Flynn offers to testify on Russia ties

Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has offered to testify before congressional committees probing potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Flynn, who was sacked after it emerged he lied about conversations he'd had with a Moscow envoy before the election, said he has a story to tell.

However, he wants protection against unfair prosecution.

"General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit," Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner said.

Testimony from Flynn could shed light on the conversations he had with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kisylak last year when he was the national security adviser for Trump's presidential campaign.

Kelner said discussions had taken place about Flynn's availability to testify with officials of the intelligence committees of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives.

Both committees are investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the US election campaign last year as well as possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Flynn was forced to resign as Trump's national security adviser in February for failing to disclose talks about US sanctions on Moscow with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, and misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

Hearings

Senate Intelligence Committee members welcomed expert witnesses on Thursday and the chance to launch what they call a major investigation into Russian efforts to influence the US presidential race last year.

Russian hacking of Democratic National Committee emails is just one part of what the committee is now looking into.

Senators on this committee have a list of nearly two dozen people they want to question in the upcoming weeks.

At the end, they will issue a bipartisan report about what they believe really happened.

TRT World's Tetiana Anderson reports on the hearings.