Both men were accused of lying to the FBI, but that’s where the curious cases of Michael Flynn and Michael Sussmann go in completely different directions.
The Feds Won't Take Their Jackboot Off Ret. General Michael Flynn's Neck https://t.co/0nYrFOeCLT
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room (@VictoriaTaft) May 22, 2022
Michael Sussmann is on trial in Washington, D.C. for lying to FBI General Counsel James Baker when he told his old friend that he brought “research” on Donald Trump tying him to the Russians and that he did so on his own behalf, not for any of his clients.
The “research,” passed off as “white paper #1” from Sussmann’s office, included internet DNS data purportedly showing a tie between Trump and Alfa-Bank in Russia, and routed through a third entity, Spectrum Health servers. The “connection” was found with a simple DNS Internet address search.
According to court documents, Sussmann brought the papers to the meeting with Baker. The report “concluded” “the only plausible explanation for this server configuration is that it shows the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank to be using multiple layers of protection in order to obfuscate their considerable recent email traffic.”
And it was all made up.
In Friday’s testimony from Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager, Robby Mook, we learned that Clinton approved the disinformation hit on Trump herself.
Though Sussmann hasn’t been charged with conspiracy, it’s clear there was one involving Hillary herself, her organization, and him. Special Counsel John Durham alleges Sussmann dished the disinfo to the FBI and media to poison the political swamp against Trump.
Sounds bad, but in the political milieu inside the beltway, Sussmann may come out of this caper unscathed. And that’s just one way his case is vastly different from Michael Flynn’s, the retired general who was, for a blink of an eye, Donald Trump’s national security adviser. He too was accused of lying to the FBI.
Related: Hillary Tweet Approving Trump Russia Disinfo Comes Back to Bite Her Campaign Boss at Sussmann Trial
Sussmann is accused of materially lying to an FBI official. Flynn’s case was a process crime, occurring during an investigation. But for the trumped-up “Crossfire Razor” investigation of Flynn, later folded into the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe, there would be no crime of lying to the FBI. Indeed, the FBI agents to whom Flynn supposedly lied about discussing sanctions while on a trip to Russia — during which he was spying for his old Defense Intelligence Agency — didn’t think Flynn lied at all. The “lie” was such a nothingburger that the case was closed, only to have FBI investigator Peter Strzok swoop in to keep it open.
Fired FBI Director James Comey took a victory lap, smiling over his decision to send agents to have an unofficial talk with Flynn, without notifying the White House, in the chaotic first days of the Trump Administration to produce a perjury trap.
It was the Obama Administration exercising its muscle against a man they intensely disliked and recommended Trump not hire. Both Comey and Obama apparently relished their power to “show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.”
The trials of both occurred in the same Washington, D.C. courthouse, notes George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley, “but the cases could not be more different.” He couldn’t be more right.
Official Leftist Washington hated Flynn. Not so Sussmann. Sussmann was a former Department of Justice prosecutor. Insider Washington is his world. He works for the Democrats. Sussmann, like the more than 90% of the voters in D.C., believed his client and candidate, Hillary Clinton, would someday be his president.
He’s a “privacy lawyer” and cybersecurity specialist, which we suppose explains how he knew how to exploit these areas of the law to hurt his political foes.
CIA Director John Brennan played his part in the conspiracy, talking about Trump Russia to anyone who would listen and briefing President Obama on Hillary’s “plan to tie Donald Trump to Russia as ‘a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.'”
Flynn was an outspoken Bible-believing Christian. He also shared his unabashed conservative beliefs on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, after leaving government service.
Another Jury Problem for Durham Team in Michael Sussmann Trial https://t.co/ngNl28gMfo
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room (@VictoriaTaft) May 20, 2022
Jurors in Washington, D.C. are notoriously Left-wing. It’s almost impossible for a conservative such as Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and J-6 Capitol protesters to get a fair trial because D.C. jurors consider them horrible fascists.
But Michael Sussmann is their kin who agrees with them. He’s a hero, just like them.
The judge allowed Flynn’s conviction to stand despite discovering that a Democrat operative lied to get on the jury.
The judge in Sussmann’s trial allowed multiple Hillary donors, a fan of and donor to Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, assorted Trump haters, and one woman connected to Sussmann through their kids’ school to remain on the jury.
. #Hillary Tweet Approving Trump Russia Disinfo Comes Back to Bite Her Campaign Boss at Sussmann Trial #SussmannTrial https://t.co/wA05hQLQwp
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room (@VictoriaTaft) May 21, 2022
Sussmann’s judge refused to allow Durham’s team to characterize the fake-news disinformation campaign, which turned into an FBI investigation, CIA case of interest, and Special Counsel investigation, as a fake news disinformation campaign. It must be said, however, that Mook’s testimony about Hillary Clinton green-lighting the plot may change that, as happened when his testimony allowed the jury to see the Clinton tweet displaying their concocted theory.
Related: Former FBI Attorney Just Blew Up Sussmann Defense in Durham Russia Collusion Case
Turley notes that “the judge in Flynn’s case was eager to remove obstacles from the prosecution’s path, the judge in Sussmann’s case seems to have created a virtual obstacle course for Durham. Durham may be able to jump the legal hurdles, but he will do so without much of his evidence.”
Durham Trial: You Can't Unsee All the Potential Conflicts of Interest in the 'Russia Collusion' Case in D.C. https://t.co/3ILDLXxrwy
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room (@VictoriaTaft) May 22, 2022
The judge in Sussmann’s trial was named to the bench by Barack Obama. Judge Casey Cooper has deep ties to the Democrat machine, as I explained in PJ Media. That is not dispositive of ill-intentions, just a data point. If you consider it in comparison to Flynn’s experience in a D.C. courtroom, however, you can forgive people for noting the obvious contrasts.
Like the home team who knows the lie of every piece of grass and the best way to stroke a shot over their centerfield wall, the home-field advantage for Leftist Washington insiders is too insidious and obvious not to take into consideration on the Durham score sheet.
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