Feds Interview 2 Ex-Trump Lawyers on Mar-a-Lago Docs: NYT
GABFEST
Pat Cipollone and his deputy, Patrick Philbin, are the two most senior Trump aides to have spoken with FBI agents probing the president’s removal of sensitive information.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his onetime deputy, Patrick Philbin, were tapped by federal agents for an interview on the 11 boxes of sensitive information recently removed from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Two sources familiar with the FBI’s strategy as it probes Trump’s circle for possible violations of the Espionage Act told The New York Times on Tuesday that Philbin was interviewed this spring. It was not clear when Cipollone was interviewed. The men are the two most senior Trump aides yet known to have sat down with investigators. Both were designated liaisons with the National Archives as it attempted to retrieve the former president’s documents. Trump reportedly dug his heels in as Philbin attempted to convince him to give over the material. “It’s not theirs, it’s mine,” he said, several ex-aides told the Times. The National Archives referred the case to the Justice Department in February.
