Trump transition team told to preserve Russia documents

June 16 (UPI) -- A lawyer representing President Donald Trump's transition issued a memo to team members telling them to retain material related to alleged Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The memo Thursday came from Kory Langhofer of the transition team's general counsel's office. It says that all members of the team serving President Donald Trump during his campaign and prior to his inauguration "have a duty to preserve any physical and electronic records that may be related in any way to the subject matter of the pending investigations."

It is common for such a memo to be circulated after receiving a similar demand, called a preservation order, from the Justice Department, The New York Times reported Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee requested the transition team preserve any Russia-related material from June 2015, when Trump announced his candidacy, until Inauguration Day.

Thursday's memo specifically mentioned retention of any records involving Russia and Ukraine, as well as records involving former campaign manager Paul Manafort, advisers Carter Page, Rick Gates and Roger Stone, and former national security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn. It indicates the scope of investigations of alleged Russian campaign involvement by FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as well as Senate and House investigations, and what information may be requested.

The internal memo regarding the transition team was issued on the same day it was revealed that Vice President Mike Pence hired a personal lawyer, Richard Cullen, to represent him in the investigations. It follows Trump's decision to hire outside lawyers to represent him in the probes.

Earlier this week, Mueller indicated his investigation would extend beyond Russian meddling and into the possibility Trump may have tried to interfere with the FBI probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Mueller's investigators are expected to interview director of national intelligence Daniel Coats, National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers, and Rogers' former deputy, Richard Ledgett. None of the men identified were involved in the Trump campaign.