Durham Urges Court Not to Dismiss Charge Against Lawyer Who Hid Ties to Clinton Campaign

Special counsel John Durham on March 4 urged a federal judge not to dismiss a charge against a lawyer who lied to the FBI about representing Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Michael Sussmann was representing the Clinton campaign when in 2016 he passed along information to then-FBI General Counsel James Baker. His lawyers say the documents “raised national security concerns” while prosecutors describe them as purportedly detailing a covert channel between a Russian bank and the business of Donald Trump, Clinton’s rival at the time.

Sussmann was charged with lying to the FBI because he falsely told Baker he was not providing the allegations to the FBI on behalf of any client, despite presenting the information on behalf of the Clinton campaign, prosecutors say. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty to making a false statement to a federal agent.

In a filing in February, Sussmann’s lawyers moved to dismiss the charge, claiming their client “did not make any false statement to the FBI,” but even if he had, “the false statement alleged in the indictment is immaterial as a matter of law.”