Mueller Hits Back At Trump Team, Defends Obtaining Trump Transition Emails

The Special Counsel sends a Trump a message in a rare public statement.

The Special Counsel responded sternly to the Trump teams claims that tens of thousands of transition emails were obtained illegally.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office on Sunday shot back at the Trump team’s claims it obtained tens of thousands of transition emails illegally.

In a rare public statement, Mueller’s office defended itself from the Trump team’s baseless claims.

“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,” Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, said in a statement.

There is also a not so subtle statement in Mueller’s statement.

The statement has the words “appropriate criminal process” meaning they likely obtained a warrant for those emails. And if they have a warrant, that means Mueller had probable cause to suggest a crime.

It is also important to note that the transition emails are on government accounts and thus the Trump team can have no credible expectation of privacy.

Axios first reported Saturday that Mueller’s team had taken possession of tens of thousands of emails from the Trump transition team, including messages from Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

Mueller’s investigators then used the emails to question witnesses as well as use the messages to confirm information and find new leads.

Thus far, Mueller’s investigation has led to major prosecutorial actions against four Trump associates.

Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick gates were indicted for several crimes, including money laundering.

And Mike Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, has pled guilty to lying to the FBI and is now cooperating with Mueller’s team. In addition to Flynn, another Trump campaign official, George Papadopoulos, also pled guilty to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with Mueller.

[image via public domain]