GOP Operative Connected To Flynn Asked Hackers For Clinton Emails: Report

A new report indicates that Michael Flynn may have been connected to efforts to acquire stolen emails from Russian hackers.

A longtime Republican operative named Peter Smith attempted to acquire emails he thought were stolen from Hillary Clinton’s private server by Russian hackers.

And as part of his efforts, the Smith assembled tech experts, lawyers and a Russian-speaking investigator to acquire emails the group thought might have been stolen by Russians, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal report is the first to connect Flynn to the effort to acquire stolen documents from Russian hackers.

Smith bragged to friends about being connected to Michael Flynn,  the Wall Street Journal notes.

According to the Wall Street Journal,

In conversations with members of his circle and with others he tried to recruit to help him, the GOP operative, Peter W. Smith, implied he was working with retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, at the time a senior adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump.

“He said, ‘I’m talking to Michael Flynn about this—if you find anything, can you let me know?’” said Eric York, a computer-security expert from Atlanta who searched hacker forums on Mr. Smith’s behalf for people who might have access to the emails.

Emails written by Mr. Smith and one of his associates show that his small group considered Mr. Flynn and his consulting company, Flynn Intel Group, to be allies in their quest.

Smith has since died.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal prior to his death on May 14, Smith said his team found at least two groups of Russia hackers who claimed to possess emails from Clinton’s private server.

Smith said he “told all the groups to give them to WikiLeaks.”

During the campaign, Donald Trump publically called for Russian hackers to steal Hillary Clinton’s emails.


You can read the full Wall Street Journal report here.