Politics PROSECUTING THE RUSSIAN HOAXSTERS/LOCK HER UP!

Clinton campaign paid to 'infiltrate' Trump Tower, White House servers to link Trump to Russia, Durham finds
'Tech Executive-1 and his associates exploited this arrangement by mining the EOP's DNS traffic and other data for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.'
By Brooke Singman | Fox News

First on Fox: Lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a technology company to "infiltrate" servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in order to establish an "inference" and "narrative" to bring to government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia, a filing from Special Counsel John Durham found.

Durham filed a motion on Feb. 11 focused on potential conflicts of interest related to the representation of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been charged with making a false statement to a federal agent. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty.

The indictment against Sussmann, says he told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016, less than two months before the 2016 presidential election, that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting in which he presented "purported data and 'white papers' that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.

But Durham's filing on Feb. 11, in a section titled "Factual Background," reveals that Sussmann "had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign."

Durham’s filing said Sussmann’s "billing records reflect" that he "repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work on the Russian Bank-1 allegations."


Special Counsel John H. Durham

The filing revealed that Sussmann and the Tech Executive had met and communicated with another law partner, who was serving as General Counsel to the Clinton campaign. Sources told Fox News that lawyer is Marc Elias, who worked at the law firm Perkins Coie.

Durham's filing states that in July 2016, the tech executive worked with Sussmann, a U.S. investigative firm retained by Law Firm 1 on behalf of the Clinton campaign, numerous cyber researchers and employees at multiple internet companies to "assemble the purported data and white papers."

"In connection with these efforts, Tech Executive-1 exploited his access to non-public and/or proprietary Internet data," the filing states. "Tech Executive-1 also enlisted the assistance of researchers at a U.S.-based university who were receiving and analyzing large amounts of Internet data in connection with a pending federal government cybersecurity research contract."

"Tech Executive-1 tasked these researchers to mine Internet data to establish 'an inference' and 'narrative' tying then-candidate Trump to Russia," Durham states. "In doing so, Tech Executive-1 indicated that he was seeking to please certain 'VIPs,' referring to individuals at Law Firm-1 and the Clinton campaign."

Durham also writes that during Sussmann's trial, the government will establish that among the Internet data Tech Executive-1 and his associates exploited was domain name system (DNS) internet traffic pertaining to "(i) a particular healthcare provider, (ii) Trump Tower, (iii) Donald Trump's Central Park West apartment building, and (iv) the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP)."

Durham states that the internet company that Tech Executive-1 worked for "had come to access and maintain dedicated servers" for the Executive Office of the President as "part of a sensitive arrangement whereby it provided DNS resolution services to the EOP."

"Tech Executive-1 and his associates exploited this arrangement by mining the EOP's DNS traffic and other data for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump," Durham states.

The filing also reveals that Sussmann provided "an updated set of allegations" including the Russian bank data, and additional allegations relating to Trump "to a second agency of the U.S. government" in 2017.

Durham says the allegations "relied, in part, on the purported DNS traffic" that Tech Executive-1 and others "had assembled pertaining to Trump Tower, Donald Trump's New York City apartment building, the EOP, and the aforementioned healthcare provider."

In Sussmann's meeting with the second U.S. government agency, Durham says he "provided data which he claimed reflected purportedly suspicious DNS lookups by these entities of internet protocol (IP) addresses affiliated with a Russian mobile phone provider," and claimed that the lookups "demonstrated Trump and/or his associates were using supposedly rare, Russian-made wireless phones in the vicinity of the White House and other locations."

"The Special Counsel's Office has identified no support for these allegations," Durham wrote, adding that the "lookups were far from rare in the United States."

"For example, the more complete data that Tech Executive-1 and his associates gathered--but did not provide to Agency 2--reflected that between approximately 2014 and 2017, there were a total of more than 3 million lookups of Russian Phone-Prover 1 IP addresses that originated with U.S.-based IP addresses," Durham wrote. "Fewer than 1,000 of these lookups originated with IP addresses affiliated with Trump Tower."

Durham added that data collected by Tech Executive-1 also found that lookups began as early as 2014, during the Obama administration and years before Trump took office, which he said, is "another fact which the allegations omitted."

"In his meeting with Agency-2 employees, the defendant also made a substantially similar false statement as he made to the FBI General Counsel," Durham wrote. "In particular, the defendant asserted that he was not representing a particular client in conveying the above allegations."

"In truth and in fact, the defendant was representing Tech Executive-1--a fact the defendant subsequently acknowledged under oath in December 2017 testimony before Congress, without identifying the client by name," Durham wrote.

Former President Trump reacted to the filing on Saturday evening, saying Durham’s filing "provides indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia."

"This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution," Trump said. "In a stronger period of time in our country, this crime would have been punishable by death."

Trump added: "In addition, reparations should be paid to those in our country who have been damaged by this."

Former chief investigator of the Trump-Russia probe for the House Intelligence Committee under then-Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Kash Patel, said the filing "definitively shows that the Hillary Clinton campaign directly funded and ordered its lawyers at Perkins Coie to orchestrate a criminal enterprise to fabricate a connection between President Trump and Russia."

"Per Durham, this arrangement was put in motion in July of 2016, meaning the Hillary Clinton campaign and her lawyers masterminded the most intricate and coordinated conspiracy against Trump when he was both a candidate and later President of the United States while simultaneously perpetuating the bogus Steele Dossier hoax," Patel told Fox News, adding that the lawyers worked to "infiltrate" Trump Tower and White House servers.

The anti-Trump dossier, authored by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign through Elia's law firm, Perkins Coie.

Patel added that Sussmann relayed the "false narrative" to U.S. government agencies "in the hopes of having them launch investigations of President Trump."

Sussmann's indictment is the second prosecution to come out of Durham's probe.

In November 2021, Durham also charged Russian national Igor Danchenko of making false statements. Danchenko, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of lying about the source of information that he provided to Christopher Steele for his "dossier" on Trump.

In 2020, Durham charged former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith with making a false statement – the first criminal case arising from his probe. Clinesmith was referred for potential prosecution by the Justice Department's inspector general's office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation.

Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency. Page has said he was a source for the CIA. The DOJ relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Trump campaign aide Carter Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Former Attorney General Bill Barr appointed Durham, then the U.S. attorney from Connecticut, in 2019 to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe, or Crossfire Hurricane, which began in July 2016, through the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017 shortly after Mueller completed his years long investigation into whether Trump's campaign colluded or coordinated with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller's investigation found no evidence of illegal or criminal coordination between Trump or the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.

Barr, in December 2020, before leaving the Trump administration, tapped Durham as special counsel to continue his investigation through the Biden administration.

In the scope order, Barr stated that Durham "is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III."

Under U.S. code, the special counsel would produce a "confidential report" and is ordered to "submit to the Attorney General a final report, and such interim reports as he deems appropriate in a form that will permit public dissemination."

 

Durham team argues 'strong intersection' between Christopher Steele work, Sussmann allegations against Trump
Sussmann’s defense attorneys called Steele a 'lightening rod' and said introducing anything about him into trail would be prejudicial

By Brooke Singman , Jake Gibson | Fox News

Prosecutors on Special Counsel John Durham’s team argued in federal court Wednesday that there is a "strong intersection" between the opposition research against then-candidate Donald Trump that ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele was collecting on behalf of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the allegations former Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann presented to the FBI attempting to tie Trump to Russia’s Alfa Bank.

Sussmann’s defense attorneys called Steele a "lightening rod," and argued that introducing anything about him or his work into the trial would be prejudicial against their client.

During a motions hearing Wednesday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper heard arguments from both the special counsel’s team and defense attorneys for Sussmann about various pieces of evidence and whether they can be admitted for trial.

Both sides agreed that Sussmann met with Steele in July 2016. During that meeting, Durham's team argues that he told Steele about the Alfa Bank allegations, and on Wednesday, prosecutors claimed that after that meeting, Steele was immediately tasked with investigating allegations related to Alfa Bank.


Christopher Steele compiled a dossier on Donald Trump. ((Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images))

Prosecutors, though, made clear that they will not be calling Steele as a witness during the Sussmann trial which may make it more challenging for the government to invoke his name and work during the trial.

Sussmann’s defense attorney Sean Berkowitz argued Wednesday that the "implication of Steele’s name" would be "unduly prejudicial."

But Durham’s team said even without Steele, they believed evidence, while "limited," would show a "strong intersection" between Steele’s opposition research and Sussmann’s "Alfa Bank efforts."

"The campaign manager of the Clinton campaign has told the government that he viewed Steele’s opposition research and Alfa Bank research as intermixed," government prosecutor Andrew DeFilippis said, noting that Steele’s efforts were part of the "work stream" between law firm Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS.

Durham, in previous court filings, attempts to outline the connection between Sussmann and the now-infamous and discredited anti-Trump dossier, which contained allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian government.

The unverified dossier was authored by Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer, and commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS.

The law firm Perkins Coie is the firm that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Clinton campaign funded the anti-Trump dossier through.

Durham's team, Wednesday, argued that Sussmann's meeting with Steele in July 2016 is, in fact, "probative and relevant."

Durham, in a filing earlier this month, stated that Sussmann "represented and worked for the Clinton campaign in connection with its broader opposition research efforts" and "took steps to integrate" the Alfa Bank allegations "into those opposition research efforts."

Durham's team argued that the evidence is "highly probative" because it establishes that Sussmann "represented and worked for the Clinton campaign with its broader opposition research efforts."

Durham's original indictment alleges Sussmann told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016 — less than two months before the 2016 presidential election — he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting where he presented "purported data and 'white papers' that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.

In a filing earlier this month, Durham motioned to admit a Clinton campaign tweet from Oct. 31, 2016.


Photo of John Durham and Michael Sussmann. Sussman pic: Perkins Coie (Perkins Coie)

Durham could be referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Oct. 31, 2016 tweet stating: "Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank."

A second Clinton tweet from that day stated it was "time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia."

However, the federal judge, on Wednesday, ruled that the court would exclude the Clinton campaign tweet as hearsay.

Meanwhile, during the hearing, the judge, prosecution and defense discussed the role of "Tech-Executive-1," who Fox News has confirmed is Rodney Joffe.

The defense wants to call Joffe as a witness during Sussmann's trial, while the prosecution is asking the judge to deny that request. The judge said he would take arguments on the matter under advisement, but agreed that Joffe seemed like a "key witness."

Sussmann's trial is scheduled to begin on May 16.

 

Durham says CIA found data alleging Trump-Russia connection not 'technically plausible,' was 'user created'
Durham says he will seek immunity for a Fusion GPS employee during the trial of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann

Special Counsel John Durham asserted in a court filing Friday that the CIA concluded data from Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann alleging coordination between Donald Trump and Russia was "not technically plausible" and was "user created."

In the filing, Durham responded to objections from Sussmann’s defense regarding what evidence could be admissible at Sussmann's trial, which is scheduled to begin next month. Sussmann is accused of lying to the FBI by saying he was not attending a meeting on behalf of a particular client when he was actually presenting the information on behalf of the HIllary Clinton campaign and a technology executive with whom he worked.

Durham in February first revealed that the government would establish during trial that among the data "exploited" was domain name system (DNS) internet traffic pertaining to "a particular healthcare provider, Trump Tower, Donald Trump's Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP)."

In February, Durham said data was exploited "by mining the EOP's DNS traffic and other data for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump," adding the data was used to establish "an inference" and "narrative" tying Trump to Russia.

But Sussmann is moving to preclude evidence concerning the "gathering" of that "DNS data" by "Tech Executive 1," who has been identified as Rodney Joffe, and his associates.

In Friday's filing, Durham argued that the gathering of the data is a "necessary factual backdrop to the charged conduct."

Durham's original indictment alleges Sussmann told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016 — less than two months before the 2016 presidential election — he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting where he presented "purported data and 'white papers' that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.

The indictment alleges that Sussmann lied in the meeting, "falsely stating to the general counsel that he was not providing the allegations to the FBI on behalf of any client."

Durham also alleges that Sussmann in February 2017 provided an "updated set of allegations," including the Alfa Bank claims, and additional allegations related to Trump to a second U.S. government agency, which Fox News has confirmed was the CIA.

In his filing Friday, Durham says the government expects to "adduce evidence at trial" that will reflect that the FBI and the CIA "concluded that the Russian Bank 1 allegations were untrue and unsupported.

"For example, while the FBI did not reach an ultimate conclusion regarding the data’s accuracy or whether it might have been in whole or in part genuine, spoofed, altered, or fabricated, Agency 2 concluded in early 2017 that the Russian Bank 1 data and Russian Phone Provider 1 data was not ‘technically plausible,’ did not ‘withstand technical scrutiny,’ ‘contained gaps,’ ‘conflicted with [itself],’ and was ‘user created and not machine/tool generated," Durham wrote.

However, Durham states that "the Special Counsel’s Office has not reached a definitive conclusion in this regard."

But Durham argued that "separate and apart from whether the data was actually unreliable or provided a motive" for Sussmann to lie, evidence concerning the steps the FBI and CIA took to "investigate these matters is critical to establishing materiality."

Durham said that information will "enable the jury to evaluate those steps, which, in turn, will inform their conclusions about whether the defendant’s alleged false statement was material and could tend to influence or impair government functions."

Meanwhile, Durham outlines the connection between Sussmann and the now-infamous and discredited anti-Trump dossier, which contained allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian government.

The unverified dossier was authored by ex-British Intelligence agent Christopher Steele and commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS. The law firm Perkins Coie is the firm that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign funded the anti-Trump dossier through.

In Durham’s filing Friday, he revealed that Sussmann met in the summer of 2016 with Steele at the Perkins Coie offices, where he told Steele about the Alfa Bank allegations.

Durham states that after their meeting, personnel from the "U.S. Investigative Firm," which Fox News previously reported is Fusion GPS, tasked Steele to "research and produce intelligence reports" about Alfa Bank, "which he did."

Durham, in his filing, states that Sussmann "represented and worked for the Clinton campaign in connection with its broader opposition research efforts" and "took steps to integrate" the Alfa Bank allegations "into those opposition research efforts."

Durham argued that the evidence is "highly probative" because it establishes that Sussmann "represented and worked for the Clinton campaign with its broader opposition research efforts."

Durham also states the evidence establishes that Sussmann "carried out his September 19, 2016, meeting with the FBI in order to, among other things, further the interests of the Clinton campaign with assistance from" Fusion GPS.

In the filing, Durham also points to notes from a former FBI assistant director that state, among other things, that "the dossier’s author was hired" by Fusion GPS to "dig up dirt on Trump for an unnamed U.S. client."

"The fact that FBI headquarters received on the same date both sets of information involving the same political campaign (Clinton campaign), the same law firm [Perkins Coie] and the same investigative firm [Fusion GPS] makes Steele’s involvement in these matters relevant," Durham wrote.

Meanwhile, Sussmann’s defense has made a motion to give immunity to Tech Executive 1, Rodney Joffe, who has not been charged with a crime.

In Durham’s filing, however, he reveals that Joffe is "a subject" of the investigation and has been since prior to Sussmann’s indictment in 2021. Durham says this has been communicated with Joffe’s counsel, and that he still remains a subject, even one month short of trial.

Durham said that the decision not to grant Joffe immunity was "entirely reasonable and consistent with the Department of Justice’s practices," given that he "played a critical leadership role in assembling and submitting the allegations at issue, and therefore would likely carry greater criminal exposure and potential culpability in the event the government’s investigation were to reveal or confirm the commission of crimes other than the offense currently charged."

Durham, though, revealed that the only witness for Sussmann’s trial "immunized by the government" was "Researcher 2," whose identity is unknown. That individual’s immunity began in July 2021, over a month before Sussmann’s indictment.

Durham said the government immunized "Researcher 2" because "at least five other witnesses who conducted work relating to the Russian Bank 1 allegations invoked their right against self-incrimination."

"The government therefore pursued Researcher 2’s immunity in order to uncover otherwise unavailable facts underlying the opposition research project that Tech Executive 1 and others carried out in advance of the defendant’s meeting with the FBI," Durham states.

In the filing, though, Durham also reveals that the government "intends to seek immunity at trial for an individual who was employed at the U.S. investigative firm," Fusion GPS.

"But unlike Tech Executive 1, that individual is considered a ‘witness’ and not a ‘subject’ of the government’s investigation based on currently known facts," Durham states.

Meanwhile, Durham says the government, during trial, plans to offer redacted, non-privileged documents containing communications between Sussmann and Joffe and redacted billing records reflecting Sussmann’s work "on behalf of the Clinton campaign" and Joffe.

Durham says prosecutors also plan to offer communications between Sussmann, Joffe and "Campaign Lawyer 1," who sources tell Fox News is Perkins Coie partner and Clinton lawyer Marc Elias, as well as employees of Fusion GPS.

Sussmann’s trial is scheduled to begin May 16.

Durham, since 2019, has been investigating the origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe, or Crossfire Hurricane, which began in July 2016 through the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017. That was shortly after Mueller completed his years-long investigation into whether Trump's campaign colluded or coordinated with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller's investigation found no evidence of illegal or criminal coordination between Trump or the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.

Durham has indicted three people as part of his investigation: Sussmann in September 2021, Igor Danchenko in November 2021 and Kevin Clinesmith in August 2020.

Danchenko was charged with making a false statement and is accused of lying to the FBI about the source of information he provided to Christopher Steele for the anti-Trump dossier.

Kevin Clinesmith was also charged with making a false statement. Clinesmith had been referred for potential prosecution by the Justice Department's inspector general's office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation.

Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about Trump campaign aide Carter Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency. Page has said he was a source for the CIA. The DOJ relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

I get to be the lefty Maris on this one: I don't care what you post, I will always believe Trump is in Putin's pocket, on the payroll, their dupe, whatever.

 

Sorry, I cant help myself.

The Republican Senate report stated,

"The nearly 1,000-page report documents in detail the comprehensive campaign conducted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his proxies to seek influence within President Donald Trump's campaign and help Trump win the 2016 presidential election."

 

Trump supplied too much public evidence to believe otherwise. Regardless of any actions attributed to Hillary. I couldn't care less what she did, even if she gets locked up.

There is no doubt that Trump is Putin's stooge. He has all but admitted it.

 

I didn't read it. Everything was from faux news, hence, likely BS.

If it's not BS and she broke the law she should go to jail.

It has no bearing on my belief that Trump should be convicted as the traiter he is. And his kids should as well.

 

How did it feel being that paranoid for a post?

 

Fantastic bump. Shoving this in this poster's face is a bit like poking a dead horse, but it's kind of fun.

 

This is like Obamagate lmaoooo

 

Don't make me laugh.