New American: Did Mueller’s Search of Manafort’s Home Violate the Fourth Amendment?

New American: Did Mueller’s Search of Manafort’s Home Violate the Fourth Amendment? by C. Mitchell Shaw:

When investigators raided and searched the home of one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in July, they seized enough evidence to convince a grand jury last week to indict Manafort on a laundry list of charges. But it appears that at least some of the things seized in the raid may not have been covered by the search warrant.

As CNN reported in September when the search became public:

Mueller’s team has employed some aggressive tactics. In one such case, Mueller’s team may have obtained evidence in the raid of Manafort’s home that was not covered by the search warrant, sources told CNN.

Also, from that same article:

During that raid, Mueller’s investigators took documents considered to be covered by attorney-client privilege, sources told CNN. Lawyers from the WilmerHale law firm, representing Manafort at the time, warned Mueller’s office that their search warrant didn’t allow access to attorney materials. The documents in question have now been returned, the sources say.

The episode raised questions about whether investigators have seen materials they weren’t entitled to obtain.

Overseizure almost never leads to suppression. Treatise § 50.08. Now Manafort’s lawyers have to parse the seizure with the government to exclude. And, to what extent were incriminating records seized? How much did they already have that the overseizure doesn’t even matter? What about a taint team? DOJ Computer Search Guidelines at 110 (pdf 122). Presumably there was one. Manafort could release the search warrant affidavit to show us.

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