Democrat Election Lawyer Steps Down from Firm Ahead of Durham Report Release
Marc Elias, a key figure in 'Russia collusion' hoax, parts ways with Perkins Coie
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Marc Elias, a Democrat election lawyer and prominent figure in the debunked "Russia collusion" conspiracy theory, has parted ways with his law firm ahead of the highly-anticipated release of the "Durham Report."
Special Counsel John Durham is soon to release the report on his investigation into the origins of the anti-Trump Russia inquiry, aka "The Russia Hoax."
Elias led Democrats’ efforts to change the voting rules in the 2020 presidential election.
He also spearheaded efforts to overturn election results in close congressional races — including a New York race where he questioned voting machines.
Elias was the attorney at Perkins Coie who, in the run-up to the 2016 election, arranged for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to hire the Fusion GPS opposition research firm to create the now-debunked anti-Trump "Steele dossier."
The arrangement was a fact that is mysteriously hidden in federal election filings.
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The Washington Post exposed Elias’s involvement, despite his past denials, in an October 2017 investigative report:
The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.
Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.
After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Steele’s dossier ended up in the hands of the FBI, and was used to obtain a warrant from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court to spy on Trump aide Carter Page — though the agency concealed the political origins of the dossier, and misled the FISA court in warrant renewal applications after the FBI knew the dossier had been discredited.
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Earlier this month, it was reported that Durham was presenting evidence to a grand jury for possible criminal prosecution, according to Breitbart.
He is “preparing a lengthy report expected to be completed in the coming months,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
In an announcement Sunday, Elias did not mention the Durham investigation but said that he was leaving Perkins Coie with “eleven partners and three counsel” to form his own new election law firm, Elias Law Group LLP.
Some personal news.@EliasLawGroup pic.twitter.com/2R2PLT6fmY
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) August 22, 2021
Perkins Coie — noted for its long history of representing Democrats — will continue its “corporate political activities” practice, Elias’s release said.
Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley, who has followed Elias closely, called his departure significant Sunday, as it came “before the release of the John Durham report.”
It is not yet clear whether that report will be made public.
