Michael T. Flynn, retired US Army General, who served as an adviser and close ally to former US President Donald Trump. (File photo by Reuters)

Washington, July 8 (RHC)-- The U.S. Department of Defense is seeking to recover unauthorized money received by the Trump administration's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Flynn, who served for three weeks as former U.S. President Donald Trump’s adviser, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish and Russian entities in 2015 without approval from the U.S. government, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The former general was ordered in May to recoup $38,557.06, which he received from Russia’s government for attending a dinner in celebration of a Russian news agency, Russia Today (RT).   Flynn did not “obtain the approvals of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State,” resulting in “a violation of the Emoluments Clause,” according to army lawyer Craig R. Schmauder, as quoted by The Hill.

Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts and was charged after investigations for his involvement in the so-called Russia probe, was pardoned by Donald Trump in the final week before his tenure ended.

The so-called Russia probe was run by special counsel Robert Mueller.  The probe involving Trump's close allies investigated allegations that Moscow sought to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.