Sen. Murphy says Mike Flynn 'faces a lot of jail time' and could be big trouble for Trump

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that President Donald Trump's former national security adviser "faces a lot of jail time" over a subpoena issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee and their investigation into alleged Russian meddling and collusion.

"I mean Michael Flynn can't hide for very long. Ultimately he likely has legal liability for his failure to disclose his connections to both the Russian and Turkish government," Murphy told Wolf Blitzer Tuesday on CNN, "and if he doesn't tell his story then he likely faces a lot of jail time.

"And this is the big problem for President Trump," he said, "he has got some people very close to him who face pretty serious legal jeopardy, and they may start talking very soon."

Sen. Murphy: “Michael Flynn can’t hide for very long… if he doesn’t tell this story,” then he likely faces jail time https://t.co/HwvtwqRgka

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) May 23, 2017

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also appeared on the program Tuesday and said that Flynn had similarly refused the House Intelligence Committee's request for documents, adding that they would consider contempt charges to force his hand.

"Are you prepared to hold General Flynn in contempt of Congress?" Blitzer asked.

"I share the views you just heard expressed by Senator Burr," Schiff responded, "and that is that it was our preference initially to get these documents and testimony voluntarily. It's now gonna be necessary to subpoena it."

"If the general refuses without a good legal basis then I think we do have to explore the use of contempt," he said.

Schiff: We might have to explore contempt charges for Flynn if we don't get documents https://t.co/LxxA4GJixc https://t.co/X7ooxyt171

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) May 23, 2017

"When you say explore, I assume you and your staff and your experts have been looking through what it would mean to actually file contempt charges against General Flynn?" Blitzer asked.

"Well, we started out in the hope that the witness that we've invited would come and cooperate voluntarily," Schiff said. "I'm sure that a great many will, obviously some won't. But we don't go into this presuming with most of these witnesses that we're going to have to fight to get their documents, but we will be vigorous and have to be about getting our information.

"Our next step is to tailor our subpoenas with the best chance of success," he explained. "But we'll also do our own legal research to find out what further steps are necessary if we're going to have to go the route of contempt."

Flynn plead his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, but his legal problems are mounting as Democrats and Republicans  keep making accusations that he improperly reported his interactions with the Russian and Turkish governments.

Recently Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said that he was in possession of documents proving that Flynn lied on his security clearance application.