It doesn’t seem to be the leak of all leaks for today predicted by annieli and others, but it’s still pretty significant, and perhaps it’s the prelude to more: according to a memo obtained by the New York Times, the Trump transition team’s general counsel yesterday ordered members of the team to preserve documents and other materials related to the Russian election interference investigation. In other words, don’t delete or you could be in big trouble. Because:
The memo, from the transition team’s general counsel’s office, is the latest indication that the investigation’s special counsel, the former F.B.I. director Robert S. Mueller III, is casting a wide net in his inquiry into possible collusion between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Moscow.
The memo says former transition team members “have a duty to preserve any physical and electronic records that may be related in any way to the subject matter of the pending investigations.”
…
While the memo does not say so, it is the type of notice that organizations distribute after receiving a preservation order from the Justice Department — an order that all documents be preserved at the beginning of an inquiry in case investigators someday want to see them.
Scope of the preservation order:
The so-called preservation order covers any transition team information involving Russia or Ukraine. It also seeks any background investigation records involving the former manager of the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort, and his business partner, Rick Gates; the former foreign policy adviser Carter Page; and the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn. … The memorandum also names Roger J. Stone Jr., an informal adviser to Mr. Trump.
With the order, the transition team lawyers are indicating that they have reason to believe that the five men’s actions are part of investigations by the Justice Department or the House or Senate Intelligence Committees, or will be.
The plot thickens and the noose tightens...