Visitor records from the White House reveal that a member of special counsel Jack Smith’s team spoke with a Biden administration official before former President Donald Trump was charged with mishandling sensitive materials.
The gathering hints at a possible coordinated legal approach aimed against the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and President Joe Biden’s likely opponent.
According to Smith, Trump was charged at the beginning of June for mishandling confidential materials after he left office. According to White House visitor records, Smith’s team member Jay Bratt met with the deputy chief of staff for the White House counsel’s office, Caroline Saba, nine weeks previously.
Danielle Ray, an FBI agent from the Washington field office, reportedly attended the March 31 meeting with Bratt and Saba.
The 63-year-old Bratt made his third trip to the Biden White House, as shown by the guestbook entries.
While the National Archives requested that Trump surrender presidential documents from his Mar-a-Lago home in November 2021, he met with Saba and White House chief of staff aide Katie Reilly in September 2021.
Concerns about optics have been raised when a member of the special counsel’s staff spoke with White House officials during the investigation into Biden’s possible opponent in 2024.
According to reports, former New York City mayor and former top federal prosecutor in the Southern District Rudy Giuliani said there is no legitimate reason for a line DOJ officer to meet with the White House unless the highest levels coordinate it.
Giuliani has said Biden has his own attorney general and police force. They have set up a state police force with complete contempt for ethics.
Professor of Law at George Washington University Jonathan Turley has also expressed alarm. Turley’s concerns are with Bratt’s travels to the White House once he started working with the special counsel.
The Justice Department should be able to verify whether or not the subject of this discussion is pertinent to the current investigation.
Special counsel spokesperson Peter Carr said Bratt was interviewed about the case in the White House.
