OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump dropped another clue this week that he may be gearing up to run for president in 2024.
While speaking with Fox News, Trump said the revelations out of the trial of former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann and his acquittal make him “want to fight even harder.”
With 8-bold words, Trump said: “If we don’t win, our country is ruined.”
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.
When asked if the verdict had any effect on his future political plans, particularly running for president in 2024, Trump told Fox News: “If anything, it makes me want to fight even harder.”
“If we don’t win, our country is ruined,” Trump said. “We have bad borders, bad elections, and a court system not functioning properly.”
He added: “Our country is being systematically destroyed.”
“They had blinders on—they were only looking in one direction,” Trump said. “No matter how far they turned and saw all of these crimes, they wouldn’t go there.”
He added: “Mueller and everybody else knew what was going on, and they didn’t do anything about it.”
As for Clinton, Trump said, “She should be ashamed of herself.”
“I think she should be ashamed of herself, and she lost the election. She should be ashamed of herself and so should [Adam] Schiff and all these corrupt politicians,” Trump told Fox News.
Many were not pleased with a Washington, D.C., jury finding Sussmann “not guilty.”
“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.
Last week, the judge gave Durham a 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.
