WASHINGTON (AP) — The criminal prosecution of a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer charged with lying to the FBI during the Trump-Russia investigation can move forward, a judge ruled Wednesday in denying a defense bid to dismiss the case.
The ruling means Michael Sussmann, charged last year by special counsel John Durham, remains set for trial on May 16 in Washington’s federal court.
Sussmann is charged with lying to the FBI during a September 2016 meeting in which he relayed concerns from cybersecurity researchers about a potential secret back channel of communications between servers of the Trump Organization and Russia-based Alfa Bank. The FBI investigated the matter but ultimately found no such suspicious links.
Prosecutors allege that Sussmann misled the FBI’s then-general counsel by saying that he was not attending the meeting on behalf of a particular client when he was actually presenting the information on behalf of the Clinton campaign and a technology executive with whom he had worked.
In order to prosecute someone for a false statement, the Justice Department must prove that the statement was not only fictitious but also “material” — that is, capable of influencing a government agency’s decision-making or functions.
In this case, Durham’s team says that had the FBI known Sussmann was representing the interests of the Clinton campaign at the meeting, it would have done more to examine his motives and the reliability of his information as it considered whether to open an investigation based on the tip he provided.
Sussmann’s lawyers have argued that his ties to the Clinton campaign were already well-known to the FBI and have rejected the idea that that relationship could have meaningfully influenced the FBI’s decision to investigate.
U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper said in a six-page ruling Wednesday that the dispute was ultimately up to a jury to decide.
“The battle lines thus are drawn, but the Court cannot resolve this standoff prior to trial,” Cooper wrote.
Durham, a former U.S. attorney in Connecticut, was appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to look for government misconduct during the investigation into Russian election interference in 2016 and possible ties to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Sussmann is one of three people charged so far. The other two are Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering an email and received probation, and Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst and source of information for Steele who was charged in November with lying to the FBI during a 2017 interview.
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Good. And let’s hope, when threatened with having the book thrown at him, he rolls over and gives us the dirt on his boss, so she’s threatened to have the book thrown at her! Finally!
EVEN IF he does give dirt. I STILL can’t imagine the useless DOJ doing a damn thing to hillary
“Case Against Clinton Lawyer In Durham’s Probe Can Proceed”
Why is the criminal case Against Hillary Clinton NOT proceeding?
“Judge Andrew Napolitano: “Hillary Clinton Has Admitted To Destroying Evidence”
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: She is in trouble legally if there is a prosecutor with the courage or authority to prosecute her because in addition to admitting that she diverted government records from the government, in addition to admitting that she put classified information in a non-classified venue, that is the crime in which General Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to. She now has admitted to destroying subpoenaed evidence after she was on notice of the existence subpoena. That’s known as obstruction of justice as well as destruction of the documents. But none of her crimes will get to first base in terms of prosecution without a prosecutor to pursue them…
Any takers on how soon he will ‘accidentally die in prison’?
As long as democrats rule/have a majority in place, nothion will happen. Best thign would be for all this to take place after the next election so at least there is a better chance instead of none at present time.