(Recasts with comment from special counsel's office)
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - An organization established for U.S. President Donald Trump's transition to the White House said on Saturday the special counsel investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election had obtained tens of thousands of emails unlawfully.
Kory Langhofer, counsel to the transition team known as Trump for America, Inc. (TFA), wrote a letter to congressional committees to say Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team had improperly received the emails from the General Services Administration (GSA), a government agency.
Career staff members at the agency "unlawfully produced TFA's private materials, including privileged communications, to the Special Counsel's Office," according to the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. It said the materials included "tens of thousands of emails."
Trump's transition team used facilities of the GSA, which helps manage the U.S. government bureaucracy, in the period between the Republican's November presidential election victory and his inauguration in January.
The Trump team's accusation adds to the growing friction between the president's supporters and Mueller's office as it investigates whether Russia interfered in the election and if Trump or anyone on his team colluded with Moscow.
Asked for comment, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: "We continue to cooperate fully with the special counsel and expect this process to wrap up soon."
The special counsel's office waved off the transition team's complaint.
"When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner's consent or appropriate criminal process," said Peter Carr, spokesman for the special counsel's office.
The GSA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
'NO COLLUSION'
Democrats say there is a wide-ranging effort by the president’s allies on Capitol Hill and in some media outlets to discredit Mueller’s investigation.
Trump himself has loudly declared Mueller's effort a waste of time. "There is absolutely no collusion. That has been proven," Trump told reporters on Friday.
Russia denies interfering in the election.
On Friday, Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said he fears the committee's Republican majority intends to close its investigation of the topic prematurely. Some Republicans have argued that Mueller is biased against Trump and should be fired.
Langhofer's letter was sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.