FBI investigating sexual harassment smear against Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller has asked the FBI to investigate a smear campaign against him, amid claims that women were being paid to accuse him of sexual harassment.

The campaign was reportedly orchestrated by a man "with a British accent", who rang a woman to entice her to make the false claim.

“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,” said Peter Carr, Mr Mueller's spokesman.

The office of Mr Mueller, who has been appointed to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the US election, was contacted by journalists who were in turn made aware of the campaign by a woman involved.

Scott Stedman, one of the journalists, said the woman was not willing to talk to him to discuss her allegations, but shared an email with them.

According to The Atlantic, she said in the email that she herself had been offered roughly $20,000 (£15,750) by a man claiming to work for a Republican activist named Jack Burkman “to make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller.”

Mr Burkman is a conservative radio host, known for spreading conspiracy theories.

The woman told journalists in an email, obtained by The Atlantic, that she had worked for Mr Mueller as a paralegal at the Pillsbury, Madison, and Sutro law firm in 1974, but that she “didn’t see” him much.

“When I did see him, he was always very polite to me, and was never inappropriate,” the woman wrote.

The law firm said that they had no record of the woman who said she was employed there.

“We have no record of this individual working for our firm,” a spokesman said.

The Atlantic quoted her email as detailing how she was contacted by telephone by the "British-accented" man.

“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. 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.’”

The man “offered to pay off all of my credit card debt, plus bring me a check for $20,000 if I would do” it, she wrote.

“He knew exactly how much credit card debt I had, right down to the dollar, which sort of freaked me out,” she added.

Mr Burkman has denied knowing the woman who originally alerted journalists to the alleged scheme and called the FBI referral “a joke, mueller wants to deflect attention from his sex assault troubles by attacking me.”  

He added in a separate email, to The Atlantic, that “on Thursday 1200 NOON ROSSYLN HOLIDAY INN  we will present a very credible witness who will allege that Mr. Mueller committed against her a sexual assault.”