Trump, former President, responded to shocking testimony from Michael Sussmann that Hillary Clinton authorized false information to be spread to the media alleging there was a secret communication channel between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank.
Robby Mook (ex-Clinton campaign manager) testified Friday in the first criminal case arising out of Special Counsel John Durham’s ongoing investigation into the origins, operation, and operation the Trump Russia probe. He said that Clinton had “approved” and “agreed to” share discredit data.
James Baker (ex-FBI General Counsel) testified that the FBI had investigated data suggesting that Trump was linked to a Kremlin bank, but found nothing.
Trump claimed that intelligence and law enforcement resources were used to investigate Trump and his 2016 campaign associates, disorienting officials from what “could have been a real danger with Russia.” ”
The FBI launched a counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 into Donald Trump’s campaign, and whether his associates were conspiring to or coordinating with the 2016 election.
Mueller’s investigation ended almost two years ago. It hasn’t yielded any evidence regarding criminal conspiracy or coordination between Trump campaign staffers and Russian officials during 2016.
Just after Mueller’s findings were announced, Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Durham. Barr wanted to examine the origins of the FBI’s initial investigation into Trump campaign. Mueller was appointed special counsel.
Mook was cross-examined by Andrew DeFillippis, the government prosecutor. He was asked questions about Clinton’s understanding of the data and his plans to release it to the media.
Mook said that Marc Elias, the campaign general counsel at Perkins Coie at the time, first informed him about the Alfa Bank issue.
Mook claimed that he was told the data had been provided by “experts in this kind of matter.” ”
Mook said that while the campaign was not confident in the validity and reliability of the data, it hoped to give the information to a reporter to “run it down” to determine if it’s “accurate” or substantive. ”
He stated that he discussed the possibility of releasing the information to a reporter with campaign chairman John Podesta, senior policy advisor Jennifer Palmieri and Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Adviser.
Mook later said that he could not recall the exact sequence of events when Clinton asked him if he shared the idea of reporting the Trump-Alfa Bank claims before or after the decision was made.
Sussmann was accused of lying to the FBI. September 2016: He stated to Baker that he was not doing any work for any client. Baker asked for and attended a meeting in which he presented “purported” information and “whitepapers” that allegedly showed a secret communications channel between the Trump Organization, which has ties with Kremlin, and Alfa Bank.
Durham’s team asserts that Sussmann actually worked for Rodney Joffe, a technology executive, and the Hillary Clinton Campaign.
Sussmann pleaded not guilty.
Mook was previously asked by defense whether he or any other Clinton campaign members approved that Sussmann bring the allegations to the FBI. He answered, “No. ”
The defense later questioned Mook asking if Hillary Clinton had approved Sussmann’s entrance to the FBI.
He replied again to the question: “I don’t know…I don’t know why she would.” ”
Baker also stated that an FBI investigation was opened into Trump-Alfa Bank claims. It lasted “several weeks”, possibly a month or a year and half.
Scott Hellman, an FBI Special Agent, testified Tuesday afternoon that data that showed Trump and Russia had been falsified. He also said that he was skeptical of the narrative.
Hellman claimed that the “5150” person who wrote the DNS data narrative was the one who made the conclusion and that he believes that the individual who came up with the conclusions was suffering from some mental disability. ”
Mook’s testimony that Clinton approved a plan to share the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations with the media was after Fox News reported in July 2016 that Clinton had “approved” a plan to tie Trump to Russia. This was done to distract from Clinton’s private mail server.
John Brennan, the then-CIA Director, provided Media with declassified notes after briefing President Obama on July 28th. They were referring specifically to Clinton’s purported proposal from a foreign-policy advisor to denigrate Donald Trump and create a scandal alleging Russian interference.
This memo was heavily redacted.
