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NEW DOCUMENTS: We obtained emails from Brian Benczkowski, outgoing head of DOJ’s Criminal Division, that show him tracking Rudy Giuliani’s press mentions from October through January, as the DOJ tried to distance itself from Trump's personal attorney. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6961023-DOJ-CRIM-19-1241-19-1242-B.html
After the @nytimes ran an article entitled “Giuliani Mixes His Business With Role as Trump’s Lawyer,” Benczkowski responded to an email with the article title in the subject line from the Office of Public Affairs and asked, “Can we talk briefly?”
The Times reported that Giuliani met with Benczkowski and other senior DOJ officials on behalf of a client in a foreign bribery case. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/us/politics/giuliani-business.html
The emails also show Benczkowski consulting with the Office of Public Affairs about a reporter's request for comment on the meeting with Giuliani.
In an email from January 2020, Benczkowski emailed DOJ officials a Reuters story about Giuliani’s involvement in backchannels with Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
We previously investigated Benczkowksi in 2018 after senators voiced concern about his ties to Alfa Bank, which is owned by oligarchs connected to the Russian government. https://www.americanoversight.org/assistant-attorney-general-with-ties-to-russian-bank-recused-from-mueller-investigation
We obtained docs that contain communications between DOJ & senators, which said that Benczkowski “requested to be—and is currently—screened off from any matters regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, including any prosecutions arising from the investigation.”
This is the latest production from FOIA requests we filed in October 2019 seeking DOJ communications about Ukraine or with Trump’s personal lawyers.
In November 2019, we sued for the release of these documents, and we expect more will follow. https://www.americanoversight.org/american-oversight-sues-justice-department-for-ukraine-related-communications
In November 2019, we sued for the release of these documents, and we expect more will follow. https://www.americanoversight.org/american-oversight-sues-justice-department-for-ukraine-related-communications
https://www.americanoversight.org/document/doj-communications-with-regarding-trumps-personal-lawyers
