FBI interviewed ex-Trump counsel, deputy over sensitive documents -source

[August 17, 2022]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has interviewed Donald Trump's former White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and his deputy in its investigation into sensitive documents stored at the former president's home, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. 

Pat Cipollone, former White House counsel to President Donald Trump, walks through a hallway during a break from a meeting with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, in O'Neill House Office Building in Washington, U.S., July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger

It is unclear when Cipollone was spoken to, while his deputy, Patrick Philbin, was interviewed in the spring, according to the New York Times, which earlier reported the news.

During a search on Aug. 8 of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, FBI agents removed classified documents including some marked as top secret, the Justice Department has said.

The search was carried out as part of an investigation into whether documents were illegally removed from the White House after Republican Trump left office in January 2021 following his election defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has said that the records were "all declassified" and placed in "secure storage."

A representative for Cipollone and Philbin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)

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