Posted on 05/10/2020 10:59:15 AM PDT by maggief
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/8/michael-sussman-took-debunked-russia-alfa-bank-con/
A Democratic Party law firm pitched to the U.S. intelligence community a now-debunked theory that the Trump Organization maintained a secret computer link to a major Moscow bank run by Vladimir Putin allies, according to a newly declassified transcript.
The testimony came from attorney Michael Sussman of the Democratic- and Hillary Clinton-hired law firm Perkins Coie. It was previously known he took Alfa bank evidence to then-FBI general counsel James Baker. Mr. Baker himself testified to House investigators in 2018 about the September 2016 meeting with Mr. Sussman.
Mr. Sussman’s newly disclosed testimony from December 2017 showed the Democrats spread the Alfa server claims far more widely.
In addition to Mr. Baker, Mr. Sussman testified, he also took the Alfa claims inside the intelligence community as well as to three journalists. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released his testimony along with 52 other declassified transcripts on Thursday.
Mr. Sussman said he contacted the intelligence community that fall. In February 2017 he personally delivered a briefing and documents to an intelligence general counsel. The agency’s identify within the IC was blacked out from the transcript. But one transcript part refers to the “agency,” an apparent reference to the CIA.
Ironically, February 2017 was the same month the FBI concluded that there was no secret dedicated Trump-Alfa server and closed the case as part of its Trump-Russia election probe. That probe never found evidence of a Trump conspiracy.
Mr. Sussman recalled telephoning the agency in 2016.
“And I said, in some manner, I understand that the President has ordered a review of all intelligence relating to the election, and I have some information that may be germane to the subject matter of the investigation, and offered to come meet with her or, I don’t know, you know, someone, if they were interested, to hear about this information,” said Mr. Sussman, a former cyber crimes prosecutor at the Justice Department. “And that was really the nature of the call.”
Of his meeting with the FBI’s Mr. Baker, Mr. Sussman testified:
“And so l was coming to him mostly because I wanted him to be able to decide whether or not to act or not to act, or to share or not to share, with information I was bringing him to insulate or protect the Bureau or, I don’t know, I just thought he would know best what to do or not to do, including nothing at the time.”
Amid his meeting with Mr. Baker was a concerted effort by Democrats to get the Alfa allegation into the news media to harm candidate Donald Trump.
A prime mover was Glenn Simpson, co-founder of opposition research firm Fusion GPS.
Mr. Simpson went to Perkins Coie and the Democrats in June 2016 to obtain the funds to hire Christopher Steele, an ex-British spy. Mr. Steele went on to write the infamous, and now totally discredited, dossier that accused Mr. Trump of directing a wide election conspiracy with the Kremlin.
Mr. Simpson pitched the dossier, and Alfa server story, to Washington reporters. Mr. Sussman testified he briefed the New York Times, Washington Post and Slate.com.
https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/professionals/michael-sussmann.html
Notable Media Mentions
Hacks, by Donna Brazile (2017)
Privacy Partner Michael Sussmann’s work helping the DNC respond to Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election is discussed in book by former DNC chair.
The New York Times, “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.” (12.13.2016)
Michael Sussmann was quoted in The New York Times article “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.” regarding the Democratic National Committee’s email hack.
Washington Post, “Russian Government Hackers Penetrated DNC, Stole Opposition Research on Trump” (06.14.2016)
Partner Michael Sussmann was quoted in “Russian Government Hackers Penetrated DNC, Stole Opposition Research on Trump,” an article in The Washington Post, regarding the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s database and the information that was taken.
Is that a Whoopi thing?
Don’t know if they’re Dems, but this article has some names that sound likely typical Deep Staters to me:
Thanks very much for that!
Durham has been in business nearly a year. He has one indictment on his resume for a threat against Schiff. It was reported he hired a bunch of Democrat prosecutors. I’m inclined to believe that given his record. The proof is in the pudding as they say.
I think Schiff was getting freebies at Ed Buck’s den in payment.
Not sure about Whoopi, but I doubt it.
It was groups like Simpsons Fusion GPS, Crowdstrike....peeps with which the FBI contracted.
Members of the press and media are starting to pop up as having a direct part in the coup. The press leaks alone tie them to this.
They needed the ‘credibility’ of a government spy - Steele. Plus Steele probably came advertised as someone who could be discreet, and never give up who was paying him.
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