Michael Sussmann, an attorney who’s apparently been involved in the representation of Democratic interests including the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, has been cleared by a federal jury on an allegation of lying to the FBI. Sussmann had been charged with lying for supposedly obscuring that he allegedly brought certain concerns about Trump’s Russia ties to the FBI during the 2016 election season on behalf of others — not of his own accord.
Sussmann’s charge stemmed from the now years-long federal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe by John Durham, a special counsel who began this work in the Trump era. Sussmann was the first person charged under Durham’s investigation to go to trial. As explained by The Washington Post: “Specifically, Durham alleged that Sussmann claimed he did not bring the information to the FBI on behalf of any client, when he allegedly did so on behalf of two clients: the Clinton campaign and a tech executive, Rodney Joffe.” Assistant Special Counsel Andrew DeFilippis feverishly laid out the supposed conspiracy to jurors: “You can see what the plan was… It was to create an October surprise by giving information both to the media and to the FBI to get the media to write that there was an FBI investigation.”
Sussmann allegedly provided information about the specific Trump-Russia concerns he raised with the FBI — regarding a suspected communications link between the Trump family business and the Russian financial institution known as Alfa Bank — to sources in media. The suspicions about this connection didn’t pan out, it’s worth noting, although the FBI apparently looked into the matter — finding the suspicions to be unwarranted. Durham, for his part, maintained an about-face of sorts after the jury finalized their conclusions against him. “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service… I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case,” Durham said in prepared remarks.
Previously, federal Judge Christopher Cooper denied a request from Durham to formally conclude that Sussmann was involved in a collective endeavor with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the private investigation firm Fusion GPS, and others to spread damaging information about Trump. As reported on this site, Cooper concluded that the nature of the alleged joint operation was too theoretical to arrive at the conclusion prosecutors sought, which would have allowed the prosecution to have more leeway in bringing forth certain email messages in making their case.
“The Court will exercise its discretion not to engage in the kind of extensive evidentiary analysis that would be required to find that such a joint venture existed, and who may have joined it… While the Special Counsel has proffered some evidence of a collective effort to disseminate the purported link between Trump and Alfa Bank to the press and others, the contours of this venture and its participants are not entirely obvious,” Cooper said. Prosecutors eventually linked Sussmann to the Clinton campaign at trial — although Sussmann’s attorney, Sean Berkowitz, argued witness testimony indicated that the campaign wasn’t even supportive of bringing the Alfa Bank story to the FBI. “There is a difference between having a client, and doing something on their behalf,” Berkowitz remarked.
