Juror Who Acquitted Sussmann: ‘Lying to FBI’ No Big Deal
'There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI'
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A juror in the trial of former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who was acquitted Tuesday, said she did not believe the case should have been prosecuted because lying to the FBI was not a big deal.
“I don’t think it should have been prosecuted,” she reportedly said, according to Jeff Mordock, White House reporter for the Washington Times.
“There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI.”
The case was the most high-profile prosecution undertaken by Special Counsel John H. Durham, who is investigating the origins of the “Russia collusion” conspiracy theory.
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The trial saw testimony that tied Hillary Clinton directly to the hoax.
Sussmann was widely considered by legal observers to have been proven guilty.
The testimony of FBI agents and a text message that suggested he claimed to be acting as a concerned citizen rather than a Clinton campaign lawyer when he tipped off the agency about supposed collusion between then-candidate Donald Trump and the Russian government via Alfa Bank — a claim that was later debunked.
Last week, former White House national security official Kash Patel said the only strategy the defense had left in the Michael Sussmann trial was “jury nullification,” which would urge the jury to bypass the evidence presented.
As Neon Nettle reported:
During an interview with Breitbart, a day after the prosecution rested its case, Patel weighed in on the last piece of evidence, which was conducted by Patel with Sussmann four years ago.
Sussmann had told the committee that he was working for a client when he went to the FBI claiming that computer evidence showed then-candidate Donald Trump was tied to the Russian government via Alfa Bank.
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The juror’s attitude hinted at nullification, and contrasted sharply with the approach taken by a federal judge in the same D.C. jurisdiction when it came to former Trump aide Michael Flynn, who was charged with the same crime.
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan would not let the case go, even after new evidence emerged that convinced prosecutors to withdraw the charge.
Ultimately, President Trump had to pardon Flynn to extricate him from what observers considered a wrongful prosecution.
As Neon Nettle reported last month:
Former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook testified that Hillary Clinton approved the dissemination of materials alleging a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank to the press.
The alleged approval came despite campaign officials not being “totally confident” in the legitimacy of the data.
