The FBI has a workspace in the same law firm that employed the lawyer who took sketchy claims about Donald Trump and Russia to the bureau in 2016, the firm revealed in a new document.
The workspace, known as a “secure work environment,” within Perkins Coie’s office in Washington was cleared by the FBI on March 26, 2012, and has been “in continuous operation since then,” Michael Bopp, an attorney representing Perkins Coie, told members of Congress in a May 25 letter that was reviewed by The Epoch Times.
What’s more, Michael Sussmann, the lawyer who took the claims against Trump to the FBI’s nearby headquarters ahead of the 2016 election, had access to the workspace through July 2021, according to the missive.
The workspace was created in 2011 and includes a General Services Administration-approved security container and a key locker, both of which were paid for by Perkins Coie. It also features a secure telephone, a fax machine, and a security token card, each of which is owned by the bureau.
The workspace is maintained by Perkins Coie and periodically inspected by the FBI to ensure the space “is operating in accordance with the requisite standards,” according to the letter.
“The Democrat Party’s law firm … has this co-located workspace that they operate in concert with the FBI. Why in the world would that be the case?” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said on Fox News, which first reported on the letter sent to Gaetz and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
The FBI indicated that the workspace is lawful and that it’s meant to shield classified documents from the bulk of workers at Perkins Coie and other companies that have similar spaces.
“The FBI complies with the law and security policies and works with the Department of Justice to serve classified, Court-authorized legal process [sic] necessary to support national security investigations,” an FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
