Past Hillary Clinton tweets loom amid accusations her campaign paid to spy on Trump
WASHINGTON (TND) — A motion filed by Special Counsel John Durham alleges Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid a technology company to dig for evidence to build a “narrative” tying then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia in the run up to the 2016 election. Durham filed the motion Friday, which focused on potential conflicts of interest stemming from Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann. Sussman was indicted by a grand jury in September, accused of “making false statements to the FBI in 2016 regarding alleged communications” between the Trump organization and a Russian bank tied to the Kremlin known as Alfa Bank. The Clinton campaign lawyer was accused of representing himself "as a good citizen rather than a paid advocate or political operative" when approaching the FBI about a tip on Trump’s alleged links to Russia. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty, according to The New York Post. Durham's “factual background” section in his motion says Sussmann “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, and the Clinton campaign. The filing also points out Sussmann’s “billing records reflect that the defendant repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work” on the Trump-Russia bank allegations.
Sussmann allegedly told the FBI in a meeting less than two months before the 2016 presidential election, during which he presented “purported data and 'white papers' that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and a Russia-based bank,” that he was not doing work “for any client.” In the process of compiling and disseminating the allegations against Trump, Sussmann and “Tech Executive-1”, who he was working with, allegedly met and communicated with another attorney serving as General Counsel to the Clinton campaign. Sources reportedly told Fox News that the attorney Sussmann and "Tech Executive-1" met was Marc Elias of the law firm Perkins Coie. The National Desk reached out to Perkins Coie for comment on the allegations but did not hear back prior to publication. If received, this story will be updated with the firm’s comments. Durham’s filing also accuses "Tech Executive-1" of working with Sussmann, a U.S. investigative firm retained 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,” according to Durham’s Friday filing. “Tech Executive-1 tasked these researchers to mine Internet data to establish ‘an inference’ and ‘narrative’ tying then-candidate Trump to Russia,” the filing continued. Durham also wrote in his filing that evidence at trial will establish that among the data mined on behalf of the Clinton campaign was “domain name system 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 accused Tech Executive-1’s employer of accessing and maintaining “dedicated servers” for the EOP as “part of a sensitive arrangement whereby it provided DNS resolution services to the EOP.”
Opinions concerning Special Counsel Durham’s investigation seemingly fall into one of two camps, arguing either that he is doing a good job or that he is engaging in selective prosecution. Kash Patel, who aided the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation looking into unscrupulous and unlawful activity related to the Trump-Russia probe, reportedly told Fox News 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.” Critics of the Trump-Russia probe, like Patel, argue tweets from days before the 2016 election by then-candidate Hillary Clinton back up their accusations.
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