Quote:Officials of President Trump's transition team plan to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller to return "many tens of thousands" of transition emails they contend were unlawfully provided to him. But the prosecutor's office says emails being used in the investigation were properly obtained.


What's new: A source close to Trump's transition, which still exists as a legal entity so it can shut down what was once a 1,000-person operation, said the transition will send a letter to Mueller informing him that some of the emails are privileged, and asking for their return. The transition says it is willing to provide Mueller with vetted emails.

The source told me: "What they did is totally illegal, and they need to fix it." But Peter Carr, spokesman for the Special Counsel's Office, told Axios early this morning: "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."

Be smart: Republicans, who have been raising increasing questions about Mueller's office, are prepared to argue that if emails were obtained by questionable means, that could taint or undermine the investigation.

What's at stake: We're told that the fight involves emails from the accounts of 12 officials, including members of the political leadership and foreign-policy team. One of the accounts alone includes 7,000 emails.

Trump officials discovered Mueller had the emails when his prosecutors used them as the basis for questions to witnesses, the sources said.

Why it matters: The transition emails are said to include sensitive exchanges on matters such as potential appointments, gossip about the views of particular senators involved in the confirmation process, speculation about vulnerabilities of Trump nominees, strategizing about press statements, and policy planning on everything from war to taxes.

"Mueller is using the emails to confirm things, and get new leads," a transition source told me.

Taking the fight public: Charging "unlawful conduct," Kory Langhofer, counsel for the transition team, wrote in a letter to congressional committees Saturday that "career staff at the General Services Administration ... have unlawfully produced [transition team] private materials, including privileged communications, to the Special Counsel's Office."

The seven-page letter, obtained by Axios, says: "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."

The letter says this was a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

"Additionally, certain portions of the [transition] materials the Special Counsel's Office obtained from the GSA, including materials that are susceptible to privilege claims, have been leaked to the press by unknown persons."

Go deeper: 7-page PDF OF LETTER

(12-17-2017 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  He should have just struck a deal with the Russians via Wikileaks.

(12-17-2017 03:03 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  He should have just struck a deal with the Russians via Wikileaks.

LOL, you're still sticking to that talking point. Ha, ha, I got a sample of this at last nights party. The Libturds there were saying that Trump would be in jail soon, and even chanted "our" words, "lock him up". You should have seen how many Libturd books they were handing out to their friends. I saw Bidens, Killery's and others. Man, they are so into the Demon's pit they're gonna get burned.

But, politics aside I still like them. Now...that's weird.

(12-17-2017 03:11 PM)usmbacker Wrote:  My ignore list is having a growth spurt this week.

(12-17-2017 03:03 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  He should have just struck a deal with the Russians via Wikileaks.

LOL, you're still sticking to that talking point. Ha, ha, I got a sample of this at last nights party. The Libturds there were saying that Trump would be in jail soon, and even chanted "our" words, "lock him up". You should have seen how many Libturd books they were handing out to their friends. I saw Bidens, Killery's and others. Man, they are so into the Demon's pit they're gonna get burned.

But, politics aside I still like them. Now...that's weird.

(12-17-2017 03:06 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 03:03 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  He should have just struck a deal with the Russians via Wikileaks.

LOL, you're still sticking to that talking point. Ha, ha, I got a sample of this at last nights party. The Libturds there were saying that Trump would be in jail soon, and even chanted "our" words, "lock him up". You should have seen how many Libturd books they were handing out to their friends. I saw Bidens, Killery's and others. Man, they are so into the Demon's pit they're gonna get burned.

But, politics aside I still like them. Now...that's weird.

Yeah look at you, real christ like! hahaha

(12-17-2017 03:16 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 03:03 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  He should have just struck a deal with the Russians via Wikileaks.

LOL, you're still sticking to that talking point. Ha, ha, I got a sample of this at last nights party. The Libturds there were saying that Trump would be in jail soon, and even chanted "our" words, "lock him up". You should have seen how many Libturd books they were handing out to their friends. I saw Bidens, Killery's and others. Man, they are so into the Demon's pit they're gonna get burned.

But, politics aside I still like them. Now...that's weird.

They weren't always insane. Maybe in 2025 they will go back to normal.

(12-18-2017 07:16 AM)fsquid Wrote:  Would love to see the arguments about how those emails were illegally obtained.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using CSNbbs mobile app

(12-18-2017 09:39 AM)Redwingtom Wrote:  Keep dreaming guys. You honestly think Mueller would be so stupid as to illegally obtain these e-mails?

Good grief are you guys in need of a win here.