“Special Counsel John Durham, the attorney tapped by the Trump administration to audit the Russia investigation, has reportedly handed down a new set of subpoenas, including to a law firm with ties to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign” reports National Review.
The law firm, Perkins Coie, was the law firm of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman when he is purported to have knowingly made a false statement to the FBI. The subpoenas for the documents were issued earlier this month according to CNN.
Durham’s investigation included whether Sussman lied to the FBI about who, if anyone, he was representing when he tipped off, albeit with false information, the FBI about alleged communications between the Trump campaign and the Russian, Kremlin-connected Alfa Bank.
More subpoenas for the law firm could be an “indication that Durham may be looking to add to Sussmann’s charges or to bring cases against other defendants” writes National Review. The indictment against Sussman claims he lied to FBI lawyer James Baker during a meeting on September 19, 2016.
Perkins Coie’s billing records showed Sussman billed his time spent on the Alfa Bank “project” to Clinton’s 2016 campaign. The Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee were also clients of Perkins Coie at the time.
Perkins Coie was also behind the hiring of a research company, on behalf of the Clinton campaign, to commission the dossier from former British spy Christopher Steele, which made the claim Trump was compromised by Russia.
Sussmann, while working for Perkins Coie, also represented a cybersecurity expert who worked with researchers to collect data on the Trump Organization. That “data” is the information Sussmann took to the FBI.
“The previously unnamed expert, Rodney Joffe, is referred to in Durham’s indictment as ‘Tech Executive-1” and Sussmann’s attorneys argue “the Clinton billing records don’t tell the whole story and that the lawyer only joined his Alfa Bank work with the campaign for documentation purposes” reports National Review.
