A former Republican opposition researcher mounted his own campaign last year to obtain what he believed were Hillary Clinton's stolen emails, implying that he was working with former Trump campaign adviser Michael Flynn.
"He said, 'I'm talking to Michael Flynn about this — if you find anything, can you let me know?'" Eric York, an Atlanta computer-security expert, told The Wall Street Journal in its report on Thursday.
York said he searched Internet forums for the GOP researcher, Peter Smith, to find anyone who might have access to the hacked documents.
Emails written by Smith and an associate showed that "his small group considered Mr. Flynn and his consulting company, Flynn Intel Group, to be allies in their quest," the Journal reports.
Smith, however, told the newspaper in an interview that he knew Flynn but that "he never stated that Mr. Flynn was involved."
A top private-equity official in Chicago who was active in GOP politics, Smith died on May 14 at age 81. That was about 10 days after his session with the Journal.
"His account of the email search is believed to be his only public comment on it," the newspaper reports.
Flynn, who later became Trump's national security adviser, was fired in February amid questions about his disclosures of his Moscow connections to Vice President Mike Pence.
The retired Army lieutenant general did not respond to requests seeking comment.
In addition, a Trump campaign official told the Journal that Smith did not work for the campaign — and that if Flynn coordinated with him, it was as a private citizen.
The White House declined to comment.
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