The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has a workspace in the same law firm that employed the lawyer who provided the FBI with bogus claims of Donald Trump colluding with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.

The Epoch Times reported that the FBI’s workspace, known as a Secure Work Environment, in international law firm Perkins Coie’s Washington office was cleared by the FBI on March 26, 2012, and has been “in continues operation since then.” Michael Bopp, an attorney representing Perkins Coie, confirmed this in a May 25 letter to members of Congress.

Michael Sussman, the lawyer who took claims of former President Donald Trump colluding with Russia to the FBI’s headquarters and formerly worked as a partner for Perkins Coie, had access to the FBI’s Secure Work Environment through July 2021.

The Secure Work Environment was reportedly part of a construction project completed in 2011 and includes a General Services Administration – approved security contained and a key locker, both of which were financed by Perkins Coie. The Secure Work Environment also features a secure telephone, a fax machine, and a security token card, each of which is owned by the FBI.

The Secure Work Environment is maintained by Perkins Coie and is periodically inspected by the FBI to ensure that the space “is operating in accordance with the requisite standards,” according to Bopp’s letter to Congress.

In response to the letter, Matt Gaetz, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida, said “The Democrat Party’s law firm … has this co-located workspace that they operate in concert with the FBI. Why in the world would that be the case?”

The FBI insisted that the Safe Work Environment’s presence is lawful and that it is meant to shield classified documents from the bulk of Perkins Coie’s employees. The FBI insisted that other high-profile companies have similar spaces on their premises or within their office buildings.

Via email, an FBI spokesperson said, “The FBI complies with the law and security policies and works with the Department of Justice to serve classified, Court-authorized legal process [sic] necessary to support national security investigations.”

The email continued, “In certain instances, the FBI coordinates with non-government, third-party entities, such as law firms, that represent service providers which receive these classified Court orders. This includes providing access to private attorneys which represent the service providers in satisfaction of their legal rights. As part of this, the FBI ensures that any storage of classified orders meets stringent security protocols required for such documents.”