A Republican opposition researcher who claimed a link to former national security adviser Mike Flynn tried to access Hillary Clinton’s private emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to reports.
Peter W. Smith, a longtime Republican operative, assembled a team to seek out the approximately 33,000 emails Ms Clinton said she deleted from her private email server – emails Donald Trump challenged Russian hackers to uncover during the campaign.
Mr Smith believed the emails had already been obtained by Russian hackers, and that they may provide evidence of wrongdoing by Ms Clinton.
He also reportedly told colleagues he was working on behalf of Mr Flynn.
“He said, ‘I’m talking to Michael Flynn about this—if you find anything, can you let me know?’” Eric York, a computer-security expert who worked with Mr. Smith told the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Journal, Mr Smith also told hacker groups that he had a line of communication to Mr Flynn, and sent at least one email offering to make introductions to Mr Flynn’s son. He also said the younger Mr Flynn was aiding in his efforts.
The Republican operative further claimed that he had helped Mr Flynn in attempting to form relationships with Russian officials during the presidential transition period.
Mr Flynn stepped down from his position as national security adviser in February, after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Mr Flynn’s extensive contacts with people inside both Russia and Turkey have made him a focus of ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The former national security adviser has been subpoenaed to testify in front of the House intelligence committee, but is expected to plead the fifth.
US intelligence agencies have accused Russian operatives of accessing emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign workers and releasing them to the media in an attempt to sway the election in favour of her opponent, Donald Trump.
Mr Smith told the Wall Street journal that he and his team of lawyers, technology experts, and Russian-speaking investigators had heard from five different hacker groups who said they were in possession of Ms Clinton’s emails.
“We knew the people who had these were probably around the Russian government,” he told the Journal.
The emails, however, were never released. Mr Smith died on 14 May, 2017 – 10 days after he spoke with the Journal.
