Lawyer Charged in Durham Probe Says FBI Knew His Democrat Ties
(Bloomberg) -- An attorney for a Democratic-linked lawyer charged with lying to the FBI before the start of its Trump-Russia probe told a judge it “just doesn't make any sense” that his client would attempt to manipulate the agency by concealing his openly partisan ties.
Michael Sussmann, a prominent cybersecurity lawyer accused of lying about the identity of his client, was long known to have links to Hillary Clinton, even if he didn't name her campaign when he met with the FBI two months before the 2016 presidential contest between Clinton and Donald Trump, defense attorney Michael Bosworth said at a hearing Thursday.
“The FBI knew well that Mr. Sussmann was someone who represented partisan clients,” Bosworth said. “It just defies logic that he hid that” as part of a “grand conspiracy between Hillary Clinton and Fusion GPS,” the defense attorney said, referring to a private intelligence firm that conducted opposition research into Trump and his ties to Russia.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington is weighing Sussmann's motion to dismiss the politically charged case brought in September by Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed in 2019 by Trump's Justice Department to investigate the origins of the Russia probe.
Read More: Comey Defends FBI's Russia Probe in First Testimony Since 2017
Bosworth acknowledged Thursday that Sussmann is only charged with making a false statement to the FBI and hasn't been charged with the type of conspiracy he referenced. But the lawyer said a vast conspiracy between Clinton and Democrats “seems to be the special counsel's world view.”
At the 2016 meeting, Sussmann gave the FBI information that might have indicated a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and a Russia-based bank. Trump has made repeated and unsubstantiated claims that a cabal of “deep state” officials illegally spied on his 2016 campaign and opened the Russia probe to undermine his presidency.
Sussmann's primary defense is that the alleged lie about his client didn't have a material impact on the FBI's decision to open the investigation into Trump. The trial will start in May if the case goes forward.
“Absent Sussmann's false statement, the FBI might have taken more incremental steps before opening an investigation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew DeFilippis said at the hearing. The FBI “might have allocated its resources differently or more efficiently,” he added.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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