Biden staffers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s aides before Trump indictment

[mystery-ak]

Biden staffers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s aides before Trump indictment
By Jon Levine   
August 26, 2023 8:21am

The White House counsel’s office met with a top aide to Special Counsel Jack Smith just weeks before he brought charges against former President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents — raising serious concerns about coordinated legal efforts aimed at President Biden’s likely opponent in 2024.

Jay Bratt, who joined the special counsel team in November 2022, shortly after it was formed, took a meeting in the White House on March 31, 2023, with Caroline Saba, deputy chief of staff for the White House counsel’s office, White House visitor logs show.

They were joined in the 10 a.m. meeting by Danielle Ray, an FBI agent in the Washington field office.

Nine weeks later, Trump was indicted by Smith’s office on June 8, 2023.

Bratt, 63, also met with Saba at the White House in November 2021, when Trump was mired in negotiations with the National Archives, who were demanding the return of presidential records from his Mar-a-Lago estate before a formal investigation had not yet been opened.

Saba, who is not an attorney, left the White House in May to attend law school.

Bratt had a third meeting in the White House in September 2021, this time with Katherine Reily, an advisor to the White House chief of staff’s office.

The logs offer no information about what was discussed at the meetings.

Critics and legal experts questioned why Bratt was taking meetings at all with the White House counsel’s office while part of an active investigation into President Biden’s likely 2024 Republican opponent.

“There is no legitimate purpose for a line [DOJ] guy to be meeting with the White House except if it’s coordinated by the highest levels,” said former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a one-time top federal prosecutor in the Southern District.

more
https://nypost.com/2023/08/26/biden-staffers-met-with-special-counsel-jack-smiths-aides-before-trump-indictment/

[sneakypete]

Ok,is there anyone even the tiniest bit surprised by this?

Hell,it was the DNC that ordered the charges against him.

[mountaineer]

Mark R. Levin
@marklevinshow
Why would the senior line prosecutor involved in the document investigation of President Trump be meeting with Biden’s lawyers at the White House?  Caught red handed. Bastards.
10:26 PM · Aug 26, 2023

FoiaFan
@15poundstogo
This is why. A witness interview.

Shipwreckedcrew
@shipwreckedcrew
The "Jay Bratt went to the White House Counsel's Office for a Meeting" looks to me -- at this point -- as an potential example of "2+2=22."

He met with an Assistant to the Chief of Staff.  The woman -- at the time -- was not an attorney.  She was a career employee who had worked in the same position during the Trump Admin. in White House Counsel's Office. 

Bratt did not meet with her alone.  An FBI agent attended the meeting as well.  This strongly suggests to me this was an interview and the FBI agent was there to take notes and write an FBI 302 of what the woman said.

That circumstance leads me to believe that the meeting did not involve any kind of "coordination" or "planning" between the Smith SCO and the Biden White House Counsel's Office.  This woman didn't have that kind of job, and it's unlikely a single FBI agent would have been invited along to listen. 

I'm certain they were gathering evidence -- a witness's recollection -- of events/conversations inside the Trump WH Counsel's Office during the period between the 2020 election and the Biden Inauguration.  It might be the case that she was identified to them as someone who can corroborate information provided by different witness. 

The hyperventilating reporting on this discovery today is the kind of fact-lite yarn spinning that I hate, and will call out on both sides.
This is not about giving anyone the "benefit of the doubt."   It is about considering known facts and drawing conclusions that make the most sense.
3:06 AM · Aug 27, 2023

[mountaineer]

JUST IN: House Republicans Launch Investigation Into Jack Smith’s Office Meeting with Biden White House Officials
by Cristina Laila
Aug. 29, 2023 5:40 pm

House Judiciary Republicans on Tuesday launched an investigation into Jack Smith’s office meeting with Biden White House officials.

Joe Biden’s White House Counsel’s office quietly met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s aides just weeks before Trump was indicted in the classified documents case.

According to visitor logs reviewed by the New York Post, Jay Bratt, a prosecutor on Jack Smith’s massive team, met with Caroline Saba, deputy chief of staff for Biden’s White House Counsel’s office on March 31, 2023.

The special counsel’s prosecutor met with Biden’s staffers just days after Obama-appointed judge Beryl Howell ordered Trump’s lawyer to testify before the grand jury. ... Gateway Pundit

[Bigun]

JUST IN: House Republicans Launch Investigation Into Jack Smith’s Office Meeting with Biden White House Officials
by Cristina Laila
Aug. 29, 2023 5:40 pm

House Judiciary Republicans on Tuesday launched an investigation into Jack Smith’s office meeting with Biden White House officials.

Joe Biden’s White House Counsel’s office quietly met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s aides just weeks before Trump was indicted in the classified documents case.

According to visitor logs reviewed by the New York Post, Jay Bratt, a prosecutor on Jack Smith’s massive team, met with Caroline Saba, deputy chief of staff for Biden’s White House Counsel’s office on March 31, 2023.

The special counsel’s prosecutor met with Biden’s staffers just days after Obama-appointed judge Beryl Howell ordered Trump’s lawyer to testify before the grand jury. ... Gateway Pundit