” In his second statement, Kelner noted that letters released by Congress on Thursday show Flynn “provided information and documents on a thumb drive to the Department of Defense concerning the RT speaking event in Moscow, including documents reflecting that he was using a speakers bureau for the event.”

Flynn, though, would have been required to do more than just notify the DIA that he was traveling to Russia if he wanted to accept payments from a foreign government.

Flynn’s 2015 speech, for which he was paid nearly $34,000, was at a gala celebrating the Russian-funded news outlet RT, which the U.S. intelligence community considers a Kremlin propaganda arm — something Flynn should have been well aware of as DIA’s former director. Flynn, a retired three-star Army general, has also come under scrutiny for a $600,000 lobbying dealwith a Turkish businessman.

Notably, he was previously warned about his obligations as a retired military officer under the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause. A 2014 letterfrom the DIA to Flynn explains that he would need to get approval “from the relevant service secretary and the secretary of state before accepting employment, consulting fees, gifts, travel expenses, honoraria, or salary from a foreign government,” noting the penalty could include docked retirement pay.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the DIA was responsible for maintaining Flynn’s security clearance, which entails tracking his foreign travel. But the DIA is not in charge of keeping tabs on any foreign payments he might have received.

“Gen. Flynn properly reported his foreign travel in accordance with security clearance regulations,” the official said. “Approval for foreign compensation should have gone through the Department of the Army.”

Cummings and House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah said in a news conference on Tuesday they have seen no evidence Flynn informed the Defense Department about being paid for his speech.

Flynn has been a target of immense scrutiny since he resigned as Trump’s national security adviser after just 24 days on the job when it became clear he misled colleagues about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador. He also was a top Trump campaign surrogate who gave speeches skewering Hillary Clinton, memorably leading chants of “Lock her up!”

At the White House on Thursday, Spicer sought to shift blame for the Flynn controversy to the Obama administration for reissuing his security clearance last year.

“His clearance was last reissued by the Obama administration in 2016 with full knowledge of his activities that occurred in 2015,” Spicer told reporters. “So the issue is — he was issued a security clearance under the Obama administration in the spring of 2016. The trip and transactions that you’re referring to occurred in December of 2015, from what I understand.”

Cummings has sharply criticized the White House for not providing his committee with Flynn-related documents it requested, and he blasted Spicer’s reasoning in a statement Friday.

“Yesterday, Sean Spicer claimed the Obama administration granted Gen. Flynn a clearance ‘with full knowledge of his activities that occurred in 2015.’ That statement was false,” Cummings said. “They did not have full knowledge of Gen. Flynn’s activities because he concealed the fact that the source of his payments was RT — the propaganda arm of the Russian government — and failed to obtain permission from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of state to accept those funds, as required.”

Cummings also sounded a note of disbelief when asked this week how someone who failed to disclose those payments could have been reissued a security clearance and become the president’s national security adviser.

“That’s a good question,” the Maryland Democrat responded. “Our committee has spent a lot of time addressing robust security clearances, and this is something that we have taken a great interest in, and there very may well be issues that come out of this that cause us to look even further because we want to be effective and efficient, we want the best security clearance operation that we can have.”