FBI witness in Sussmann trial says Trump-Alfa Bank allegation was ‘far-reaching,’ not objective

JTN:

An FBI agent testifying Tuesday on the second day of the trial of 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann discredited evidence Sussmann gave the agency attempting to connect the Trump Organization with Russia’s Alfa Bank, a purported hotline to the Kremlin.

Describing a white paper analyzing internet data between the email server of the Trump Organization and the Russian Alfa Bank as “not objective” and “far-reaching,” FBI Special Agent Scott Hellman said the authors’ conclusion of a secret communications channel “didn’t ring true at all.”

Special Counsel John Durham last year charged Sussmann with lying to the FBI when he allegedly told then-FBI general counsel James Baker that he was not working on behalf of any client while providing him with since-debunked collusion allegations.

Sussmann is pleading not guilty to the charge. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.  

Hellman, the prosecution’s second witness, examined the data on the thumb drives that Sussmann had given to Baker in their meeting weeks before the presidential election. One of the FBI agents whose signature was required for a chain of custody form for the drives was former FBI official Peter Strzok. more