Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign attorney from 2016, Michael Sussmann, was acquitted by a jury on charges of lying to the FBI.
This means a setback for the supporters of former President Donald Trump, who in this case laid down part of their theory that the investigations against the Republican for his ties to Russia were a conspiracy.
The jury in the Michael Sussmann case deliberated Friday afternoon and Tuesday morning before reaching their verdict.
The case is also a defeat for special prosecutor John Durham, appointed in 2019 , to investigate alleged government misconduct during the investigation of possible links between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
“While we are disappointed with the result, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service,” Durham said in a statement. “I also want to acknowledge and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in pursuit of truth and justice in this case.”
The Sussmann case revolved around his meeting with September 2016 with James Baker, a friend who was an FBI General Counsel.
The accusations indicate that Sussmann provided a tip that led to a four-month FBI investigation into a possible link between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, an institution linked to the Kremlin, but no such link was found.
Durham’s work has only led to the guilty plea of a junior FBI attorney who was involved in a warrant to listen to phone calls against a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016.