By Aaron Miller-
The U.S Justice Department is investigating whether there was a secret scheme to bribe or lobby White House officials for a pardon as well as a related plot to offer a high political contribution in exchange for clemency, according to a court document unsealed on Tuesday.
The bulk of the details in the 18-page court order is redacted, including the identity of the people prosecutors are investigating, and for whom the proposed pardon might be intended.
However, the document from August reveals people are suspected of having acted to secretly lobby White House officials to secure a pardon or sentence commutation and that, in a related scheme, a substantial political support was floated in exchange for a pardon.
Over 50 laptops, iPads and other digital devices have been seized, according to the document.
Court Order
The existence of the investigation was revealed in a court order from U.S District Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge of Washington’s federal court, in which she granted investigators access to certain email communications connected to the alleged schemes that she said was not protected by attorney-client privilege.
The order was dated August 28, and prosecutors sought to keep it private because they said it identified people not charged by a grand jury. On Tuesday, Ms Howell unsealed that document while redacting from view any personally identifiable information.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced he had pardoned his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, as a federal judge was weighing a Justice Department request to dismiss the case.