Special Edition: Buzzfeed Follows Peter Smith’s Money

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

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4.7 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2018

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

There’s a new twist in one of the stranger subplots of L’Affaire Russe: Buzzfeed News reports that Peter Smith, a Republican operative who reportedly sought to obtain missing Hillary Clinton emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, made several suspicious withdrawals from bank accounts during the timeframe of his quest for Clinton’s emails—suggesting that he may have paid people he believed were Russian hackers.

Benjamin Wittes is joined by Buzzfeed reporter Anthony Cormier and former Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris to make sense of it all.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair
0:07.2	podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:14.7	That's patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:18.2	Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair
0:25.6	no bull and the aftermath.
0:30.0	I'm Benjamin Wittis and this is the LawFair podcast, Special Edition August 11, 2018.
0:40.0	Buzzfeed news on Friday afternoon released a fascinating little story headlined GOP operative
0:48.4	made suspicious withdrawals during pursuit of Clinton emails.
0:53.7	Bylined by Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold, the story is the latest in the yarn of Peter
1:01.7	Smith, who LawFair readers will remember from the reporting of Shane Harris back when he
1:09.1	was at the Wall Street Journal and on LawFair itself, the first hand account of one
1:15.4	in Matt Tate.
1:16.8	The latest story reveals that Buzzfeed news has reviewed documents, quote, showing that
1:23.8	FBI agents and congressional investigators have zeroed in on transactions Smith made right
1:31.0	as his efforts to procure Clinton's emails heated up.
1:35.2	Cormier and Leopold have cash withdrawals that appear to be wholly new and they report
1:42.3	that a bank has turned over documents showing, quote, 88 suspicious cash withdrawals,
1:49.4	totaling $140,000 between January 2016 and April 2017, including a $3,000 withdrawal
2:00.5	six days after the election.
2:02.8	The FBI suspects they report that Smith used some of the cash to fund his operation and
2:09.4	paid hackers who provided him the emails.
2:12.4	I talk to Anthony Cormier Friday afternoon and Friday evening to David Chris with whom I
	...

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