Renzi tries to exclude wiretap calls

Rep. Rick Renzi’s (R-Ariz.) lawyers have confirmed that the FBI recorded “at least 50” cell phone calls between Renzi and others during the fall of 2006.

Renzi’s attorneys filed a motion with U.S. District Court of Arizona Thursday calling on the judge to exclude the wiretapped calls from trial.

{mosads}Renzi is accused of promising to support legislation authorizing a land deal that netted him more than $700,000. He was indicted in February and is facing 35 criminal counts. He is not running for reelection.

In the filing, the legal team argued that many of the calls recorded during a 30-day period beginning Oct. 26, 2006 were between Renzi and his attorneys and are protected under attorney-client privilege laws.

The attorneys also said that they would later file a separate motion invoking Speech or Debate Clause Constitutional protections, which prevent executive branch intrusion on Congressional activity, over some of the recorded conversations.

That note may cover calls between Renzi and other members of Congress. In April, The Hill reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had informed members that their calls were intercepted during a preliminary investigation of Renzi. Federal law requires the DOJ to alert any person whose conversation has been picked up in wiretaps. Justice provided the notifications to the House general counsel’s office, which relayed them to individual offices.

Many of the member calls took place amid GOP leadership races that fall when Republican candidates were furiously making calls to their colleagues for support. Only Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), a candidate for minority whip, admitted to receiving DOJ notice this his call to Renzi was caught on the wiretap.

Other GOP leaders, such as Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) declined to comment directly or through spokesmen.

The court-approved wiretap occurred after newspapers reported that Renzi had sought legal counsel in connection with the FBI’s investigation into his land deal. His attorneys acknowledged that a DOJ “taint team” had reviewed the phone calls to prevent any unlawful information to be handed over to prosecutors. But he also said the prosecution team had reviewed a “substantial number” of the privileged phone calls “and, in some case, even transcribed [them] as  ‘key calls.’”

“These privileged calls reflect discussions regarding legal strategy and core work product, including the direction of the investigation, witness interviews, DOJ strategy, Congressman Renzi’s recollection of relevant issues, and legal advice regarding theories of prosecution and applicable defenses,” the attorneys wrote.

The lawyers noted that Renzi recently learned that prosecutors provided the contents of at least 12 of the calls to co-defendants James Sandlin and Andrew Beardall.