Flynn's Turkish client lobbying is surfacing, through lawyers, in the Virginia case

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A Turkish businessman accused of hiring Michael Flynn as part of a secret and illegal US lobbying scheme on behalf of the Turkish government during and after the 2016 presidential campaign is still on the run and sought by the FBI, but has now sent lawyers to try to fight prosecutors in an ongoing criminal case in Virginia federal court.

Last December, Ekim Alptekin was charged with conspiring with Flynn's former business partner, Bijan Rafiekian, as part of a lobbying campaign to support Turkey's efforts to extradite Fethullah Gulen. , a Muslim cleric who had obtained asylum from the United States and resided in Pennsylvania.

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It is believed that Alptekin is in Turkey and that prosecutors have been preparing for a trial scheduled for July 15 against Rafiekian, also known as Kian.

However, on Thursday, Alptekin's lawyers suddenly surfaced and asked US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga to allow them to oppose a lawsuit to undermine the confidentiality of the lawsuits. Alptekin's communications with an earlier legal team from law firm Arent Fox.

The lawyers of Alptekin, Rodney Page and Jennifer Mammen, of Bryan Cave law firm, made this decision, because the courts are traditionally very reluctant to hear the lawyers of an accused who escapes the American right and maybe a fugitive . .

"Although Mr. Alptekin has been charged in this case, he has not appeared before this Court and no proceedings have yet been initiated against Mr. Alptekin in this case," note Page and Mammen. cautiously in a request for permission to do a "special investigation". "Appearance" on behalf of Alptekin only to deal with the issue of professional secrecy.

Prosecutors appear to want to use some information provided by Arent Fox against Kian, but Alptekin's lawyer suggested that the disclosure could affect Alptekin if he went to court.

"Once the privilege is lifted and information leaked, the information available to the government can not be erased," wrote Page and Mammen. The lawyers also affirmed the innocence of their client, even though he has not yet appeared to plead. "Alptekin has not committed any crime," they wrote.

A spokesman for federal prosecutors in Alexandria, who handles the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the documents filed by Alptekin indicate that the government intends to s & # 39; 39 to oppose the attempt of his lawyer to be recognized by the court.

The indictment issued last year accuses Alptekin of having lied several times before the FBI during an interview on May 24, 2017, including denying the government's involvement. Turkish at the hiring of Flynn and his company, and claiming that the money that would have been returned to Alptekin was actually a result of poor performance on the part of Flynn.

According to the new statements, Alptekin Arent Fox's lawyers arranged the meeting voluntarily with the team of former special advocate Robert Mueller, just one week after his appointment.

It is unclear exactly when Alptekin left the company with Arent Fox, but Bryan Cave's legal team seems to be silently monitoring the government's interest in him for over a year. One of the documents filed on Thursday indicates that "a few months" after the interview with Alptekin in May 2017, the company had a dialogue with the Mueller team on behalf of the Turkish national.

"The colleagues in the special council informed Mr. Alptekin's current lawyers that he did not believe in some of what Mr. Alptekin had told them. They stated that none of the parties had been prepared for the previous unsolicited meeting and that if Mr. Alptekin changed his interpretation of the facts and told them the truth (that is to say, conformed its restitution of the facts to what they believed), they would operate independently. a clean slate and everything would be forgiven, "wrote Page and Memmen. "Mr. Alptekin refused to conform his facts to their beliefs and months later this indictment ensued."

Alptekin and his attorneys did not respond to messages asking for comments for this story.

Flynn was not charged in the case against Kian and Alptekin. However, as part of an advocacy agreement reached in 2017, the former national security advisor admitted to lying about his knowledge of the Turkish government's involvement in lobbying.

Flynn – who is awaiting conviction for misrepresentation – was to be the star witness to the charge against Kian, but there were uncertainties on that front over the past two days after Flynn dismissed his lawyers. This decision could be a harbinger of a less co-operative and more aggressive stance on prosecutors, which could complicate plans for it to become the backbone of the government's case against the government. former trading partner.