Illinois GOP Operative Who Chased Clinton Emails Killed Self In Minnesota: Report

LAKE FOREST, IL — A Republican operative who had attempted to obtain Hillary Clinton's missing emails from alleged Russian hackers killed himself in Minnesota in May, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune Thursday. In a hotel room near Rochester's Mayo Clinic, 81-year-old Peter W. Smith, of Lake Forest, left documents, including a statement police described as a suicide note.

Smith died just days after he was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about his attempts to secure Clinton's emails. He implied in that report that he was working under the direction of Gen. Michael Flynn.

Smith's operation promoted itself in a document citing senior members of the Trump campaign, and Smith suggested he was "both well connected within the top echelons of the campaign and he seemed to know both Lt. Gen. Flynn and his son well," according to an account from a computer researcher he contacted.

The Senate Intelligence Committee wants to get documents from anyone associated with his opposition research as part of its investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential campaign, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. After reading news coverage of Smith's operation, House Select Committee on Intelligence Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) told the paper that “it sounds like we would want to talk to people who have knowledge of his activities.”

A Politico Magazine investigation described Smith as "a determined but ill-equipped activist" trying to publish deleted Clinton emails before election day. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Lake Forest Patch, click here to find your local Illinois Patch.)

Smith's obituary described him as "A quietly generous champion of efforts to ensure a more economically and politically secure world." Smith was active in various policy organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Brookings Institution, according to his obituary. He also served as national chairman of the College Young Republicans and later assisted in fundraising efforts for the Republican National Committee, Newt Gingrich's GOPAC and other political organizations.

Flynn, a surrogate of President Trump during the campaign, became national security adviser in January. He was shortly forced to resign that position, however, when it was discovered he had misled the public and the vice president about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

The note Smith left before his death stated he was in poor health and had an expiring life insurance policy, the Chicago Tribune reported:

In the note recovered by police, Smith apologized to authorities and said that "NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER" was involved in his death. He wrote that he was taking his own life because of a "RECENT BAD TURN IN HEALTH SINCE JANUARY, 2017" and timing related "TO LIFE INSURANCE OF $5 MILLION EXPIRING."

One of Smith's former employees told the Tribune he thought the elderly man had gone to the famed clinic to be treated for a heart condition. Mayo spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said Thursday she could not confirm Smith had been a patient, citing medical privacy laws.

» Read much more from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Lawfare Blog, the Wall Street Journal, and Politico

Photo credit: (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Patch Editor William Bornhoft contributed