Times, Post, AP seek sealed Mueller records

A coalition of news organizations are asking a federal court to make public materials used by special counsel Robert Mueller to obtain search warrants in his probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. 

The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, Politico and The Associated Press filed a joint motion on Tuesday asking a court to unseal affidavits, warrants and seizure records filed by Mueller’s team, the Post reported.

The motion argues that the sealed materials could contain information of public interest and provide details about the direction of Mueller’s investigation and the basis for FBI raids.

{mosads}Mueller’s team has indicted a number of individuals and organizations as part of its investigation, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his associate, Richard Gates, and 13 Russian nationals who allegedly participated in a plot to interfere in the U.S. election.

Mueller has also elicited guilty pleas from some former Trump associates, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser on Trump’s campaign. Both men pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Some of the documents related to warrants obtained by Mueller have remained under wraps for several months — an unusually long period of time.

Mueller was appointed in May to carry out the criminal investigation into Moscow’s meddling and any possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, although his mandate gives him the authority to probe other issues that may arise from the main investigation.

Trump has repeatedly denied that anyone on his campaign conspired with Moscow to help sway the election, and has called Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.”