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ByMichaelTarm and Don Babwin The Associated Press CHICAGO The passen- ger who was dragged off a United flight after he re- fused to give up his seat to airline employees settled with the airline for an un- disclosed sum Thursday in an apparent attempt by the company to put the fiasco behind it as quickly as pos- sible. David Dao's legal team said in a brief statement that the agreement includes a provision that the amount will remain confidential. One his lawyers praised United CEO Oscar Munoz. Munoz "said he was going to do the right thing, and he has," Thomas Demetrio said in the statement. "In addi- tion, United has taken full responsibility for what hap- pened ... without attempting to blame others, including the city of Chicago." The settlement came less than three weeks after the episode, before Dao had even sued. The deal means United will not face a law- suit that could have been costly, both in legal bills and in further public-rela- tions damage. United issued a brief statement, saying it was pleased to report "an ami- cable resolution of the un- fortunate incident that oc- curred aboard Flight 3411." Cellphone video of the April 9 confrontation aboard a jetliner at Chica- go's O'Hare Airport sparked widespread public out- rage over the way Dao was treated. The footage showed air- port police officers pulling the 69-year-old Kentucky physician from his seat and dragging him down the aisle. His lawyer said he lost teeth and suffered a broken nose and a concussion. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Demetrio said the settle- ment also averts any law- suit against the city of Chi- cago. Airport police officers who work for the city pulled Dao off the jet. "I praise Mr. Munoz and his people for not trying to throw the city under the bus or pass the buck," Demetrio said. "He stood in front of the world and has stated that, 'We, United, take full responsibility.'" Demetrio said it was "un- heard of" for a company to admit responsibility so quickly and completely. "I hope corporate Amer- ica notices when you goof up, people respect you a heck of a lot more when you admit it, instead of making people go through three years of depositions, mo- tions, court hearings." He said Dao was also impressed that "United stepped up to the plate." The incident arose from a common air travel issue — a fully booked flight. Wanting to seat four crew members, the airline offered passen- gers $400 and later $800 to voluntarily relinquish their seats. When no one did, United selected four pas- sengers at random. Three people got off the flight, but Dao refused, say- ing he needed to get home to treat patients the next day. The airline then sum- moned the officers, who forcibly removed Dao. The incident was a major embarrassment for United. The company's response in the immediate aftermath was widely criticized. Mu- noz first defended the air- line and described Dao as "belligerent" before publicly apologizing days later and vowing to do better. The three airport police officers who dragged Dao from the plane were placed on leave from the Chicago Department of Aviation. The agency released a re- port April 24 in which the officer who pulled Dao from his seat, James Long, gave his version of events. Long said Dao was verbally and physically abusive and was flailing his arms before he lost his balance and struck his mouth on an armrest. T he depar tment's roughly 300 officers guard the city's two main airports but are not part of the reg- ular Chicago police force. They receive less training and cannot carry guns in- side the terminals. Also Thursday, the airline released a report detailing mistakes that led to the in- cident. United said would raise to $10,000 the limit on the payments it offers to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and in- crease training for employ- ees. AGREEMENT PhysiciandraggedoffflightsettleswithUnited RICHARDDREW—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE United Airlines said Friday that its CEO Oscar Munoz won't add the title of chairman in 2018as planned, as fallout continues from the violent removal of a passenger from a plane this month. By Chad Day and Stephen Braun The Associated Press WASHINGTON Investiga- tions intensified into Pres- ident Donald Trump's ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Thursday as the Pentagon watchdog joined lawmakers in probing payments he ac- cepted from foreign sources including a Russian state- sponsored TV network. At the same time, docu- ments released by the top Democrat on a House over- sight committee showed Flynn was warned by au- thorities after he retired from the military in 2014 not to take foreign govern- ment-sourced money with- out "advance approval" from the Pentagon. Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general and De- fense Intelligence Agency chief, later accepted tens of thousands of dollars for his work on behalf of foreign interests, including RT, the state-supported Russian television network, and a Turkish-owned company linked to Turkey's govern- ment. The Pentagon's acting in- spector general's office con- firmed Thursday he has launched an inquiry into whether those payments qualify as coming from foreign governments and whether Flynn properly in- formed military authorities about them. The White House de- fended its hiring of Flynn and attempted to shift blame for any problems with his vetting onto the Obama administration, which handled the reissu- ance of his security clear- ance in January 2016. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who released the documents, said during a news conference that Flynn had been clearly informed he needed to get permission to receive foreign payments and there's no evidence he did so. "The Pentagon's warning to General Flynn was bold, italicized and could not have been clearer," Cum- mings said. In a key 2014 document, Flynn was told by a Defense Intelligence Agency official that the U.S. Constitution's emoluments provision pro- hibits any monetary pay- ments or gifts "from a for- eign government unless congressional consent is first obtained." The Oct. 8, 2014, letter — which was sent to Flynn at his request — explained that such "ad- vance approval" would need to come "from the relevant service secretary." Earlier this week, Cum- mings and Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House committee, said that they had found no ev- idence Flynn asked the Army for permission to re- ceive foreign payments or informed the military he had accepted them. Army spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said the Army had no records that Flynn re- quested that permission. One episode in question involves a trip he took to Moscow in 2015 for RT's anniversary celebration. He was paid at least $33,750 to attend the gala at which he was seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "General Flynn's attorney says he discussed his trip to Moscow with DIA, but we have no evidence, not a shred, that he disclosed his payments," Cummings said Thursday. In a statement, Flynn's attorney Robert Kelner said the Defense Depart- ment "was fully aware of the trip," citing his previ- ous statements that his cli- ent briefed DIA officials be- fore and after the RT trip. Kelner also pointed to a letter, released in redacted form by Cummings, that notes that Flynn provided a thumb drive to the agency containing documents de- tailing the RT event, in- cluding that Leading Au- thorities, a speakers bureau that handled Flynn's paid speeches, was handling the event for him. Kelner's statement did not address other pay- ments Flynn received from foreign sources. Flynn has previously disclosed he got between $50,000 and $100,000 as part of his personal stake in $530,000 that his company, Flynn In- tel Group, received for con- sulting work last year for a Turkish businessman. Last month Flynn's firm filed as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for its consulting work and ac- knowledged the work may have benefited the govern- ment of Turkey. Flynn's cli- ent, Inovo BV, is owned by a businessman who is also a member of a commit- tee overseen by Turkey's fi- nance ministry. In comments to the AP, Utah Republican Chaffetz, chairman of the Commit- tee on Oversight and Gov- ernment Reform, said that Flynn "had an obligation to seek approval to take money from a foreign gov- ernment. We found no evi- dence that he did that." Chaffetz's office released a letter he sent on Thurs- day to the Army, asking the service's acting secretary to make a final determination as to whether Flynn vio- lated federal law by accept- ing the payments, and if so, to start the process of recov- ering that money. OUSTED ADVISER Pentagon joins probe of former Trump aide Flynn By Philip Issa and Zeina Karam The Associated Press BEIRUT Syria's military said Israel struck a mil- itary installation south- west of Damascus Interna- tional Airport before dawn Thursday, setting off a se- ries of explosions and rais- ing tensions further be- tween the two neighbors. Apparently seeking to interrupt weapons trans- fers to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, Israel has struck inside Syria with increasing frequency in recent weeks, making the war-torn country a proxy theater for Israel's wider war with Iran. The increasing tempo of attacks risks inflam- ing a highly combustible situation drawing in Is- rael, Syria and the Ira- nian-backed Hezbollah, a staunch ally of President Bashar Assad's govern- ment with thousands of fighters in Syria. Israel's military said later Thurs- day that its Patriot Mis- sile Defense system inter- cepted an incoming pro- jectile from Syria over the Golan Heights. An Israeli defense offi- cial said the Patriot hit a drone, and the military is checking if it was a Rus- sian aircraft that entered the Israeli side by mis- take or if it was Syrian. He spoke on condition of an- onymity in line with pro- tocol. Both the Syrian gov- ernment and Hezbollah, however, are mired in the country's 6-year-old civil war and are unlikely to carry out any retaliation that may ignite a bigger conflagration with Israel. "Iran and Hezbollah are overstretched, and it's not clear they can afford to gamble with a direct show- down with Israel now," said Maha Yahya, direc- tor of the Carnegie Middle East Center. "Iran knows no matter how powerful they've become, they can't be fighting on two fronts at the same time." Israeli Minister of Intel- ligence Yisrael Katz would not comment directly on the incident but said any similar strike would be in line with established pol- icy to interrupt weapons transfers. "It absolutely matches our declared policy, a pol- icy that we also imple- ment," Katz told Israel's Army Radio. Just before the appar- ent Israeli missile strike, at least three cargo jets from Iran probably landed at the Damascus airport, said Ian Petchenik, a spokes- man for the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. PROXY WAR Israeli strikes inside Syria pick up tempo CAROLYN KASTER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn sits in the East Room of the White House. 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