The United States investigates a possible bribery and puts pressure on a pardon plan

The Justice Department is investigating whether there was a secret scheme to pressure White House officials for a clemency, as well as a related plot to offer a major political contribution in exchange for a clemency, according to a court document released today.

Most of the information in the 18-page court order is redacted, including the identities of the individuals prosecutors are investigating and to whom the proposed clemency might be targeted.

But the August document reveals that certain individuals are suspected of acting 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 or “pardon”. of sentence “.

A Justice Department official said today (Tuesday night local time) that no government official was or is the subject or target of the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

President Donald Trump tweeted today: “Pardon Inquiry is Fake News!”

The existence of the investigation, first reported by CNN, was revealed in a court order from Federal District Judge Beryl Howell, chief judge of the federal court in Washington. In it, she granted investigators access to certain email communications related to the alleged schemes that, according to her, were not protected by attorney-client privilege. The investigation team will be able to use that material to confront any subject or objective of the investigation, the judge wrote.

The warrant was dated Aug. 28, and prosecutors had tried to keep it private because they said it identifies people not charged by a grand jury. But today, Howell opened selected parts of that document while removing any personally identifiable information from view.

As part of the investigation, more than 50 devices, including laptops and iPads, were seized, according to the document.

Pardons are common at the end of a president’s term and are sometimes politically tense issues, as some convicted felons seek to take advantage of connections within the White House to secure clemency. Last week, Trump announced that he had pardoned his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, even as a federal judge was weighing a request from the Justice Department to dismiss the case.