OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A jury found former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann not guilty on Tuesday of making a false statement to the FBI in September 2016 when he claimed that he was not working on behalf of any client when he brought information alleging a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank.
“After a two-week trial, and more than a day of deliberations, the jury found that Special Counsel John Durham’s team had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sussmann’s statement was a lie and that he was, in fact, working on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and technology executive Rodney Joffe when he brought two thumb drives and a white paper alleging a Trump-Russia connection,” Fox News reported.
“The jury included one federal government employee who told the judge they donated to Democrats in 2016 and another government employee who told the judge they strongly dislike former President Trump. Both of those jurors told the judge they could be impartial throughout the trial,” the report added. “The jury also included a teacher, an illustrator, a mechanic, and more. One juror had a child who was on the same high school sports team as Sussmann’s child.”
BREAKING: Michael Sussmann found not guilty of charges brought by Special Prosecutor John Durhamhttps://t.co/xogpZOBqo4
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 31, 2022
DC jury strikes again. The judge literally allowed jurors who claimed they could not be impartial in dealing with Donald Trump.
If you are a Dem, you aren't getting convicted there. Didn't matter that Durham had literal receipts showing Sussmann was working for Hillary. https://t.co/cND8aUvUxR
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 31, 2022
Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia witch hunt has been heating up for months, with many wanting Hillary Clinton and her allies held accountable.
Former Attorney General Barr, who served under President Donald Trump, believes Durham has made progress in his investigation and that more damning information may come out soon.
Barr said that Durham has “dug very deep” into the origins of the FBI’s investigation into disproven claims that then-candidate Trump was colluding with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election and has uncovered “good information.”
“I think the question all along … has been that this was a campaign-dirty-trick to get the government to investigate allegations — scurrilous allegations — about Donald Trump and then leak that right before the election,” Barr said.
“And so that raises two questions: Was the Clinton campaign developing this false information and feeding it in for that purpose? And what was the FBI’s role on this?”
“It tells me that he [has] dug very deep and he has developed some good information and he thinks he can make a criminal case here,” Barr said.
The federal judge overseeing Durham’s case against former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann said on Thursday that he was “not inclined” to declare a mistrial.
Sussmann’s lawyers said they were considering moving for a mistrial in the first trial from Durham.
Last week, the judge gave Durham another victory in the trial.
Judge Cooper ruled that GPS Fusion, the research firm Clinton’s 2016 campaign hired to dig up dirt on Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, must turn over nearly two dozen emails to Durham’s team.
“Those emails – which are largely exchanges between Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman and Fusion GPS – are part of a batch that prosecutors subpoenaed last year. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked prosecutors from getting 16 of those emails but allowed Durham to obtain 22,” Fox News reported.
“Cooper ruled that the 16 emails in question were protected by attorney-client privilege and attorney-work-product while the remaining 22 were not. Still, the judge ruled that those emails will not be admissible in the impending trial of Sussman – who is charged with lying to the FBI during a September 2016 meeting – because of the untimeliness of Durham’s request,” the report added.
Durham indicted Sussmann — a prominent lawyer who worked for the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — for allegedly lying to FBI lawyer James Baker during a 2016 meeting about who he was representing when he gave information about Donald Trump and Russia to the bureau.
