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Investigators are investigating whether bribes were used to try to obtain presidential pardons in the United States, according to federal court documents.
The chief judge of federal court in Washington opened the heavily worded document Tuesday and did not name any of the people involved.
In a statement, a Justice Department spokesperson said that no government official was and is currently the subject or target of the investigation. Despite that, President Trump couldn’t help but tweet that the investigation was “Fake News!”
According to the 18-page document, it is suspected that several individuals acted to secretly pressure White House officials for a pardon or commutation of sentence and that, in a related scheme, a substantial political contribution was made in exchange for a pardon.
Court documents say the investigation is looking into whether at least two people “acted as lobbyists for senior White House officials, without complying with the registration requirement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act … to obtain a clemency or suspension. of the sentence for “a person whose name is redacted.
The investigation also involves a possible offer by a censured individual to “offer a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or a suspended sentence.”
As part of the investigation, more than 50 laptops, iPads and other digital devices were seized, according to the document.
The existence of the investigation was revealed in a court order from Federal District Judge Beryl Howell, Chief Justice of the Washington Federal Court, granting investigators access to certain email communications related to the alleged schemes that, according to her, they were not protected by a lawyer. customer privilege.
Prosecutors will be able to use that material to confront any subject or target of the investigation, the judge wrote.
The warrant was dated Aug. 28 and prosecutors tried to keep it private because they said it identified people not indicted by a grand jury. But on Tuesday, Ms. Howell opened that document while removing any personally identifiable information from view.
There do not appear to have been any charges in the investigation yet.
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