Politics

Special counsel obtains thousands of Trump transition emails

Published

6 years ago

December 17, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian contacts with President Donald Trump’s campaign has gained access to thousands of emails sent and received by Trump officials before the start of his administration, according to several people familiar with Trump’s transition organization.

But the investigators did not directly request the records from Trump’s still-existing transition group, Trump for America, and instead obtained them from the General Services Administration, a separate federal agency that stored the material, according to those familiar with the Trump transition organization.

The tens of thousands of emails in question pertain to 13 senior Trump transition officials. Many of the emails that Mueller’s investigators have now include national security discussions about possible Trump international aims as well as candid assessments of candidates for top government posts, said those familiar with the transition. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the records’ sensitivity.

On Saturday, Kory Langhofer, general counsel for the transition group, sent a letter to two congressional committees arguing that the GSA had improperly provided the transition records to Mueller’s investigators. In the letter to the Republican chairmen of the House Oversight and the Senate Homeland Security committees, Langhofer contends that the disclosure by GSA was “unauthorized,” and it considers the documents private and privileged and not government property.

Langhofer also said that a GSA official appointed by Trump in May had assured the transition in June that any request for records from Mueller’s office would be referred to the transition’s attorneys. According to Langhofer, the assurance was made by then-GSA General Counsel Richard Beckler, who was hospitalized in August and has since died. A copy of the letter was viewed by the AP.

But late Saturday, another GSA official present for the conversation told Buzzfeed News that there was nothing improper about the disclosure of the emails to Mueller’s team. The GSA has provided office space and other aid to presidential transitions in recent years and typically houses electronic transition records in its computer system.

GSA Deputy Counsel Lenny Loewentritt told Buzzfeed that Beckler didn’t make a commitment to the transition team that requests from law enforcement for materials would be routed through transition lawyers.

Loewentritt said the transition was informed that by using government devices, the agency wouldn’t hold back records from law enforcement. Transition officials signed agreements that warn them that materials kept on the government servers are subject to monitoring and auditing, he told Buzzfeed, and there’s no expectation of privacy.

The documents were provided to Mueller’s team by the GSA in September in response to requests from the FBI, but the transition wasn’t informed at the time, according to people familiar with the transition organization. Officials with Trump for America learned last Wednesday that GSA officials had turned over the cache of emails to Mueller’s team.

Late Saturday, Mueller’s spokesman, Peter Carr, said the special counsel’s office has followed the law when it has obtained documents during its investigation.

“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,” Carr said.

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. Flynn was fired by Trump in February for misleading senior administration officials about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.

It’s unclear how revelatory the email accounts maintained by the GSA will be for Mueller. Several high-level Trump advisers sometimes used other email accounts to communicate about transition issues between Election Day and the inauguration.

Flynn attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment. Jay Sekulow, an attorney on Trump’s personal legal team, referred questions to the transition group. Spokespeople for GSA didn’t immediately respond to AP’s emailed requests for comment.

The media site Axios first reported on the transfer of the emails to Mueller’s team.

Up Next

Central Florida’s Scott Frost wins Associated Press Coach of the Year

Don't Miss

Rep. Soto Announces Steps Forward In Development Of High Speed Rail Service From Orlando To Miami

Click to comment

Politics

Puerto Rico Republicans award Trump all 23 of their delegates

Published

6 days ago

April 21, 2024

FNN NEWS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s Republican Party held a district assembly on Sunday and awarded former President Donald Trump all 23 of their national delegates.

About 77% of the 1,340 members that make up the U.S. territory’s Republican Party participated, according to Angel Cintron, who heads the GOP there.

He said they held a caucus-style vote that decided how Puerto Rico’s delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July will pledge their votes. Twenty delegates and 20 alternates were chosen.

Trump effectively clinched his party’s nomination earlier this year.

As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico does not participate in the presidential elections but does vote in primaries for the eventual nominees.

Politics in Puerto Rico is dictated by the political status people believe the island should have: statehood, independence or the territorial status quo. Several prominent members of the island’s Republican Party had announced ahead of the district assembly that they do not support Trump.

Politics

Special Advisor on International Disability Rights Minkara Travel to Kenya

Published

6 days ago

April 21, 2024

FNN NEWS

Special Advisor on International Disability Rights (SAIDR) Sara Minkara is traveling to Kenya April 22 to 26 to meet with host government officials to support continued U.S.-Kenyan relations on the development of assistive technology, inclusive education, and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Additionally, SAIDR Minkara will meet with civil society to learn about the challenges and opportunities to participation for persons with disabilities in society. She will also participate in the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Business Summit in Nairobi, where she will discuss the importance of investing in disability-inclusive entrepreneurship and integrating disability rights into trading partnerships.

Politics

Suspended Democratic State Attorney Andrew Warren Seeks Re-Election

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

FNN NEWS

TAMPA, Fla. – In a video released Tuesday morning, State Attorney Andrew Warren announces he will seek re-election to a third term as State Attorney for Hillsborough County, Florida. Warren, a Democrat, points to his proven record of reduced crime, increased public safety, and improvements to the justice system as he declares his candidacy in the race, which will appear on the November 2024 general election ballot.

“Today, I’m running for election as State Attorney to serve the people—all the people—of Hillsborough County. I’m running to keep our neighborhoods safe. I’m running to fight for victims and to make our criminal justice system better,” Warren declares in the video.

Warren has twice been elected by Hillsborough County voters, in 2016 and 2020.

During his first 5 1/2 years in office, before he was illegally suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Warren worked with prosecutors, law enforcement, and community partners to:

· Reduce crime in Hillsborough County by more than 30%

· Make Hillsborough the safest large county in Florida, according to state statistics

· Invest in safety through prevention and rehabilitation, and by addressing mental health and addiction

· Target child predators, convicting an average of one predator every four days the courthouse was open

· Create and expand civil citation programs, disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline

· Establish a Community Council and a Racial Justice Work Group

· Become a national leader in transparency, launching a groundbreaking public Data Dashboard

· Reduce the criminalization of poverty

· Pursue drunk drivers with aggressive sanctions to reduce repeat offenses

· Adopt the Disarming Domestic Abusers policy to protect victims of domestic violence

A native Floridian and former federal prosecutor, Warren and his wife Alex are parents of three children—their daughters Elliot and Lucy, and their late son Zack.

The announcement video is now live on Warren’s Facebook and X/Twitter pages. It encourages supporters to visit Warren’s website, AndrewWarrenFL.com, to sign up for updates or contribute to the campaign.

While outlining his successes in office, Warren also highlights the suspension that installed an unelected political appointee into his position last year—an appointment that is illegitimate, according to prominent Florida legal experts, including a former Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice.

“On August 4, 2022, Ron DeSantis threw out your vote. He illegally forced me from office under armed guard,” Warren says in the video. “My late son. My beautiful daughters. My strong wife. They inspire me to serve others—to do good. That’s why I took DeSantis to court.”

As an image in the video quotes federal Judge Robert Hinkle’s January 20, 2023 ruling that Warren “was diligently and competently performing the job he was elected to perform,” Warren says, “The judge ruled that I did my job and the suspension was unconstitutional. But our fight is not over”—referring to Judge Hinkle’s conclusion that he lacked the authority to reinstate Warren. On January 11, 2024, the appellate court affirmed Judge Hinkle’s findings regarding the constitutional violation while clearly stating that Judge Hinkle has the authority to reinstate Warren.

Even as Warren awaits reinstatement, his announcement Tuesday affirms that in addition to winning in court, Warren intends to be back on the ballot so voters can emphatically make it clear that they decide who represents them—not a governor who broke the law and abused his power for a political stunt.

“I’m running to protect our values, for a woman’s right to choose, for a fair and just system, and—above all—for freedom and democracy,” Warren says. “I’m running to do what’s right. It’s what I’ve always done, as a former federal prosecutor, as a father, and as your State Attorney. I’m Andrew Warren, and together, it’s time we reclaim the future of this community—our community. Join us in this fight.”