The Sussmann Verdict Is an Indictment of Durham, Not a Vindication of the Ex-Clinton Lawyer

Michael Sussmann did exactly what he was accused of by Special Counsel John Durham. But the latter charged the former with lying to former FBI general counsel James Baker on the wrong day.

Durham’s team alleged that Sussmann told Baker that he wasn’t representing any client during a meeting at FBI headquarters on September 19, 2016, during which Sussmann handed over flimsy evidence of a secret communications channel between Russia’s Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization. In fact, the prosecution argued, Sussmann was acting on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and tech executive Rodney Joffe, whose firm dug up the evidence.

Sussmann very well might have lied during the meeting, but Durham had no smoking gun evidence. His star witness, Baker, was an unreliable narrator.

However, Durham did have smoking gun evidence that Sussmann told that exact lie the day before while setting up the meeting with Baker. On September 18, 2016, he sent the following message to Baker:

Jim — it’s Michael Sussmann. I have something time-sensitive (and sensitive) I need to discuss. Do you have availability for a short meeting tomorrow? I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the Bureau.Thanks.

Unfortunately for Durham, he didn’t discover the message until this spring, a half-year after the indictment came down. Consequently, the text could be used as evidence of an intention to lie on the 19th, but Sussmann could not be found guilty for lying on the 18th.

The Durham probe has been in progress since April of 2019. Baker was the only eyewitness to Sussmann’s alleged crime. The special counsel’s office has met him upwards of ten times. How is it possible that in all the time preparing for the indictment, they did not ask Baker to scroll through his text messages with the target of their investigation?

Today’s not guilty verdict is a legal victory for Michael Sussmann, but it’s far from a vindication of his actions, or a testament to his integrity.