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The same people who spent years peddling the conspiracy of Trump-Russia collusion were always going to dismiss the findings.Durham probe takes blow with not-guilty verdict for ex-Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann
Ex-Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann was found not guilty of making false statements to the FBI Tuesday in a case concerning the highly controversial Trump-Russia investigation.
The not-guilty verdict is a black mark for special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, which has now lost the first case brought to trial. Durham had sought to prove that Sussmann lied to federal agents when he handed over since-debunked information concerning Donald Trump's alleged ties to a Russian bank during the 2016 presidential campaign. But a D.C. jury disagreed.
"While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision & thank them for their service," Durham said in a statement. "I also want to recognize and thank the investigators & the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case."
Sussmann, a former Perkins Coie lawyer, was indicted on a single charge of making false statements to the FBI in September 2016 when he met with FBI general counsel James Baker. Sussmann gave the bureau information that purportedly showed a connection between the Trump Organization and the Kremlin-tied Alfa-Bank.
The FBI opened a four-month inquiry into the Trump Organization that found no link with Alfa-Bank.
Prosecutors alleged that Sussmann had pretended to be a concerned citizen without disclosing that he was working for Clinton's 2016 campaign. They claimed that Sussmann went to the FBI with unverified information so that the bureau would open a case against Trump and that the Clinton campaign then leaked details about the case to the press to create an October surprise for the election.
Sussmann plead not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. His defense lawyers argued that the prosecution was advancing a "giant political conspiracy theory" and had failed to prove that a crime was committed. They said the FBI was aware of Sussmann's political ties and that he went to the bureau in good faith.
The two-week trial concluded Friday after featuring witness testimony from current and former FBI agents, associates of the Clinton campaign, and various technology experts. The jury met for six hours before reaching its not-guilty verdict, according to CNN.
Previously, Durham's probe led to a guilty plea from a junior FBI lawyer who admitted to falsifying a document when the bureau sought to renew a FISA court warrant to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page.
The special counsel has also indicted Russian expat Igor Danchenko, a source for the infamous and debunked Steele dossier, a discredited opposition research report that falsely alleged that Trump's campaign was colluding with the Russian government. Danchenko faces five counts of making false statements to the FBI and will be tried in October.
Was Mark Levin right about the spying on Trump's campaign all along? Durham indictment suggests so
BlazeTV host Mark Levin for years has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories on his radio show after he claimed the Obama administration appeared to have spied on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign during its investigation into alleged ties between Trump and Russia. But the latest bombshell indictment from special counsel John Durham's probe into the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation suggests that Levin may have been at least partially right.
On his March 2, 2017, radio program, Levin laid out the case that the Obama administration had used "police state tactics" against the Trump campaign. Citing articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other mainstream news sources, Levin asserted that the Obama administration had obtained Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) warrants to monitor communications between members of the Trump campaign. He suggested information that could have been obtained during that surveillance was being leaked to the media to undermine the 45th president and fuel a narrative that Trump colluded with Russia to beat Hillary Clinton.
"How many phone calls of Donald Trump, if any, have been intercepted by the administration and recorded by the Obama administration?" Levin asked on his radio show. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the real scandal."
A few days later, President Donald Trump made his own claims that "Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower," which ignited a media firestorm. Multiple news reports linked what Trump had said back to Levin, calling the claims a "conspiracy theory." CNN's Brian Stelter claimed there was "no evidence" to back up claims that Trump was spied on. "Levin cherry-picked news stories that supported his thesis and omitted information that cut against it," Stelter wrote.
The Washington Post said Levin "breathed life into a conspiracy theory that Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign." The Los Angeles Times said that Levin had pushed a "phony conspiracy theory."
Levin maintained that his observations were based on news reports and defended the "logical implications based on events and experience" that he drew from those reports.
Now, a court filing from Durham's investigation into the Russia probe first reported by Fox News appears to vindicate Levin.
The indictment against Michael Sussmann, a former lawyer for the 2016 Clinton campaign, alleges that the campaign paid a technology company to "infiltrate" servers belonging to Trump Tower and the White House before the election for the purpose of fabricating a narrative that Trump was working with Russia.
Sussmann is accused of making false statements to the FBI after he claimed he was not working "for any client" when he requested a meeting to present federal law enforcement with evidence that Trump's team was communicating with the Kremlin-connected Alfa Bank. He has plead not guilty.
According to Fox News, Durham wrote in the indictment that Sussmann "had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign."
The filing reportedly said that Sussmann's "billing records reflect" that he "repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work on the Russian Bank-1 allegations." Fox News also reports that Sussmann and the Tech Executive met with another lawyer working with the Clinton campaign, Marc Elias.
Elias' firm, Perkins Coie, is the law firm that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign used to fund the anti-Trump Russia dossier compiled by ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and commissioned by Fusion GPS. That dossier, which contained unverified and false information, was presented to the FBI by Clinton associates and used to obtain FISA court warrants to surveil members of the Trump campaign.
In an interview with Fox News, Levin said that one way or another, the government spied on Trump's team, as he claimed in 2017.
"And I even said at the time, whether it's eavesdropping of some other form or another, they're spying. Or they're spying on his campaign, or they're spying on the transition team, and that this has been going on for some period of time," Levin said Sunday.
He said that Democratic efforts to undermine Trump that began during the 2016 campaign did not cease and continued through 2020 to "do anything humanly possible to stop Trump."
"This was the beginning of the greatest insurrection. And I would argue that even in the election between what happened between 2016 and 2020, on top of this, the changing of the election laws and violation of the federal Constitution. That's an add-on," Levin told Fox News. "They will do anything humanly possible to stop Trump, to stop his supporters, and to promote their agenda, period."
Durham's probe has made three indictments so far, including Sussmann.
Igor Danchenko was indicted on Nov. 4, 2021. He is charged with making a false statement to the FBI and is accused of lying about the source of information he provided to Christopher Steele for the Russia dossier.
Kevin Clinesmith was indicted in August 2020 and is also charged with making a false statement. Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer, admitted to doctoring an email that officials used to obtain a FISA court warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
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