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Durham Is Pulling The Plug…

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(RepublicanWire.org) – Special prosecutor John Durham is winding down his probe into the origin of the Trump Russia claims that rocked the country for years with no further charges according to media reports.

Durham could call another grand jury but according to the report, there are currently no plans to do so. Durham and his team are working on finishing a final report by the end of the year.

But Merrick garland will determine if it is released, in what form it is released, and what will be redacted so don’t expect much. In another sign Durham is wrapping it up, one of the lead prosecutors on his team is leaving for a job with a prominent law firm.

Durham and his team used a grand jury in Washington to indict Michael Sussmann, a prominent cybersecurity lawyer with ties to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.

Sussman was indicted last year on a charge of making a false statement to the FBI at a meeting in which he shared a tip about potential connections between computers associated with Trump and a Kremlin-linked Russian bank.

Sussmann was acquitted of that charge at trial in May.

A grand jury based in the Eastern District of Virginia last year indicted a Russia analyst who had worked with Christopher Steele, a former British spy who was the author of a dossier of rumors and unproven assertions about Trump.

The dossier played no role in the FBI’s decision to begin examining the ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. It was used in an application to obtain a warrant to surveil a Trump campaign associate.

The analyst, Igor Danchenko, who is accused of lying to federal investigators, goes on trial next month in Alexandria, Virginia.

In the third case, Durham’s team negotiated a plea deal with an FBI lawyer whom an inspector general had accused of doctoring an email used in preparation for a wiretap renewal application.

The plea deal resulted in no prison time.

Durham has one case outstanding. From Just the News:

In a bombshell revelation, Special Prosecutor John Durham revealed Tuesday in court filings that the FBI paid a Russian businessman as a confidential human source in the investigation of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign even though it had prior concerns that businessman was tied to Moscow’s intelligence services.

Durham persuaded the federal judge in the upcoming trial of Igor Danchenko to unseal a motion revealing that Danchenko, the primary source of the now-discredited Steele dossier, was paid by the FBI as a confidential human source for more than three years until the fall of 2020 when he was terminated for lying to agents.

Danchenko is charged with five counts of lying to the bureau during that relationship and faces trial next month in federal court in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C.

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Our Faith In Institutions Just Took A Big Hit…

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(RepublicanWire.org) –  The jury on Tuesday found Michael Sussmann not guilty of making a false statement to the FBI in September 2016 when he said he was not working on behalf of any client, when he brought information alleging a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. 

After a two week trial, and more than a day of deliberations, the jury found that Special Counsel John Durham’s team had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Sussmann’s statement was a lie, and that he was, in fact, working on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and technology executive Rodney Joffe when he brought two thumb drives and a white paper alleging a Trump-Russia connection.

Sussmann was charged with one count of making a false statement to the FBI during his meeting with then-FBI General Counsel James Baker on Sept. 19, 2016.

In remarks following the verdict, Sussmann said that he had been falsely accused.

“I told the truth to the FBI, and the Jury clearly recognized this in their unanimous verdict today,” he said. “I’m grateful to the members of the jury for their careful thoughtful service. Despite being falsely accused I believe that Justice ultimately prevailed in my case. As you can imagine this has been a difficult year for my family and me. But right now we are grateful for the love and support of so many during this ordeal.”

Durham issued a terse statement expressing his office’s disappointment.

While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service,” Durham said. “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.”

The jury included one federal government employee who told the judge they donated to Democrats in 2016 and another government employee who told the judge they “strongly” dislike former President Trump. Both of those jurors told the judge they could be impartial throughout the trial. 

The jury also included a teacher, an illustrator, a mechanic and more. One juror had a child who was on the same high school sports team as Sussmann’s child.

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Judge In Sussmann Trial Keep Jurors Who Have Conflict Of Interest…

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(ReublicanWire.org) – Many people are concerned that that trial of Michael Sussmann, Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer, may not be fair. Sussmann is charged with making a false statement to the FBI.

The jury appears to be anything but fair. In all honesty, juries are always problematic for Republicans or conservatives in D.C. Just ask Roger Stone, a Trump ally, who was convicted of obstruction of justice by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller said Stone knew about WikiLeaks, while Stone said he did not. The jury, which included a far-left Democrat activist, convicted Stone. When the judge found out, he did absolutely nothing to give him a new and fair trial.

Many Jan. 6 protesters still awaiting trial are taking their chances on bench trials with a judge rather than subjecting themselves to a jury pool that overwhelmingly consists of far-left Democrats, federal employees, and members of the swamp where 92.1% voted for Biden. Polls of the D.C. population show “that while 80 percent of D.C. residents think defendants will receive a fair trial in the District, 1 in 5 admit that they would have their doubts if they were the ones charged, and 1 in 10 don’t believe trials will be fair.”

Now, providing a possible mistrial or appealable issue for the prosecution, the Washington Times reports that juror number five is the mother of a friend of defendant Michael Sussmann’s daughter. The judge, whose own connections raise questions about his objectivity, doesn’t think that’s a problem.

The jury includes one federal government employee who told the judge they donated to Democrats in 2016 and another government employee who told the judge they ‘strongly’ dislike former President Trump. The jury also includes a teacher, an illustrator, a mechanic and more.

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Obama Appointed Judge Blocks Evidence…

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(RepublicanWire.org) – Special Prosecutor John Durham wanted to use Hillary Clinton’s tweet accusing Trump of having a secret line of communication with Russian Alfa Bank as evidence in Michael Sussmann’s trial next month. However, an Obama appointed judge will not allow Hillary Clinton’s tweet to be admitted as evidence.

Sussmann was indicted last September for lying to the FBI.

According to the indictment, Sussmann falsely told James Baker he wasn’t doing work “for any client” when he asked for a meeting with the FBI where he presented bogus evidence the Trump Tower was secretly communicating with Kremlin-tied Alfa Bank.

Hillary Clinton fired off a tweet claiming Trump Tower was secretly communicating with Russian Alfa Bank.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee on Wednesday denied Durham’s request to use Hillary Clinton’s tweet in Sussmann’s trial.

Hillary Clinton’s tweet touting Trump-Russia collusion claims will not be allowed as evidence in the trial against Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann despite efforts by special counsel John Durham

On Wednesday, Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, denied Durham’s efforts to bring the tweet up at trial, saying “the court will exclude that as hearsay” and that “it’s likely duplicative of other evidence” related to demonstrating the attorney-client relationship.

Durham had told the federal court earlier this month that he wanted the October 2016 tweet from the Clinton campaign promoting the Alfa-Bank claims to be admitted as evidence at the May trial.

The special counsel argued the tweet is not inadmissible hearsay “because it is not being offered for its truth” — emphasizing that the prosecutors actually believe its claims were false. Durham said he instead wanted to present the tweet to “show the existence of the defendant’s attorney-client relationship with the Clinton Campaign, which is directly relevant to the false statement charge.”

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Clinton Lawyer Charged With Making False Statement…

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(RepublicanWire.org) – Special Counsel John Durham filed new evidence Monday night in the case against Democratic Party lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been charged with making a false statement to a federal agent during a September 2016 meeting with the FBI.

Sussmann allegedly failed to disclose his clients, including Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, to the FBI when he offered information in 2016 that he claimed demonstrated a secret channel between the Trump Organization and Kremlin-allied Alfa Bank.

During the meeting, Sussmann allegedly falsely claimed that he was not at the meeting on behalf of any client.

Durham’s latest filing shows that the evening before the lawyer’s meeting, he sent a text to an FBI official saying, “I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the bureau.” 

The text message offers new evidence outside of the one-on-one meeting that Sussmann did in fact claim he was not participating in the meeting on behalf of a client.

The new filing also includes rceferences to the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. A number of the allegations included in the Steele dossier, which was used by the FBI to obtain surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, have since been discredited.

Steele was a subcontractor for Fusion GPS, a research firm that Sussmann’s former law firm, Perkins Coie, had hired to look into potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Marc Elias, a campaign law specialist and one of Sussmann’s partners at Perkins Coie, was representing the Clinton campaign and hired Fusion GPS.

Though Sussmann’s indictment does not mention the Steele dossier, Durham’s new filing refers to the dossier and Steele, including a meeting with Sussmann that Steele has said included the alleged suspicions data scientists had about odd internet data they thought might indicate a secret channel between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank.

Sussmann’s lawyers asked the judge to block prosecutors from making arguments and introducing evidence related to the dossier.

Sussmann’s defense lawyers claimed Durham is promoting a “baseless narrative that the Clinton campaign conspired with others to trick the federal government into investigating ties between President Trump and Russia.”

“But there was no such conspiracy; the special counsel hasn’t charged such a crime; and the special counsel should not be permitted to turn Mr. Sussmann’s trial on a narrow false statement charge into a circus full of sideshows that will only fuel partisan fervor,” attorneys for Sussmann wrote.

Meanwhile, the new Durham filing asked the judge to prevent the defense from making arguments and presenting evidence “that depict the special counsel as politically motived or biased based on his appointment” by the Trump administration.

“The only purpose in advancing these arguments would be to stir the pot of political polarization, garner public attention and, most inappropriately, confuse jurors or encourage jury nullification,” it said. “Put bluntly, the defense wishes to make the special counsel out to be a political actor when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.”

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