The Trump campaign has begun handing over documents to Bob Mueller as his investigators probe potential interference by Russia in the 2016 election.
A team of attorneys at Jones Day, the firm representing the Trump campaign, is finding the documents that relate to Mueller’s queries of the campaign, sources have told The Daily Beast. And John Dowd, an attorney representing the president, said that the campaign is in “total cooperation” with Mueller on the matter.
“Jones Day has got a wonderful team handling the production,” Dowd said.
ADVERTISEMENT
He added that the campaign has already turned over some documents to Mueller’s investigators and is in the process of producing more. Dowd said he has been personally delivering the documents to Mueller.
Ben Ginsberg, the longtime Republican lawyer who represents the campaign for Jones Day, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Trump campaign has previously turned over documents to congressional investigators looking into the possibility of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
That those documents have now been given to Mueller is a sign that the two investigations are covering similar ground, albeit from unique investigative vantage points
It also suggests that a conclusion to the probe may not be all that near. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, told The Daily Beast the news of the campaign turning over documents to Mueller will probably continue his investigation past Thanksgiving, at the least.
“It’s going to take time to produce documents,” he said. “The documents have to be reviewed. Then those documents may prompt further interviews, and they themselves may prompt Mueller to request additional documents from other entities.”
The Mueller probe’s mandate is quite broad, and it is treating the White House, the presidential transition team, and the 2016 campaign as entirely separate legal entities.
According to the order Rod Rosenstein signed directing Mueller to helm the probe, Mueller is authorized to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
Mueller’s team declined to comment.
