In a new filing aimed at persuading a judge to dismiss the felony charge against his client, attorney Michael Fiser notes that Donald Trump, "ironically, openly encouraged Russia to hack his opponent." | Getty Attorney for man charged in Trump hacking attempt says Trump encouraged it

The attorney representing a Louisiana private investigator charged with attempting to hack President Donald Trump's tax returns notes that Trump himself had invited a foreign country to hack Hillary Clinton's emails.

In a new filing aimed at persuading a judge to dismiss the felony charge against his client, attorney Michael Fiser notes that Trump, "ironically, openly encouraged Russia to hack his opponent." Last summer, Trump encouraged Russia to help find “the 30,000 emails that are missing” from the personal server Clinton used during her time as secretary of State.


Authorities have charged Jordan Hamlett, 31, with using an online federal student loan application tool on Sept. 13 in an unsuccessful attempt to pull then-candidate Trump’s tax information. The tool, which allows students and families to automatically input their tax information when applying for federal financial aid, was taken offline in March after identity thieves used it as part of a scheme to steal tax refunds.

Hamlett was indicted Nov. 10 on a federal felony charge of false representation of a social security number. He has pleaded not guilty.

The filing by his attorney, dated June 4 in the Middle District of Louisiana, also contends that federal agents, in their "zeal" to prevent the hacking of a presidential candidate, violated Hamlett's Miranda rights. The Miranda warning is a right to remain silent that police are required to give to criminal suspects in custody before interrogating them.

"Being tricked into an interrogation by government agents under circumstances in which it is not clear whether one is free to leave is its own subtle form of compulsion," Fiser writes in the filing.

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The filing notes that one of the agents involved in the case testified at a hearing that the investigation was sensitive given that Hamlett is a private investigator and there were "thoughts this could be something that would affect the election" if Trump's tax information were collected and released.

Prosecutors have said in a previous filing that Hamlett "immediately volunteered that he had committed the crime" to agents who approached him at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Baton Rouge, La. It is not known whether Hamlett sought Trump's tax returns on his own, or at the behest of an employer.