{"id":1492936,"date":"2022-05-26T11:30:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T15:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492936"},"modified":"2022-05-26T11:32:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T15:32:04","slug":"ex-clinton-lawyer-sussmann-wont-testify-in-durham-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-clinton-lawyer-sussmann-wont-testify-in-durham-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Clinton Lawyer Sussmann Won\u2019t Testify in Durham Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fex-clinton-lawyer-sussmann-wont-testify-in-durham-trial%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492936&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody\">\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody-body\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ArticlePage-articleBody-firstLetter\">M<\/span>ichael Sussmann revealed on Thursday he won&#8217;t be taking the stand in his own trial to defend himself against accusations he <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/hillary-clinton-signed-off-on-sharing-debunked-alfa-bank-claims-with-the-media\">concealed<\/a> that he was working for Hillary Clinton&#8217;s presidential campaign when he pushed discredited Trump-Russia collusion claims to the FBI. <\/p>\n<p>The embattled Democratic cybersecurity lawyer is on trial after being <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/durham-stripping-bare-incestuous-relationship-in-clinton-campaign-lawyer-case-chaffetz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">charged by special counsel John Durham with lying<\/a> to the FBI about whom he was representing when, in September 2016, he presented internet data that claimed a now-discredited link between former President <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> and Russia\u2019s Alfa-Bank. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/sussmann-billed-clinton-campaign-for-thumb-drives-he-gave-to-fbi-pushing-alfa-bank-allegations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SUSSMANN BILLED CLINTON CAMPAIGN FOR THUMB DRIVES HE GAVE TO FBI PUSHING ALFA-BANK ALLEGATIONS<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>In particular, Sussmann was <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/courts\/sussmann-wants-durham-filing-about-trump-white-house-snooping-stricken-from-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">indicted<\/a> on charges of allegedly <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/durham-grand-jury-indicts-lawyer-allegedly-lying-fbi-concealing-ties-clinton-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concealing<\/a> his clients, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/durham-asks-judge-to-review-clinton-campaign-claims-of-attorney-client-privilege\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clinton&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign<\/a> and \u201cTech Executive-1,\u201d known to be former Neustar executive <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/tech-exec-1-says-he-will-plead-the-fifth-in-durham-case\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rodney Joffe<\/a>, from FBI General Counsel James Baker when he pushed the since-debunked allegations of a secret Trump-Russia back channel. <\/p>\n<p>Sussmann denies lying to the FBI and has pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n<p>After much speculation during the nearly two-week trial, the judge revealed that Sussmann would not be testifying after all. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand from counsel that the defense will not be calling Mr. Sussmann, is that correct?\u201d Judge Christopher Cooper asked Thursday morning. <\/p>\n<p>Sussmann lawyer Sean Berkowitz replied, \u201cThat\u2019s correct.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The judge asked Sussmann if he had spoken and consulted with his defense team when making the decision not to take the stand, and he replied, \u201cI have, Your Honor.\u201d And the judge asked if he had nevertheless chosen not to testify. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, Your Honor,&#8221; Sussmann replied. <\/p>\n<p>Baker <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/durham-trial-baker-100-confident-sussmann-told-him-he-was-acting-alone\">testified<\/a><\/u> last week he was \u201c100% confident\u201d that Sussmann told him was not there on behalf of a client. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael started to explain why he was there. He said he was not appearing before me on behalf of any particular client. In essence, in the meeting, he said, \u2018I\u2019m not here on behalf of any particular client.\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019m 100% confident that he said that in the meeting,\u201d Baker said from the witness stand last Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>Durham&#8217;s team presented evidence this week suggesting Sussmann billed Clinton\u2019s campaign for the thumb drives he used to push now-discredited Trump-Russia <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/alfa-bank-investigator-under-fbi-review-over-role-in-papadopoulos-fisa-case\">allegations<\/a><\/u> to the FBI in 2016 despite Sussmann claiming he did not do so for the campaign. <\/p>\n<p>Two thumb drives containing Alfa-Bank claims, along with \u201cwhite papers\u201d pushing the claims, were provided to Baker by Sussmann at the meeting, and the prosecution presented evidence that the USB drives bought by Sussmann were billed to the Clinton campaign. The thumb drives, one blue and the other red, were displayed to the jury as evidence this week in Washington. <\/p>\n<p>The disbursement report listed the client as Hillary for America, stated \u201cGeneral Political Advice\u201d was the purpose, and described it as \u201cSussmann Purchase of new single use flash drives for secure sharing of files 9\/13\/16.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The opposition research firm Fusion GPS drafted one of the \u201cwhite papers\u201d Sussmann gave Baker, according to the special counsel. <\/p>\n<p>British ex-spy Christopher Steele created his discredited <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/democratic-lawyer-sussmann-doesnt-want-steele-dossier-brought-up-during-durham-trial\">dossier<\/a><\/u> on then-candidate Trump after being hired by Fusion, which was itself hired by Perkins and Marc Elias, the <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/steele-dossier-funder-marc-elias-testified-before-john-durhams-grand-jury\">general counsel<\/a><\/u> for Clinton\u2019s campaign. Durham has noted Fusion claims were pushed to the media, State Department, Justice Department, Congress, and elsewhere, which &#8220;resulted in numerous media articles\u201d before and after the 2016 election. <\/p>\n<p>Sussmann met with Fusion and also met with Steele in 2016 and pushed certain Alfa-Bank claims to him, which Steele, in turn, pushed to the U.S. government. <\/p>\n<p>A billing chart presented by the prosecution also showed a meeting on \u201cCommunications with M Elias regarding server issue\u201d on July 1, \u201cCommunications with M Elias regarding server issue\u201d on July 31, \u201cMeeting with consultant, M Elias, revisions to white paper, meeting with expert and reporter, follow up meeting\u201d on Sept. 6, \u201cMultiple meetings regarding confidential project, draft white paper \u2026 meetings with M Elias\u201d on Sept. 14, and \u201cWork and communications regarding confidential project\u201d on Sept. 19, the day of the Baker-Sussmann meeting. Those meetings were all billed to the Clinton campaign. <\/p>\n<p>The FBI, CIA, former special counsel Robert Mueller, a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, and Durham\u2019s team have all <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/cia-has-known-trump-russia-collusion-data-not-technically-plausible-since-2017-durham-says\">cast doubt on<\/a><\/u> or shot down the Alfa-Bank claims. <\/p>\n<p>Baker, who is now a top lawyer for Twitter, <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/durham-trial-baker-100-confident-sussmann-told-him-he-was-acting-alone\">testified<\/a><\/u> last week that the final conclusion of the FBI was that \u201cthere was nothing there.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hillary-clinton\">Clinton<\/a><\/u> personally signed off on sharing the since-debunked Trump-Russia allegations related to Alfa-Bank with the media during the <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2016-elections\">2016 election<\/a><\/u>, according to her campaign manager. <\/p>\n<p>Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook testified Friday he was &#8220;briefed about the Alfa-Bank issue first&#8221; by <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/marc-elias-throws-durham-trial-into-disarray-with-sussmann-comments\">Elias<\/a><\/u> in the summer of 2016. He said the campaign leadership had a meeting about whether to share the information with the media, which they decided to do. Also present in the meeting were campaign chairman <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-podesta\">John Podesta,<\/a><\/u> communications director <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jennifer-palmieri\">Jennifer Palmieri,<\/a><\/u> and policy adviser <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jake-sullivan\">Jake Sullivan<\/a><\/u> (who is now President Joe Biden&#8217;s national security adviser), according to Mook. <\/p>\n<p>Mook said he discussed it with Clinton after the campaign team had discussed it. Mook said he framed it to Clinton as: &#8220;Hey, you know, we have this, and we want to share it with a reporter.&#8221; Mook added, &#8220;She agreed to that.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>He testified that \u201cshe thought we made the right decision.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Durham\u2019s team has said Sussmann was trying to <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/durham-sussmann-lawyers-clash-in-opening-to-trial\">generate<\/a><\/u> an \u201cOctober surprise\u201d to hurt Trump and help Clinton. <\/p>\n<p>On Halloween 2016, Clinton <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillaryClinton\/status\/793250312119263233?s=20\">tweeted<\/a><\/u>, \u201cComputer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank.\u201d She included a lengthy statement from Sullivan titled &#8220;New Report Exposing Trump&#8217;s Secret Line of Communication to Russia.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow,\u201d Sullivan <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillaryClinton\/status\/793250312119263233?s=20\">claimed<\/a><\/u> in part, adding, &#8220;This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mysteries of Trump&#8217;s ties to Russia.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can only assume that federal authorities will now explore this direct connection between Trump and Russia as part of their existing probe into Russia&#8217;s meddling in our elections,\u201d Sullivan said. He <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/jake-sullivan-promoted-alfa-bank-story-center-durham-indictment\">continued pushing<\/a><\/u> the Alfa-Bank claims on TV in 2017. <\/p>\n<p>A former CIA officer <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/sussmann-told-cia-similar-client-lie-in-2017-durham-says\">testified<\/a> last week that Sussmann similarly concealed his representation of Joffe from the agency when pushing Trump-Russia claims in February 2017. <\/p>\n<p>The judge <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/durham-sussmann-lawyers-clash-in-opening-to-trial\">presiding<\/a><\/u> over the case against Sussmann ruled last week that the prosecution <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/judge-says-durham-cant-mention-joffe-being-cut-off-as-fbi-source\">cannot bring up<\/a><\/u> the fact Joffe had been cut off as a confidential human source in 2021, in part because of the Durham investigation. <\/p>\n<p>Durham <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/durham-argues-sussmann-lie-fbi-mattered-as-he-pushed-collusion-claims\">revealed<\/a><\/u> this year that he had evidence Joffe \u201cexploited\u201d domain name system internet traffic at Trump Tower, Trump\u2019s Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President. <\/p>\n<p>The special counsel <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/durham-argues-sussmann-lie-fbi-mattered-as-he-pushed-collusion-claims\">said<\/a><\/u> Joffe also tasked researchers with mining internet data to establish \u201can inference\u201d and \u201cnarrative\u201d tying Trump to Russia. Durham said Joffe <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/tech-exec-1-says-he-pleaded-the-fifth-to-john-durhams-grand-jury\">indicated<\/a><\/u> he was doing this to please certain \u201cVIPs\u201d on the Clinton campaign. <\/p>\n<p>The jury has <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/sussmann-case-witness-said-trump-russia-research-made-him-uncomfortable\">not been able to see<\/a> much of this evidence. <\/p>\n<p>Joffe said in April he would be <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/tech-exec-1-says-he-will-plead-the-fifth-in-durham-case\">invoking his Fifth Amendment rights<\/a><\/u> in the Sussmann case. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>A Durham prosecutor has said the special counsel&#8217;s team is still &#8220;looking closely&#8221; at Joffe, including pointing to a law on major fraud against the U.S. government, specifically mentioning a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Sussmann revealed on Thursday he won&#8217;t be taking the stand in his own trial to defend himself against accusations he concealed that he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}