The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website August 10, 2018:
BuzzFeed reportedly obtained documents showing his “suspicious” cash withdrawals.
Peter Smith, a GOP operative, tried to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from believed to be Russian hackers during the 2016 campaign, according to a Wall Street Journal reportpublished in June 2017. This finding was especially significant because Smith appeared to have ties to Michael Flynn, an adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump who briefly became national security adviser.
While this thread in the Russia investigation has largely remained dormant since the initial reports, a new article from BuzzFeed on Friday breathed new life into the potentially crucial story. According to the report, Smith made “suspicious” money transfers in his effort to secure the emails:
Just a day after he finished a report suggesting he was working with Trump campaign officials, for example, he transferred $9,500 from an account he had set up to fund the email project to his personal account, later taking out more than $4,900 in cash. According to a person with direct knowledge of Smith’s project, the Republican operative stated that he was prepared to pay hackers “many thousands of dollars” for Clinton’s emails — and ultimately did so.