Longtime Republican operative Peter Smith raised at least $100,000 to obtain what he thought were emails stolen from Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
The Wall Street Journal last year reported Smith’s attempts to obtain Clinton’s deleted emails from hackers in the weeks running up to the 2016 election.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Smith gained $100,000 from at least four backers and contributed $50,000 of his own money toward the effort.
The donations were made in the name of a Washington scholarship fund for Russian students. The newspaper could not determine whether the scholarship fund existed.
However, the donations were referenced in an email titled “Wire Instructions—Clinton Email Reconnaissance Initiative” that the Journal reviewed in an account used by Smith.
The Journal reported that it could not determine who sent the email, as many people had access to the Gmail account.
Smith’s attempts to gain Clinton’s emails have come under scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller probes alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
Smith believed the emails were hacked by Russians and in recruiting help for his effort reportedly claimed a connection to President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Smith told associates that he discussed his activities with Flynn, who would go on to become Trump’s first National Security Advisor.
Flynn later resigned and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with the Russians during the transition.
Smith committed suicide after detailing his work to the Journal last year.