Mueller’s Office Defends Acquisition of Trump Transition Team’s Emails

“We Have Secured Either the Account Owner’s Consent or Appropriate Criminal Process”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office is defending their acquisition of tens of thousands of emails sent from Donald Trump’s presidential transition team.

Axios first reported that Mueller and his team had obtained “many tens of thousands” of emails late Saturday. The emails, they reported, are said to “include sensitive exchanges on matters that include potential appointments, gossip about the views of particular senators involved in the confirmation process, speculation about the vulnerabilities of Trump nominees, strategizing about press statements, and policy planning on everything from war to taxes.”

The emails in question were written between Election Day in 2016 and Inauguration Day in 2017. They include correspondence sent to and from Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The acquisition prompted Kory Langhofer, the transition team’s counsel, to send a letter to congressional committees advising that the emails were “unlawfully produced.” The seven-page letter prompted the response from Mueller’s team.

“When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner’s consent or appropriate criminal process,” spokesman Peter Carr told The Hill.

As BuzzFeed reported Saturday, the General Services Administration (GSA)—which is responsible for providing office space to the presidential transition team—also pushed back on claims that the emails were unlawfully given to Mueller.

Citing GSA Deputy Counsel Lenny Loewentritt, they reported:

Loewentritt read to BuzzFeed News a series of agreements that anyone had to agree to when using GSA materials during the transition, including that there could be monitoring and auditing of devices and that, “Therefore, no expectation of privacy can be assumed.”

Loewentritt told BuzzFeed News that the GSA initially “suggested a warrant or subpoena” for the materials, but that the Special Counsel’s Office determined the letter route was sufficient.

As to whether the Trump campaign should have been informed of the request, Loewentritt said, “That’s between the Special Counsel and the transition team.”

Mueller’s investigation has faced increased scrutiny by Donald Trump advocates in recent weeks. On Saturday, Fox News likened it to an anti-Trump “coup in America.”

The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein may have put it best:

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