By Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke
On Sept. 17, former Perkins Coie partner and Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann was arraigned on a single-count charge of lying to the FBI. The charge stems from special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Russia probe that plagued the presidency of Donald Trump.
The indictment of Sussmann, a cybersecurity specialist, makes clear that a group of individuals worked with him to devise allegations regarding a secret communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. The Durham indictment takes pains to note that Sussmann assisted in the drafting and dissemination of materials that were provided to the FBI and media.
The allegations were passed by Sussmann to the FBI in a successful attempt to instigate an FBI investigation of Trump under false pretenses. The Alfa allegations also were used to lend weight to the allegations made in the Steele dossier, which up to this point, had failed to gain material traction within the FBI and the media.
Sussmann is charged with lying to former FBI General Counsel James Baker during a Sep. 19, 2016, meeting that had been initiated by Sussmann. At this meeting, in which Sussmann informed Baker of the Alfa allegations, he allegedly told Baker that he was there only in his capacity as a private citizen. Sussmann would later repeat his claim that he was acting in a personal capacity when he reported the Alfa allegations to another undisclosed government agency.
Although Sussmann told Baker that he wasn’t delivering the information on behalf of any client, the indictment details that Sussmann billed his meeting with Baker to the Clinton campaign.
As a result of the allegations that Sussmann provided to Baker, the FBI opened an investigation examining if Alfa Bank was used as a conduit between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin. According to Durham, the FBI wouldn’t have opened an investigation without the manufactured information that had been provided by Sussmann.
Notably, Durham’s indictment, which included only the single-count charge of lying to the FBI, could have been presented to the court in just a few paragraphs. However, Durham chose to submit a 27-page indictment that included many specific details which aren’t immediately relevant to the false statement charge.
The level of details in the Sussmann indictment gives potential insight into the direction Durham’s investigation may have taken.
Why Indictment Reads Like Conspiracy Indictment
Although the indictment is nominally about Sussmann’s false statement, in reality, it’s more akin to a conspiracy charge, specifically a conspiracy to use false pretenses to trigger an FBI investigation of Trump.
Durham never mentions the word conspiracy, but almost the entirety of his indictment is dedicated to detailing the coordinated actions of the parties involved.
The Sussmann indictment begins by stating that in October 2016, “multiple media outlets reported that U.S. government authorities had received and were investigating allegations concerning a purported secret channel of communications between the Trump Organization, owned by Donald J. Trump, and a particular Russian bank.”
The unwritten allegation expressed in Durham’s opening is that a group of Clinton campaign operatives conspired to provide the FBI with false information in the hope that this would trigger an FBI investigation that would damage Trump’s chances in the Nov. 2016 presidential election. By focusing on October 2016 news reports about the FBI’s investigation of Trump, Durham established at the outset that the object of the conspiracy was achieved.
By their own admission, the purported conspirators understood that anyone with the requisite technical knowledge would ultimately dismiss the data that Sussmann gave the FBI. Durham’s indictment noted that one of the participants in Sussmann’s group privately called the secret communications channel allegation “a red herring.”
Another participant admitted that they would need “to expose every trick we have in our bag to even make a very weak association,” adding “The only thing that drive[s] us at this point is that we just do not like [Trump].”
But the leaders of the purported conspiracy weren’t particularly concerned if the allegations would stand up to scrutiny. Nor did they expect that Trump or any of his associates would actually be prosecuted. The desired outcome was media reporting that the FBI was looking into the Trump–Russia allegations–which is precisely what transpired.
As the indictment emphasizes, the purported conspiracy was about shaping a narrative about secret communications between Trump and the Kremlin. That narrative would then be amplified by media reports of an FBI investigation which, in turn, would reinforce the Clinton campaign’s messaging.
Why the Sussmann Indictment Matters
Other than Sussmann himself, none of the individuals involved in the purported conspiracy are named in the indictment but their generalized description provides some insight into their identities. The main parties are described by Durham as “Tech Executive-1,” a long-standing client of Sussmann’s who is alleged to have provided Sussmann with data about alleged contacts between the Trump and Alfa servers, and “Originator-1,” the person who allegedly compiled the data.
Trump was not chosen by the Deep State. He was chosen by the American People.
That could not stand.
It’s just common sense to want fair and free elections for all people, not special exploitation of the poor or minorities by using Billions to buy/copy their vote.
There’s never going to be a “Biden Tower”, now is there? Xi will get one, most likely…
Hmmm… lying to FBI agents. Are there any agents telling those making charges that they don’t really think Sussmann lied, as there were for Gen. Flynn? Let’s watch and see if Sussmann receives the same persecution as Gen. Flynn received.
Well, there you have it, just as we had already surmised. The accusations against Trump were never anything more than political theater. From this accusation, all the others sprouted. The FBI knew or suspected that the charges were concocted, but proceeded none the less. Compare that to the laptop scandal.
Yeah, Trump was targeted for destruction… but why? He proved to be supremely competent and capable, succeeding at every endeavor when not effectively blocked by Democrats hating him more than being committed to serving the country. We can evaluate his success by comparing it to idiot Biden’s program of doing the opposite of everything Trump did, resulting in abject and complete failure on all counts.
I’m not sure I feel any better having my well-founded suspicions confirmed. I literally want to see heads roll. It is essential.
Trump has been “targeted for destruction” by way of exposing the truth about what he actually is.
Greg I agree Trump is actually totally innocent.
Now that they set the rules lets dig into Biden and his dubious finances. And everyone that helped him get installed.
Hell, the dirt on idiot Biden and the Biden Crime Family lays right on the surface, no digging required. All that is necessary is a non-corrupt DOJ that will apply justice equally across the board.
If they wanted to dig, they could find out how much idiot Biden is being paid by Pfizer to vaccinate everything that walks and talks. Get his full tax returns, Hunter’s, Jill’s, James’, anyone and everyone associated with them. Dig into every aspect of their public and private lives, just in case they are involved. Just like they wanted to do with Trump.
Well, gee, Greggie… where IS that “truth”? Do you expose the “truth” by composing lies, then spreading those?
Here’s some: Republican Party operatives charged with arranging illegal Trump campaign contribution
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Monday unsealed criminal charges against two longtime Republican Party operatives, accusing them of illegally funneling a foreign campaign contribution to former President Donald Trump in 2016.
According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in the District of Columbia, Jesse Benton and Doug Wead “conspired to illegally funnel thousands of dollars of foreign money from a Russian foreign national into an election for the Office of President of the United States of America.”
U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating money to presidential campaigns.
According to the indictment, Benton and Wead helped a Russian national get a ticket to a fundraiser with Trump in Pennsylvania in September 2016.
The Russian, who was not identified in the indictment, donated $25,000 to political action committees associated with Trump in order to attend the event, according to prosecutors.
But the true source of the donation was concealed from the Trump campaign, the indictment said, because the payment was secretly funneled through Benton, who acted as a “straw donor.”
Benton, 43, previously managed campaigns for Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky before he was convicted for his role in a political endorsement scheme. Benton avoided jail time and received a presidential pardon in December 2020 from Trump.
Wead, 75, worked as a senior adviser on multiple presidential campaigns and ran for Congress as a Republican in 1992.
It was not yet clear if the two had engaged legal counsel.
—
https://news.yahoo.com/republican-party-operatives-charged-arranging-231737701.html
Here you go, Comrade Greggie:
Ng Lap Seng
Someone illegally (allegedly) collecting campaign funds for Trump does not involve Trump. It only shows how desperate you are to find something to blame him for and how clean he himself actually was. You are obsessed with hating Trump because he shows how our government SHOULD operate and exposes how it is currently abused to enrich the politicians while disregarding the citizens.
Here we have a story exposing the false accusations the left makes about Russians supporting the Trump campaign and along comes you, the textbook useful idiot, with an accusation, unfounded, about Russians aiding the Trump campaign. You need a mirror to see how absolutely ridiculous you consistently look.
If you want campaign finance violations, go investigate AOC, Talib and Omar. With Omar you can lump in income tax fraud and immigration fraud.
Your post is just a weak side show for lefty straw grabbers. You got played for two years with Russian collusion and learned nothing. It seems you’ve become a punch line here.
Uniparty operatives?
Yeah.
Trump represents the Majority: non-partisans.
Us.
If you are a Republican it is intensely important you remember that for 2 years the Rove/Bush Junta yelled VOTE CLINTON!!?*^&#!!?#%&*
Many radical left GOP say “What if does it make now?”!
As Sun said 2,500 years ago, and Alexander said 2,400 years ago “KNOW YOUR ENEMY!”! The enemy of the GOP is , and has been fo 40 years, GWB!
Dec ’16 NYT said (rightly IMHO!) that the $500,000,000 ($half billion) The Rove/Bush super PACs gave Clinton caused millions of “D” to “stay home”, giving Don a clear victory. (Except to GWB’s BFFs Antifa and BLM)For those <50 these are the same radical left GOP Super PACs GWB’s girl Lerner green lighted! While harassing and “inadvertently” releasing Confidential donor lists on Ronny Supper PACs .
DISCLAIMEER:
I have been conservative 70 years. Voted Ronny 9 times! I have said for 34 years GWB is a radical leftist “fifth columnist”! I clearly am biased. .
Biden Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Tied to Alleged 2016 Clinton Scheme to Co-Opt the CIA and FBI to Tar Trump
The Sussmann indictment and the Alfa Bank saga: A preview of coming attractions