Two former business partners of President Donald Trump's first ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn have been indicted on conspiracy charges related to their efforts to smear a Turkish cleric at the behest of the government of Turkey.
Bijan Kian and Kamil Alptekin were charged in U.S. District Court in Eastern Virginia with crimes related acting as unregistered agents of the Turkish government, according to court documents made public Monday. Alptekin is also charged with one count of making false statements to the FBI, according to the indictment, which was issued by a grand jury Wednesday.
They are accused by federal authorities of attempting to "covertly and unlawfully" influence U.S. politics and public opinion in favor of extraditing Turkish citizen Fethullah Gulen, who was blamed by Turkey's President Recep Erdogan for an attempted coup in 2016.
"The defendants sought to discredit and delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of politicians," the court filing says.
The release of the indictment comes a day before Flynn is due to be sentenced in federal court in Washington for making false statements to FBI agents.
Flynn, who pleaded guilty in that case, has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigations.
A spokesman for the special counsel's office referred CNBC's questions to the Eastern Virginia federal court.
According to the indictment, Kian and Alptekin secretly conspired to influence American politicians and public opinion about Gulen, when the cleric's extradition was being sought by Turkey.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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