Former Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann, charged with lying to the FBI, acquitted

WASHINGTON – A federal jury acquitted a cybersecurity lawyer Tuesday in the first trial of special counsel John Durham’s investigation into what sparked the FBI investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The verdict provided the first outside evaluation of Durham’s three-year investigation. Durham has charged three men with lying to or for the FBI, with one having pleaded guilty and one awaiting trial.

Michael Sussmann was charged with lying to the FBI about whether he represented Hillary Clinton’s Democratic presidential campaign when he reported concerns about communications between Russia-based Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization.

Sussmann told reporters outside the courthouse it has been a difficult year for him and his family, but he voiced gratitude to his legal team and to the jury for their service.

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“I told the truth to the FBI and the jury clearly recognized that with their unanimous verdict today,” Sussmann said. “Despite being falsely accused, I’m relieved that justice ultimately prevailed in my case.”

The allegation was potentially incendiary because the 2016 election was less than two months away. Former President Donald Trump has alleged the FBI was spying on his campaign and pursued baseless accusations to justify its surveillance.

Trump has argued investigations by the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller were inappropriate. But the pace of Durham’s investigation, which began under Trump and has already lasted far longer than Mueller’s 22-month probe, has been widely questioned – including by Trump.

Federal prosecutors argued Sussmann conveyed the allegations on behalf of Clinton’s campaign when he met Sept. 19, 2016, with then-FBI general counsel James Baker.

“He told a lie that was designed to achieve a political end, a lie that was designed to inject the FBI into a presidential election,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittain Shaw said.

“While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service," Durham said in a statement. "I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.”

Baker testified he was “100 percent confident” Sussmann told him he was not acting on behalf of a particular client.

“Michael’s a friend of mine and a colleague, and I believed and I trusted that the statement was truthful,” Baker said.

The FBI assessed the information and quickly determined there was no actual suspicious or secret contact between Russia and the Trump campaign. "Nothing there," Baker said.

Sussmann, who was counsel to Clinton’s campaign, denied lying to Baker. His lawyers said he didn’t make the allegations on behalf of any client and was simply passing along a tip.

”The FBI knew that he represented the Clinton campaign that summer," said defense lawyer Michael Bosworth. "The FBI knew that he was an attorney for the DNC, the Democratic Party itself.”

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Defense lawyers noted that Sussmann, who didn't testify, billed the taxi ride to the FBI building to his law firm at the time, Perkins Coie, rather than to the Clinton campaign.

The campaign's top lawyer, Marc Elias, testified Sussmann didn't seek consent to visit the FBI.

“I’m not sure I would have thought that the FBI was going to give a fair shake to anything they thought was anti-Trump or pro-Clinton,” Elias said.

Besides Sussmann, Durham has charged a key source of information in the salacious 2016 dossier on Trump with lying to the FBI.

Igor Danchenko, a Russian national who was an associate of former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, was charged with five counts of making false statements to investigators about sources of information he provided to Steele.

Danchenko's trial is scheduled Oct. 11 in U.S. District Court in eastern Virginia.

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In another case, a former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, pleaded guilty to altering an email during the Russia investigation that was used to justify the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith was sentence in January 2021 to one year of probation.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr directed Durham in May 2019 to review allegations about investigations of the 2016 campaign. Barr appointed Durham special counsel in October 2020, which ensured his work would continue under the Biden administration.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: John Durham's first trial ends in acquittal of former Clinton lawyer