A U.S. District Judge ruled that the criminal prosecution of a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer can proceed.
Michael Sussmann is charged with lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian Collusion, which cost American Taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and resulted in the finding that there was not Russian Collusion tied to former President Donald Trump.
Special counsel John Durham charged in a new filing that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and its lawyer took part in a “joint venture” to gather false information and smear Donald Trump’s name during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Included in the 48-page motion that was recently filed included a text message Sussmann sent to then-FBI general counsel James Baker on September 18, 2016,
“Jim – it’s Michael Sussmann. I have something time-sensitive (and sensitive) I need to discuss,” the lawyer wrote. “Do you have availability for a short meeting tomorrow? I’m coming on my own – not on behalf of a client or company – want to help the Bureau. Thanks.”
Prosecutors say, Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer at powerhouse Democratic law firm Perkins Coie lied to Baker and was actually acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign.
Sussmann is being charged with lying to the FBI during that 2016 meeting in which he claimed that cybersecurity researchers were concerned about secret back channel communications between servers of the Trump Organization and Russia-based Alfa Bank. The FBI investigated and came to the conclusion that there were not any suspicious links.
Durham’s team says that if the FBI knew that Sussmann was acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign at the meeting, they would have taken a deeper look into Sussmann’s motives and may not have opened an investigation based on his information.
The defense attempted to get the case dismissed, however Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper said that the case is up to a jury to decide,
“The battle lines thus are drawn, but the Court cannot resolve this standoff prior to trial.”
The ruling means that Sussmann will go to trial on May 16 in Washington’s federal court.
Durham is a former U.S. attorney in Connecticut who was appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr. Durham was tasked to investigate government misconduct during their investigation into Russian election interference in 2016.
