Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team wants to review emails between Paul Manafort and one of his former lawyers — messages that would typically be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Manafort’s emails are a special case, Mueller’s team argued in a court motion Wednesday. Attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply when the client enlists a lawyer’s help to commit a crime — and that’s what Mueller’s team is arguing that Manafort did.
The special counsel asked the court’s permission to review “four documents.” It’s not clear what those messages contain. The sections of the motion that appear to describe them are redacted.
Manafort, the former campaign chief for President Donald Trump, has been charged with failing to register as a foreign agent and is set to stand trial next month in Washington. He was convicted earlier this month on eight charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in a separate trial in Alexandria, Virginia.
The question of how attorney-client privilege applies to a lawyer who advised Manafort and his former deputy, Rick Gates, around their foreign lobbying work on behalf of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has dogged the Washington case for nearly a year.
A federal judge ruled last year that the lawyer, who had responded to inquiries from the Justice Department about why Manafort and Gates hadn’t registered as foreign agents, could be forced to testify in Manafort’s trial. Attorney-client privilege didn’t apply to Manafort’s discussions with the lawyer, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell wrote, because Mueller’s team had demonstrated that Manafort “likely violated federal law” by failing to register.
“In essence, the law refuses to recognize that there was even a legitimate attorney-client relationship because clients may not use legal help to commit crimes or frauds,” Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, wrote in an email to POLITICO.
Manafort’s lawyer isn’t named in court documents. Prosecutors have, however, named Melissa Laurenza of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a potential witness.
Laurenza didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Manafort also declined to comment.
Mueller’s team is now asking the court to let them read the four emails in addition to requiring the attorney to testify.
Mueller’s team has charged Manafort and Gates with making false statements to the Justice Department about their foreign lobbying work on Nov. 23, 2016 and Feb. 10, 2017. Manafort and Gates retroactively registered as foreign agents in June 2017, years after completing the work that they reported.
Mueller’s team obtained a warrant for Manafort’s emails last year and turned them over to a “taint team” of lawyers to weed out privileged messages, according to the motion.
It’s up to a client to assert attorney-client privilege, and Mueller’s prosecutors wrote in the motion that the taint team had asked Manafort whether he wanted to do so.
“Counsel for Mr. Manafort did not respond to the Taint Team’s inquiry, but later claimed to be asserting privilege over all communications between Mr. Manafort” and his attorney, Mueller’s team wrote.
In addition to arguing that attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply to the documents in question because Manafort committed a crime, Mueller’s team is also arguing that it should be waived because Manafort was consulting the attorney about a filing that he was making to the government, rather than about a confidential matter.
“In such cases, both the information that the client expected the lawyer to reveal and ‘the details underlying’ it are subject to disclosure,” Mueller’s team wrote in the motion.
source: politico.com
TRUMP IT IS TIME TO TAKE MUILE==R AND HIS GANG OF CROOKED LAWYERS OUT >:
JUST BECAUSE EVERY BODY SAYS YOU SHOULD NOT DO IT >. IS BEACUSE THEY DO NOT WANT TO BE CAUGHT>IF A REAL INVESTIGATION IS PUT IN PLACE>:
Too bad they weren’t interested in pursuing justice like that with Hillary Clinton in regards to the illegal private server investigation. Do you think they would let Manafort off of obstruction of justice if he deleted his hard drive and smashed phones? Looks as though we have a true two tiered justice system it’s despicable and criminal
THIS MAN, MUELLER IS HIMSELF A CRIMINAL (LOOK HIM UP). HE IS A DISGRACE BUT THE
DEEP STATE IS ON A MISSION TO UNSEAT OUR PRESIDENT THAT WE LOVE!!!!
ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL WHILE CRIMINALS GO FREE AND OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE
PROVIDING FOR THIS OUTRAGEOUS INVESTIGATION!!!!
I HAVE NEVER WITNESSED SUCH ABUSE OF A SIEATED PRESIDENT!
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON/j
Mueller He needs to be removed he has went against the con…
Of the United States his actions all have been void it is currupt and not costitutional by no means that really need to read it a lot better…he has no right I there what so ever he needs to resign or be charged his self and justice needs to be served to each of them pres..
Needs to be read the con really good and see he is to apoint all then in there in that levels so look then up cast them out then have real people search out the truth so byest
If that snake Mueller wants to go after e mails, why not start with Hillary’s. Traitors…all of the deep state!