|
Durham seeks indictment against lawyer at Steele dossier-linked law firm over Alfa Bank matter
 [Washington Examiner] Special counsel John Durham reportedly seeks a grand jury indictment against Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer at a Democratic-allied law firm closely linked to British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier.The charge is said to be related to an alleged false statement to the FBI about a client's identity when Sussmann pushed now-debunked claims about secret communications between Russia’s Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. Durham "has told the Justice Department that he will ask a grand jury to indict a prominent cybersecurity lawyer on a charge of making a false statement to the FBI," the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing "people familiar with the matter." The report said Durham’s case against Sussmann, who works at the powerhouse Perkins Coie law firm, "centers on the question of whom his client was when he conveyed certain suspicions" about former President Donald Trump and Russia to then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016. Sussmann "relayed data and analysis from cybersecurity researchers who thought that odd internet data might be evidence of a covert communications channel" during the meeting with Baker, the report said. Durham has until the weekend to charge Sussmann because of a five-year statute of limitations. Neither Durham nor the Justice Department has commented on the report as of press time. Sussmann has denied wrongdoing. Related: John Durham: 2021-08-20 Durham Grand Jury Investigating If Someone Presented FBI With Fabricated Evidence in 2016 Russia Probe John Durham: 2021-05-26 Liz Cheney's Honeymoon With the Media Ends Abruptly, Kind of Like Her Career John Durham: 2021-04-18 Merrick Garland repeals Trump-era directive limiting ‘consent decrees' in federal police oversight Related: Michael Sussmann: 2021-08-20 Durham Grand Jury Investigating If Someone Presented FBI With Fabricated Evidence in 2016 Russia Probe Michael Sussmann: 2020-04-29 Christopher Steele Had Undisclosed Meeting With DNC, Clinton Campaign Lawyers Michael Sussmann: 2019-01-23 FBI's Former Top Lawyer Acknowledges ‘Unusual' Steps In Early Days Of Russia Probe Related: Perkins Coie: 2021-08-20 Durham Grand Jury Investigating If Someone Presented FBI With Fabricated Evidence in 2016 Russia Probe Perkins Coie: 2021-04-27 Maricopa County Judge Recuses Himself From 2020 Election Audit Case Perkins Coie: 2021-03-17 Judge Rules MI Sec. of State Benson Directed City Clerks to Ignore Signature Matching Law on Absentee Ballots in Nov. 2020 Election Posted by: Besoeker 2021-09-16 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=612811 |