Special Counsel John Durham, who is investigating the Russian collusion hoax, released two more pieces of evidence that show just how determined Hillary Clinton’s campaign torpedoes and their contract hit men were to destroy Donald Trump.
Durham released a text message from Michael Sussmann that shows beyond doubt that Sussmann lied to the FBI when he said he was not working for Clinton.
As well, Durham repeatedly used the words “conspiracy” and “joint venture” to describe the activities of Sussmann, the campaign, and the mechanics it paid to take down Trump by claiming that Trump conducted shady deals with a Russian bank.
The latest in limine filing is bad news for Sussmann, whom Durham indicted for lying to the FBI, and for Hillary Clinton, as it’s the second bomb to explode in her face recently. Last week, the Federal Election Commission fined Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for the lies they told about money paid to create the notorious Steele Dossier.
Text Message
The text message Durham released is the basis of his indictment of Sussmann. When he contacted the FBI with information about Trump’s supposed connection to a Russian bank, Sussmann told the bureau he was not representing a client.
The filing released yesterday contains the message from Sussmann, who was indeed working for Clinton, to FBI general counsel James Baker.
“Indeed, on September 18, 2016 at 7:24 p.m., i.e., the night before the defendant met with the General Counsel, the defendant conveyed the same lie in writing and sent the following text message to the General Counsel’s personal cellphone,” the filing alleges:
Jim — it’s Michael Sussmann. I have something time-sensitive (and sensitive) I need to discuss. Do you have availibilty [sic] for a short meeting tomorrow? I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the Bureau. Thanks. [Emphasis added.]
The FBI General Counsel responded: “Ok. I will find a time. What might work for you?” To which the defendant replied: “Any time but lunchtime — you name it.”
The filing observes that Sussmann’s “billing records reflect that the defendant repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work” on the Trump-Russia bank lies.
It Was a “Conspiracy”
Durham also argues that Sussmann, the Clinton campaign, and other bad actors were part of a “conspiracy” or “joint venture” to ruin Trump.
“The Government expects that the evidence at trial will show that beginning in late July/early August 2016, the defendant, Tech Executive-1, and agents of the Clinton Campaign were ‘acting in concert toward a common goal,’ … namely, the goal of assembling and disseminating the Russian Bank-1 allegations and other derogatory information about Trump and his associates to the media and the U.S. government,” the filing says:
Evidence, public information, and expected testimony clearly establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant and Tech Executive-1 worked in concert with each other and with agents of the Clinton Campaign to research and disseminate the Russian Bank-1 allegations. Accordingly, these parties acted as “joint venturer[s]” and therefore should be “considered as co-conspirator[s].”
The upshot of the filing is that Sussmann, “Tech Executive-1,” and Clinton’s “agents” formed a conspiracy to wreck Trump. But again, the story was a hoax. No one has shown a connection between Trump and a Russian bank.
The bank allegations, of course, aren’t the only falsehoods Sussmann tried to put over on the FBI. Citing the original indictment of Sussmann, Durham’s last filing recalled another tall tale for which Durham found no evidence. Sussmann falsely claimed Trump and his associates used “supposedly rare, Russian-made wireless phones in the vicinity of the White House and other locations.”
FEC Fine
As far as her failed campaign goes, Clinton has had a tough couple of days.
The FEC fined her campaign $8,000 for lying to the agency about expenditures that went to the law firm that hired a cutout to create the Steele Dossier. The FBI used the dossier to seek a warrant to tap the phone of Trump campaign official Carter Page.
The agency fined the DNC $105,000 for telling the same lie.
The obvious question is why Clinton and her campaign henchmen went to such lengths to destroy Trump. The answer is quite simple: Clinton had to divert attention away from her illegal use of a private server, when she was secretary of state, to send and receive classified e-mails.
