Special counsel John Durham says Hillary Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann “lied in writing” to the FBI in 2016, when he relayed suspicions about a purported internet connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank.
A new filing this week by Mr. Durham says that Mr. Sussmann tried to hide his ties to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee when he asked FBI General Counsel James Baker for a meeting.
“I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the Bureau. Thanks,” Mr. Sussmann wrote to Mr. Baker in September 2016, according to the court filing.
Prosecutors have charged Mr. Sussmann with lying to the FBI, alleging he failed to disclose his ties to the Clinton campaign when he presented the alleged evidence of links between former President Donald Trump and Russia’s Alfa Bank. The connection has since been debunked by investigators, including special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr. Durham wrote in his latest filing that the text messages show the efforts Mr. Sussmann allegedly made to obscure his connections to Ms. Clinton and the DNC.
“Indeed, on September 18, 2016, at 7:24 p.m., i.e. the night before the defendant met with the General Counsel, the defendant conveyed the same lie in writing and sent the following text message to the General Counsel’s personal cellphone,” Mr. Durham wrote.
Mr. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty.
The special counsel has alleged that Mr. Sussmann misled the FBI “about the political nature of his work” and that the FBI would have treated the information differently if it had known he was billing the Clinton campaign for the meeting.
Mr. Durham also asked a judge to enter as evidence an October 31, 2016, tweet from the Clinton campaign. Although Mr. Durham did not specify which tweet he wanted to include, one post from the campaign that day promotes the conspiracy theory connecting Trump and Alfa Bank.
“Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank,” the campaign’s official Twitter account said.
The tweet also attached a statement from Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan, who is currently the White House national security adviser. In the tweet, Mr. Sullivan calls the allegations “the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow.”
Later that day, the Clinton campaign tweeted: “It’s time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia.”
Mr. Durham is also asking for handwritten notes from FBI officials from their meeting with Mr. Sussmann to be admitted as evidence for a trial, which is expected to start on May 16.
In the notes, an FBI official wrote “not doing this for any client,” according to Mr. Durham’s court filing.
“Similarly, the Deputy General Counsel took the following notes, which stated, in part, ’No specific client but [a] group of cyber academics talked w/ him about research,” Mr. Durham wrote.
Mr. Durham also wants to present as evidence Mr. Sussmann’s December 2017 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Specifically, the special counsel wants to admit a line of question in which Mr. Sussmann was asked if he met with the FBI and the CIA on “his volition,” to which he replied “No.”
He then was asked if his client directed him to meet with the FBI and the CIA. Mr. Sussmann replied, “Yes,” according to court documents.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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