Man charged in attempt to obtain Trump tax records argues he ‘encouraged’ it

The attorney for a man charged with trying to illegally obtain President Trump’s personal income tax returns last year argued in a court filing that the then-presidential candidate “openly encouraged” hacking during his campaign.

In the filing, Politico reported, attorney Michael Fiser argues for felony charges to be dropped against his client, Louisiana private investigator Jordan Hamlett, who is charged with false representation of a Social Security number.

Hamlett was indicted in November after he allegedly a federal student loan application tool to try to obtain information from Trump’s tax returns. As a presidential candidate, Trump broke decades of precedent by refusing to release his personal tax records.

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Last July, as concerns mounted among U.S. intelligence officials about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, Trump appeared to urge Moscow during a news conference to hack Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s emails from her private server.

“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said at the time. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Fiser also argued in the filing that federal law enforcement officials tricked Hamlett into speaking to them, violating his client’s Miranda rights. 

“Being tricked into an interrogation by government agents under circumstances in which it is not clear whether one is free to leave is its own subtle form of compulsion,” he wrote.