FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2017 file photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. A lawyer for former national security adviser Flynn... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2017 file photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. A lawyer for former national security adviser Flynn... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move that could signal cooperation with the government, lawyers for former national security adviser Michael Flynn have told President Donald Trump's legal team that they are no longer communicating with them about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference. 
 
 Flynn's legal team communicated the decision this week, said a person familiar with the move who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. 
 
 The decision could be a sign that Flynn is moving to cooperate with Mueller's investigation or negotiate a deal for himself. In large criminal investigations, defense lawyers routinely share information with each other. But it can become unethical to continue such communication if one of the potential targets is looking to negotiate a deal with prosecutors. 
 
 Robert Kelner, a lawyer for Flynn, didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday. A lawyer for Flynn's son, Michael Flynn Jr., who has also come under investigation from Mueller's team of prosecutors, declined to comment. 
 
 The New York Times first reported the decision. 
 
 Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser in February after White House officials concluded that he had misled them about the nature of his contacts during the transition period with the Russian ambassador to the United States. 
 
 He was interviewed by the FBI in January about his communications with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. The deputy attorney general at the time, Sally Yates, soon advised White House officials that their public assertions that Flynn had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak were incorrect and that Flynn was therefore in a compromised position. 
 
 Flynn was facing a Justice Department investigation over his foreign business dealings even before Mueller was appointed as special counsel in May to investigate potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller has since inherited that investigation. 
 
 Flynn, a prominent Trump backer on the campaign trail, has been a key figure in Mueller's probe and of particular interest to Trump. Former FBI Director James Comey, for instance, said that Trump encouraged him to end an FBI investigation into Flynn during a private Oval Office meeting in February. 
 
 In addition to scrutinizing Flynn's contacts with Russia during the transition and campaign, Mueller has been investigating the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general's role in $530,000 worth of lobbying work his now-defunct firm performed for a Turkish businessman during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign. 
 
 The lobbying campaign sought to gather derogatory information on Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric and green-card holder living in Pennsylvania. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a botched coup and has sought his extradition. Gulen has denied the allegations, and U.S. officials have rebuffed Turkey's extradition demands, citing a lack of evidence. 
 
 Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group, carried out the lobbying and research work for several months, meeting with officials from the U.S. and Turkish governments. Flynn also published an op-ed on Election Day in The Hill newspaper, parroting many of the Turkish government's talking points about Gulen. At the time, neither Flynn nor his company was registered with the Justice Department to represent Turkish interests. 
 
 Soon after the publication of the op-ed, the Justice Department began investigating Flynn's lobbying work, and in March, he registered with the department as a foreign agent. In federal filings, Flynn acknowledged the work could have benefited the government of Turkey. 
 
 Since then, FBI agents working for Mueller have been investigating whether the Turkish government was directing the lobbying work and not a private company owned by a Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin, as Flynn's firm has contended. FBI agents have also been asking about Flynn's business partner, Bijan Kian, who served on Trump's presidential transition, and Flynn's son, Michael Flynn Jr., who worked for his father as part of the lobbying campaign. Flynn Jr. also was a near constant presence around his father during the Trump campaign and presidential transition period. 
 
 Mueller announced his first charges in the investigation last month, including the guilty plea of a foreign-policy adviser to the campaign, George Papadopoulos, and the indictments of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and business associate Rick Gates. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Chad Day contributed to this report. 

 A lawyer for former national security adviser Michael Flynn informed an attorney for President Trump this week that he can no longer discuss the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, a sign that Flynn may be preparing to cooperate in the probe, people familiar with the investigation said. 
 
 The call from Flynn lawyer Robert Kelner to Trump attorney John Dowd came Wednesday evening and is a potentially ominous sign for Trump and his close associates. Before this week, Kelner had been communicating with lawyers for Trump. 
 
 The split suggests that Flynn, who has been a top target of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team, may be looking to share information with the prosecutor and his team. 
 
 The development was first reported by the New York Times. 
 
 Kelner did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. 
 
 Jay Sekulow, an attorney for Trump, said, "This is not entirely unexpected." 
 
 "No one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about General Flynn cooperating against the president," he said, adding, "It's important to remember that General Flynn received his security clearance under the previous administration." 
 
 In complex investigations, lawyers for subjects often enter into agreements that allow them to share information without waiving attorney-client privilege. Such agreements generally include provisions that require the lawyers to immediately end the arrangement if their clients begin discussions with prosecutors or if other developments pose a conflict of interest. 
 
 Even if Flynn has begun discussions with Mueller's office, there is no guarantee he will ultimately reach a deal with prosecutors. 
 
 Flynn served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama before he was pushed out in 2014 amid criticism of his management style and clashes with other administration officials. 
 
 He then established a private consulting firm and gave paid speeches, work that has drawn intense scrutiny from Mueller. 
 
 In December 2015, Flynn was paid by the Russian-government-funded television network RT to attend a dinner in Moscow, where he was seated next to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin. 
 
 Even as he became an adviser to Trump's presidential campaign, his consulting firm was paid to promote the interests of the Turkish government. Flynn initially failed to report his payments from either engagement. 
 
 Flynn served 24 days as Trump's national security adviser, but was forced to resign after acknowledging that he had secretly discussed sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during Trump's presidential transition in December. 
 
 Lawyers for the president and senior White House aides had been quietly speculating over the last few weeks that Flynn was under increasing pressure to cooperate because Mueller had signaled his ability to charge his son alongside the father. 
 
 Michael G. Flynn, the retired general's son, helped his father with business arrangements and served as chief of staff at his father's consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group. 
 
 Barry Coburn, an attorney for Michael G. Flynn, declined to comment. 
 
 Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. 

 The legal team representing Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, has ended an agreement to share information about the ongoing Russia probe with the White House, a likely sign that Flynn is looking to cooperate with investigators, The New York Times reported on Thursday. 
 
 Terminating the information-sharing agreement is not in itself a sign that Flynn is working with Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But, according to the Times, it signals that Flynn is at least discussing the option with prosecutors. 
 
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 Flynn’s lawyers notified Trump’s legal team of the decision in the past few days, according to four people involved in the case who spoke to the newspaper. The report was later confirmed by The Washington Post. 
 
 Lawyers for both Trump and Flynn declined to comment to the Times. 
 
 A deal with Flynn would give prosecutors insight into how Trump’s team conducted itself during the campaign and the early days of the administration, the Times reported. 
 
 The report comes after NBC News on Wednesday reported that Mueller is looking to question Bijan Kian, an associate of Flynn. Previous reports have suggested that the special counsel already has enough evidence to indict Flynn and his son, who also worked for Trump’s campaign. 
 
 Trump’s legal team has insisted recently that Mueller’s probe will end in the coming months, though legal experts have said the investigation is likely to drag on. 
 
 In October, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Richard Gates were indicted on charges including money laundering and conspiracy against the United States. 
 
 Manafort and Gates both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
– Is former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn now cooperating with Robert Mueller's special investigation? Sources tell the AP and the New York Times that Flynn's legal team has informed Trump's lawyers that they can no longer discuss the investigation with them, a move that suggests Flynn is now either working with prosecutors or trying to negotiate a deal. Information-sharing deals like the one between the Flynn and Trump legal teams usually need to be terminated if one party begins negotiating with prosecutors or a similar conflict of interest develops, the Washington Post notes. Flynn has been a major figure in Mueller's investigation of alleged Russian election interference. Flynn's ties to Russia go back to before he joined the Trump campaign. He was forced out of the administration after 24 days over his talks with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period. The Times' sources say Flynn has recently expressed concern that his son and former chief of staff, Michael Flynn Jr., might be charged as part of the investigation. Per the Hill, Mueller is already believed to have enough evidence to indict both Flynns. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said Thursday that the development between the legal teams was "not entirely unexpected." He added: "No one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about General Flynn cooperating against the president." (Mueller is believed to be probing an alleged Flynn plot to abduct a Turkish cleric.)