Bijan Rafiekian, who also goes by the name Bijan Kian, made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Virginia.

Flynn had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for Turkey's interests.

The White House said on Friday that President Donald Trump did not know until this week that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had been working as a representative for Turkey, although the issue was raised with the Trump team before the Republican took office.