John Durham’s case against lawyer Michael Sussman ends in acquittal

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The decision is in. The primary courtroom take a look at for particular counsel John Durham has led to an acquittal. Now, as a reminder, it was – the Trump administration appointed Durham to analyze suspected wrongdoing on the FBI. The defendant, Michael Sussman, addressed reporters exterior the federal courthouse in Washington in the present day.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICHAEL SUSSMAN: Regardless of being falsely accused, I am relieved that justice in the end prevailed in my case.

KELLY: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was amongst these reporters exterior the courthouse. She’s right here with us now. Hey, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.

KELLY: OK. Remind us who Sussman is, what the central query right here was.

JOHNSON: Michael Sussman is a Washington lawyer and former Justice Division prosecutor who’s represented Democrats. The particular counsel had accused him of mendacity to the FBI in September 2016, when he met with the FBI’s normal counsel. Sussman stated he wished to share a tip about questionable hyperlinks between the Trump Group and a Russian financial institution. And prosecutors working with the particular counsel, John Durham, stated Sussman was making an attempt to affect the result of the presidential election in 2016 through the use of the FBI for political functions.

Now, Sussman’s attorneys informed the jury he did not lie about whether or not he organized the assembly on behalf of Democratic purchasers and that, even when he did, it did not matter anyway. It did not change the way in which the FBI investigated.

KELLY: I’ll notice that the trial ran for 2 weeks, however the jury deliberated for just a few hours. Do we all know what influenced their pondering?

JOHNSON: Nicely, I caught up with the forewoman of the jury exterior the courthouse after the decision. She did not wish to give me her identify, however she stated mainly that the case did not appear to quantity to a lot. She stated, quote, “I really feel like we might have spent our time extra properly.” After which she stated it was the federal government’s job to show it. And I feel they succeeded in some, and in others, they failed. It did not pan out within the authorities’s favor, she stated, and that is on them.

KELLY: I wish to ask about one thing you wrote over the weekend – that this case may very well be thought of a take a look at of John Durham’s legacy. Clarify.

JOHNSON: Yeah. Present and former authorities attorneys have been very vital of the Sussman prosecution, saying that others would not have introduced this case within the first place. And protection lawyer Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth have been much more blunt. They stated this was a case of prosecutorial overreach and that politics isn’t any substitute for proof.

Sussman, their shopper, has had a tough time since his indictment final yr. He left his legislation agency and has been out of labor. And his aged mother and his spouse and children have been on the courthouse almost day-after-day. They have been close by when Sussman made a press release to reporters. Here is extra of what he stated exterior that courthouse.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SUSSMAN: As you may think about, this has been a troublesome yr for my household and me. However proper now, we’re simply grateful for the love and assist of so many throughout this ordeal. And I am trying ahead to getting again to the work that I really like.

KELLY: In order that’s Sussman talking. Any phrase in the present day, Carrie, from John Durham, from the particular counsel?

JOHNSON: Nicely, after the decision, Durham stood contained in the almost empty courtroom and checked messages on his telephone. Later, he issued a written assertion. He thanked his brokers and investigators, and he thanked the jury for his or her service. However he stated he was disenchanted within the final result of this case.

This trial was the primary for Durham, who was appointed within the Trump administration to look at the investigators who investigated the previous president in Russia. And the previous President Trump had hoped Durham would discover one thing shady or dodgy. However to this point, over three years, Durham has turned up little or no.

KELLY: NPR’s Carrie Johnson, thanks in your reporting on this.

JOHNSON: Joyful to be right here. Transcript offered by NPR, Copyright NPR.