The Office of the Special Counsel investigating the 2016 election has asked the FBI to investigate whether women have been offered money to make claims of sexual harassment against Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerSenate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why a special counsel is guaranteed if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Barr taps attorney investigating Russia probe origins as special counsel MORE. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel's office, told The Hill in an email: "When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation.” ADVERTISEMENT A spokesman for the FBI declined to comment, citing the bureau's practice of not confirming or denying conducting particular investigations. The referral was first reported by HillReporter.com. ADVERTISEMENT The unnamed woman in a recent email to multiple journalists wrote that a man who said he worked for GOP activist Jack Burkman asked her “to make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller” in exchange for the money. Burkman in a tweet Tuesday said he would be holding an event on Thursday in a Virginia suburb with the first woman to make an allegation against Mueller. "I applaud the courage and dignity and grace and strength of my client," wrote Burkman, who hosts a conservative radio and TV talk show on Newsmax. Some sad news. On Thursday, November 1, at the Rosslyn Holiday Inn at noon, we will reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sex assault victims. I applaud the courage and dignity and grace and strength of my client. pic.twitter.com/wZVQeHD45r — Jack Burkman (@Jack_Burkman) October 30, 2018 The D.C. lobbyist had previously gained attention for his work on a conspiracy theory involving Seth Rich, a young staffer for the Democratic National Committee who was killed in what D.C. police concluded was a robbery in 2016. Burkman theorized without evidence that Rich had been killed by a Russian hit squad. Rich's parents distanced themselves from Burkman and said that people conducting their own investigations into the unsolved crime were not helping anyone. In her email, the woman says the man who said he worked for Burkman offered to pay her $20,000. "[The man] offered to pay off all of my credit card debt, plus bring me a check for $20,000 if I would do one thing,” the woman wrote in an email obtained by The Atlantic. “In more of an effort to get him to go away than anything else, I asked him what in the hell he wanted me to do." "He said that we could not talk about it on the phone, and he asked me to download an app on my phone called Signal, which he said was more secure," she continued. "Reluctantly, I downloaded the app and he called me on that app a few minutes later. He said (and I will never forget exactly what it was) ‘I want you to make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller, and I want you to sign a sworn affidavit to that effect.’ ” Journalist Yashar Ali posted a screenshot of the email, which he said he received 13 days ago, on Twitter. 13 days ago I received this tip alleging an attempt to pay off women to make up accusations of sexual misconduct against Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Other reporters received the same email. Now the Special Counsel's office is telling us they've referred the matter to the FBI pic.twitter.com/oqh4Fnel5u — Yashar Ali (@yashar) October 30, 2018 Burkman in a statement to The Atlantic said he does not know the women who told journalists about the alleged scheme. Mueller's office confirmed that they learned of the scheme from several journalists who were approached by a woman who said she had been offered $20,000 to make sexual assault allegations against Mueller, The Atlantic reported "On Thursday 1200 NOON ROSSLYN HOLIDAY INN we will present a very credible witness who will allege that Mr. Mueller committed against her a sexual assault,” Burkman wrote in the statement. Ed Krassenstein of HillReporter.com, who first reported about the alleged scheme, told NBC News that he thinks pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl might be involved as well. While Krassenstein was reporting on the story, he says he received a phone call from a man claiming to be from a company called "Surefire Intelligence." Burkman told Krassenstein that Wohl runs "Surefire Intelligence," which has a small online footprint. Wohl's email address is listed in the domain records for the company’s website, according to NBC News. The number listed on Surefire's website appears to be associated with Wohl's mother. A second woman told The Atlantic on Tuesday that she alerted the special counsel's office to an email she received from a man associated with Surefire Intelligence. Jennifer Taub, an associate professor at Vermont Law School and occasional CNN commentator, forwarded The Atlantic an October email she received from a man using a Surefire Intelligence email address. "It's my understanding that you may have had some past encounters with Robert Mueller,” the man wrote, according to the magazine. “I would like to discuss those encounters with you. My organization is conducting an examination of Robert Mueller's past." "We would likewise pay you for any references that you may have," he added. Taub said she alerted Mueller's office immediately. Wohl, who is a contributor to the right-wing website The Gateway Pundit, denied knowing about the alleged scheme in messages to the HillReporter.com and NBC. Earlier on Tuesday, Wohl tweeted “Several media sources tell me that a scandalous story about Mueller is breaking tomorrow. Should be interesting. Stay tuned!” Around the same time, the Gateway Pundit published an article alleging Mueller as being accused of rape by a "very credible witness." "To me, this was all a setup from somebody trying to discredit the media," Krassenstein said to NBC. — Morgan Chalfant contributed reporting Updated: 5:30 p.m.<doc-sep>Washington (AFP) - The FBI is investigating an alleged scheme to pay women to accuse Russia collusion probe chief Robert Mueller of sexual harassment in a bid to discredit him, Mueller's office said Tuesday. The scheme was uncovered after one woman who said she worked for Mueller decades ago told several journalists she had been offered $20,000 to accuse him of sexual misconduct. "When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation," Mueller's spokesman Peter Carr said. Carr did not offer any additional details, but his rare public statement made clear that Mueller's office was taking the claims seriously. When a matter is referred to the FBI, the agency must investigate the merits of the complaint. Mueller is a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was tasked last year with investigating allegations that members of President Donald Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Mueller's probe has expanded to examine possible attempts by Trump himself to obstruct the investigation, which could -- if proven -- lead to the president's impeachment. The Hill Reporter news website said the scheme surfaced last week after they and several other outlets were contacted by an anonymous woman saying she had been offered cash to make allegations against Mueller. The woman -- who has since disappeared -- said in an email to several reporters that the person who contacted her claimed to work for Republican lobbyist and right-wing radio host Jack Burkman, the Hill Reporter said. On October 20, Burkman announced on his Facebook page that he had explosive evidence showing Mueller is an alcoholic, and had seven women who claimed they had been harassed by Mueller, dating back four decades or more.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — The office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller referred to the FBI an apparent plot involving a lobbyist and conspiracy theorist who had reportedly offered to pay a woman to make sexual misconduct allegations against Mueller. The Atlantic reported Tuesday that Mueller’s office was alerted to the scheme by journalists who had been researching it. Mueller’s team has been famously tight-lipped throughout its investigation, but the Special Counsel’s office took the matter seriously enough to issue a rare public statement. “When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation,” Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, told reporters on Tuesday. According to the Atlantic, Jack Burkman, a Republican fringe figure in Washington political circles perhaps best known for leading a widely ridiculed and self-promotional “investigation” into the 2016 murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, had sought to pay an unnamed woman so that she would “make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller.” Instead, the woman reportedly contacted several journalists by email and told them about Burkman’s scheme, claiming that he had offered to pay off her credit card debt and write her a check for $20,000 if she would sign a sworn affidavit alleging sexual misconduct and workplace harassment by Mueller, according to the woman. The journalist Yashar Ali posted on Twitter what he said was a screenshot of the email sent by the anonymous woman describing the supposed pay-off plot. 13 days ago I received this tip alleging an attempt to pay off women to make up accusations of sexual misconduct against Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Other reporters received the same email. Now the Special Counsel's office is telling us they've referred the matter to the FBI pic.twitter.com/oqh4Fnel5u — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 30, 2018 Speaking with Rolling Stone Tuesday afternoon, Burkman calls the special counsel’s FBI referral a “House of Cards episode” and “silliness layered on silliness layered on silliness.” He went on to say, “There’s no truth to the claim we paid anyone” and vehemently denies any pay-off scheme. When asked to respond to the anonymous email sent to journalists, he said he didn’t know about it, who sent it or who “Bill” was. “He’s trying to discredit me and it’s not going to work,” Burkman said of Mueller. After Burkman’s stunt involving Rich’s murder failed spectacularly, he appears to have moved on to a new, politically convenient target: Mueller. Last week, Burkman posted a video of himself on Facebook claiming Mueller “has a whole lifetime history of harassing women” and accusing him of being “an old-school drunk” who carries a flask to work. Burkman gave no evidence to back up any of his claims apart from unnamed “sources.” On Tuesday, Burkman announced a November 1st press conference in which he would “reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sex assault victims.” Again, he gave no evidence and revealed nothing about his supposed “client.” Now, however, there’s a good chance Burkman will get plenty of time to explain his theories and motives in far more detail — to the FBI.<doc-sep>The special counsel’s office has asked the FBI to investigate claims that a woman was offered $20,000 to make false sexual harassment allegations against Robert Mueller. “When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the special counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation,” Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel, told The Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday. Numerous reporters came forward Tuesday to say they received an email from a woman who claimed that she was offered $20,000 to level sexual harassment allegations against Mueller, who is leading the investigation into possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. The woman claimed she worked with Mueller at the law firm Pillsbury Shaw in 1974. (RELATED: Report: Mueller Will Present Findings From Russia Probe After Midterms) A website called The Hill Reporter first reported details of the email. Freelance reporter Yahsar Ali published a redacted version of the email, which he said he received nearly two weeks ago. 13 days ago I received this tip alleging an attempt to pay off women to make up accusations of sexual misconduct against Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Other reporters received the same email. Now the Special Counsel’s office is telling us they’ve referred the matter to the FBI pic.twitter.com/oqh4Fnel5u — Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 30, 2018 The woman claimed that an associate of lobbyist and radio host Jack Burkman had offered to pay off her credit card bills in exchange for signing an affidavit accusing Mueller of sexual misconduct. “I don’t know who these people are, or why they want this stuff,” the woman wrote, adding that she had limited interactions with Mueller but that he was always “polite.” Burkman, who has pushed conspiracy theories about the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, told TheDCNF in a phone interview Tuesday it was “totally false” that he offered to pay anyone for information about Mueller. He did claim to be representing a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by the former FBI director. Burkman plans to hold a press conference with the woman in Washington, D.C., Thursday. He said that the woman claims she was sexually assaulted by Mueller in New York City in August 2010. Mueller would have been FBI director at the time. “We find her very credible,” Burkman claimed. Asked to provide more information about his client or her claims, Burkman declined, saying that his client is keeping him “on a short leash.” “We have the first of what we believe to be a long line of accusers against Bob Mueller,” said Burkman, who said he has been investigating Mueller for the past six months. Carr declined to comment on Burkman’s specific allegations. Follow Chuck on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.<doc-sep>
Special counsel Robert Mueller asked the FBI to investigate a claim that a conservative commentator was offering to pay women to accuse him of sexual assault, a spokesman for the office said Tuesday. That claim appears to come from a woman who reached out to reporters in an email in which she said a conservative activist and commentator offered her about $20,000 to “make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller.” “When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation,” a spokesman said in the full statement. On Twitter, journalist Yashar Ali shared a photo of an that email he said he and other reporters received on Oct. 17. 13 days ago I received this tip alleging an attempt to pay off women to make up accusations of sexual misconduct against Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Other reporters received the same email. Now the Special Counsel's office is telling us they've referred the matter to the FBI pic.twitter.com/oqh4Fnel5u — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 30, 2018 In to the email, the woman says she was contacted by someone claiming to work for a conservative political activist named Jack Burkman. The person asked her to do “one thing” in exchange for the money. After she responded to ask for more information, he had her download the encrypted communication app Signal. He then asked her to make the accusation against Mueller and sign a sworn affidavit with the claim. Reporters have not been able to reach the women to further investigate her story, and according to the Atlantic, Burkman said he did not know the woman from the email. Three days later, on Oct. 20, Burkman published a video on Facebook in which he said that on “Thursday at high noon,” a “first” person would come forward to accuse Mueller of sexual assault. He called Mueller “a bad guy not just because of what he does inside the courtroom, but because of what he does outside the courtroom.” Burkman is a conservative radio host who in the past spread conspiracy theories—most notably pushing those related to the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich and paying for his own private investigation into the right-wing conspiracy—and offered money for evidence of unethical or illegal behavior by the FBI during the 2016 election, according to the Atlantic. In a tweet Tuesday, he promised “we will reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sex assault victims” on Thursday. Some sad news. On Thursday, November 1, at the Rosslyn Holiday Inn at noon, we will reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sex assault victims. I applaud the courage and dignity and grace and strength of my client. pic.twitter.com/wZVQeHD45r — Jack Burkman (@Jack_Burkman) October 30, 2018 The spokesperson for the special counsel’s office did not specify if the allegation of a scheme against Mueller referred to Burkman’s claims.