Special counsel John Durham has for the first time suggested that Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, her researchers, and others were involved in a "joint venture or conspiracy" to invent the Russia collusion story in an effort to derail both Donald Trump's election chances and then the start of his presidency.
"These parties acted as 'joint venturer[s]' and therefore should be 'considered as co-conspirator[s],' " Durham wrote in a court filing late Monday night.
Durham said in the April 4 court filing that he will present evidence that Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann worked with the Clinton campaign, tech executive Rodney Joffe, identified as Tech Executive-1, and others in a "joint venture" to promote the false story that Trump had a secret computer channel at the Moscow-based Alfa Bank with the Kremlin.
"As an initial matter, the Government expects that the evidence at trial will show that beginning in late July/early August 2016, the defendant, Tech Executive-1, and agents of the Clinton Campaign were 'acting in concert toward a common goal,' ... namely, the goal of assembling and disseminating the Russian Bank-1 allegations and other derogatory information about Trump and his associates to the media and the U.S. government," Durham's team said.
"The evidence of a joint venture or conspiracy will establish," according to the prosecutors, "that in November 2016, soon after the Presidential election, Tech Executive-1 emailed a colleague, stating, "I was tentatively offered the top [cybersecurity] job by the Democrats when it looked like they'd win.'"
"In sum," the special counsel concludes, "the above evidence, public information, and expected testimony clearly establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant and Tech Executive-1 worked in concert with each other and with agents of the Clinton Campaign to research and disseminate the Russian Bank-1 allegations."
Durham also revealed he has acquired a text message showing Sussmann falsely told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker he was not working on behalf of any client when he delivered anti-Trump research in the lead-up to the 2016 election. In fact, Sussmann was working for the Clinton campaign and another client at the time, prosecutors say.
"Jim – it's Michael Sussmann. I have something time-sensitive (and sensitive) I need to discuss," Sussmann texted Baker on Sept. 18, 2016, according to the new court filing. "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."
Prosecutors said the text message will become essential evidence at trial to show Sussmann lied to the FBI.
"The defendant lied in that meeting, falsely stating to the General Counsel that he was not providing the allegations to the FBI on behalf of any client," Durham's motion said. "In fact, the defendant had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including (i) a technology executive ("Tech Executive-1") at a U.S.-based Internet company ("Internet Company-1"), and (ii) the Clinton Campaign."
Durham noted that, in House testimony a year later, Sussmann admitted he approached the FBI at the instruction of his client.
"We had a conversation, as lawyers do with their clients, about client 1 needs and objectives and the best course to take for a client," Sussmann testified in a deposition taken by then-House Intelligence Committee Republican investigative counsel Kash Patel. "And so it may have been a decision that we came to together. I mean, I don't want to imply that I was sort of directed to do something against my better judgment, or that we were in any sort of conflict."
Patel, who helped unravel the false Russia collusion narrative as an investigator for former Rep. Devin Nunes, said the new filing by Durham is one of the most significant to date.
"Durham has just shown the whole world what major pieces of our Russiagate investigation revealed," Patel said. "Hard evidence, emails and text messages, showing the Clinton Campaign, Fusion GPS, Perkins Coie, Joffe, and the media were all synced in August of 2016 pushing the false Alfa Bank server story, while also all working on the Steele Dossier matter. Durham submits all this evidence as 'joint venture conspiracy' under the rules of evidence."
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