A federal trial for a lawyer for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign who is accused of lying to the FBI during an investigation into possible ties between Trump and Russia in 2016 began on Monday.
The case against Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity attorney who worked for the Clinton campaign in 2016, is the first trial stemming from special counsel John Durham's ongoing investigation. It will put the strength of the evidence he and his team have gathered while scrutinizing the early days of the Trump-Russia probe for possible misconduct to the test.
Clinton's Lawyer Accused of Misleading the FBI
The acquittal will almost certainly energize Trump supporters who have long looked to Durham to expose what they see as biased mistreatment of the former president. A guilty verdict will almost certainly energize Trump supporters who have long looked to Durham to expose what they see as biased mistreatment of the former president.
Sussmann is accused of deceiving the FBI's then-general counsel during a meeting in September 2016 in which he presented research showing what he claimed was a suspicious backchannel of communications between Trump Organization computer systems and Alfa-Bank in Russia.
Prosecutors said Sussmann lied by claiming he wasn't attending the meeting on behalf of anyone client when, in fact, he was representing two: the Clinton campaign and a technology executive who assisted in the data collection.
Durham's team contends that if the FBI had been told the truth, it would have influenced the bureau's assessment of the Alfa Bank claims when deciding whether to investigate. The FBI investigated the matter but discovered nothing untoward in the end.
Sussmann's attorneys dispute he lied, but argue that the alleged deception is irrelevant in any case because there's no proof that what the FBI knew or didn't know about his political ties influenced its decision-making, according to News4Jax.
The case against Sussmann derives from a meeting on Sept. 19, 2016, in which he delivered FBI General Counsel James Baker two USB drives and three "white papers" relating to computer communications between the Trump Organization's "secret" server and Russia's Alfa Bank.
Following that, the FBI launched an inquiry, which revealed that the only content transferred appeared to be commercial emails.
Sussmann's trial in federal court in Washington, DC, is expected to begin with jury selection on Monday. He is accused of leading Baker to believe that when he disclosed the material, he was acting like a decent citizen and not as an advocate for any client. He may face up to five years in prison if convicted on a single count of making a false statement to the government, New York Post reported.
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Durham's Aim in the Investigation
Durham was assigned by then-Attorney General William Barr in 2019 to investigate if anyone acted improperly when federal agencies investigated Russian election meddling.
His probe has lasted longer than Mueller's, and he has so far charged three individuals, including Sussmann. Though Durham's initial authority was assumed to be limited to government employees and his team has interrogated FBI agents, Justice Department lawyers, and CIA officials, the probe has also focused on private persons like Sussmann who have come forward with information concerning Trump.
It's hard to say how long the probe will last, however, Attorney General Merrick Garland has expressed no interest in halting it, and Durham was given the title of special counsel just weeks before Barr quit to guarantee he could continue his job in the next administration.
Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer, pled guilty in 2020 to tampering with an email connected to secret FBI monitoring of Carter Page, an ex-Trump campaign aide. The FBI used a dossier of anti-Trump research known as the Steele dossier to petition for warrants to listen in on Page. The dossier contained rumors and unverified assertions.
Durham accused a Russia expert who was a source for the dossier of lying to the FBI about his sources of information, one of whom was a longstanding Hillary Clinton supporter, last year. Igor Danchenko has entered a no-contest plea. The matter is still pending, with a trial date set for October, as per News18.
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