Trump transition lawyer: Mueller improperly obtained documents in Russia probeFox News, Dec 16, 2017, John Roberts, Alex Pappas
Exclusive— A lawyer for the Trump presidential transition team is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office of inappropriately obtaining transition documents as part of its Russia probe, including confidential attorney-client communications, privileged communications and thousands of emails without their knowledge.
In a letter obtained by Fox News and sent to House and Senate committees on Saturday, the transition team’s attorney alleges “unlawful conduct†by the career staff at the General Services Administration (GSA) in handing over transition documents to the special counsel’s office.
Kory Langhofer, the counsel to Trump for America (TFA), argues the GSA “did not own or control the records in question†and the release of documents could be a violation of the Fourth Amendment – which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.Langhofer wrote in Saturday's letter that the GSA handed over “tens of thousands of emails†to Mueller's probe without "any notice" to the transition.
The attorney said they discovered the “unauthorized disclosures†by the GSA on Dec. 12 and 13 and raised concerns with the special counsel’s office. The Associated Press reported that the GSA turned over a flash drive containing tens of thousands of records on Sept. 1 after receiving requests from Mueller's office in late August.
Those records included emails sent and received by 13 senior Trump transition officials. Among the officials who used transition email accounts was former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to a count of making false statements to FBI agents in January and is now cooperating with Mueller's investigation.
“We understand that the special counsel’s office has subsequently made extensive use of the materials it obtained from the GSA, including materials that are susceptible to privilege claims," Langhofer wrote. He added that some of the records obtained by the special counsel’s office from the GSA “have been leaked to the press by unknown persons.â€
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