A federal grand jury returned an indictment sought by sought by Special Counsel John Durham against Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann, accusing him of lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation.
The indictment accuses Sussmann of hiding the fact that he was working for the Clinton campaign while pushing for an investigation into then-candidate Donald Trump’s ties to Russia in 2016.
Trump appointed Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia probe, with indictment coming just weeks before the five-year statute of limitations was set to expire.
Sussmann, whose firm had previously represented the Democratic National Committee, told the FBI’s James Baker in Sep. 2019 that he was not representing a client when pushing for an investigation into Trump. Sussmann denied any wrongdoing, while withholding the fact that he was working on behalf of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Lawyers for Sussmann say that he “has committed no crime” and that prosecuting him “would be baseless, unprecedented and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work.”
“We are confident that if Mr. Sussmann is charged, he will prevail at trial and vindicate his good name,” they said.
The alleged connection between Alfa Bank and the Trump campaign led to histrionic accusations from the left against Trump and members of his campaign. Clinton herself tweeted about the claims just days before the 2016 presidential election, which she lost.
Trump and his allies have accused former President Barack Obama of illegally using the government’s powers of surveillance in order to damage the Trump presidential campaign. Obama officials have repeatedly denied the accusations and said the process played out in accordance with the rule of law.
In August, a group of 44 Republican senators demanded that the Durham report be made public once completed.
Durham had previously charged a former FBI lawyer for fabricating evidence against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign official, in the investigation into Russian collusion. Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty in August 2020 but received a slap on the wrist for what he said was a mistake made to simply avoid paperwork.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
