Sussmann has been charged with a felony for giving false testimony to the FBI. The 12-member jury consists of seven women and five men and includes five people of color.
Special prosecutors say there is “necessary” evidence that Sussman “hid” Clinton’s ties to the election campaign and hid his work under the guise of cybersecurity to spread unfounded Trump-Russia advice to the FBI.
“It was not about national security,” prosecutor Jonathan Algor told the jury. “This was to encourage opposition research on opposition candidate Donald Trump.
Prosecutors allege that Susman lied to then-FBI chief adviser James Baker on September 19, 2016, while leaking information about possible links between the Trump Organization and Kremlin-linked Alfa Bank. Sussmann is accused of falsely telling Baker that he was not there on behalf of any of the clients, although Durham said he was there on behalf of Clinton. (The FBI found no illegal activity after a four-month investigation.)
The case is the first major test in the courtroom for Durham, a Trump-era prosecutor who spent three years searching for misconduct in the FBI investigation into Russia, but failed to present the bomb charges that Trump predicted.
A conviction could boost Durham’s credibility, while an acquittal could justify his critics, who say he is conducting a politicized investigation into fragile theories.
Sussmann’s lawyers accused Durham on Friday of trying to “mislead” the jury by training and forcing witnesses to secure a conviction in a case that “makes no sense” and “should never have been brought” in the first place.
“The time for political conspiracy theories is over,” lawyer Sean Berkowitz said in his closing remarks. “Now is the time to talk about the evidence.”
He claims that Durham “tried to break up” a key witness by threatening to prosecute and selected a large number of emails and government documents to answer his case against Sussmann.
“Any evidence that does not fit their theory of tunnel vision is ignored,” Berkowitz said.
He also denied the prosecution’s focus on “investigating the opposition” during his closing statements, which meticulously showed Susman working with Clinton’s campaign advocate and researchers funded by the campaign to collect and disseminate materials against Trump to the media.
“Opposition polls are not illegal,” Berkowitz said. “If that were the case, the prisons in Washington, DC, would be overcrowded.
Susman, who pleaded not guilty, could face up to five years in prison if convicted, although there is no guarantee that he will be behind bars any time and is likely to receive a lighter sentence as a first-time perpetrator.
The two-week trial reviewed many of the most controversial moments of the 2016 presidential election and included testimonies from two senior Clinton campaign officials, as well as a number of senior FBI and Justice Department officials who led the Trump-Russia investigation.
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