A jury was selected for the Michael Sussmann trial, facilitated by the investigation of Special Counsel John Durham who will helm the trial that will continue for the next few weeks.
According to Fox News, opening arguments were delivered May 17 for the Sussmann-Durham Trial, which will serve as the first full trial originating from Durham’s investigation into the Trump-Russia probe. The defendant is former federal prosecutor Sussmann, who now stands charged with lying to the FBI and has pleaded not guilty.
"A jury of 12 DC residents plus alternates was successfully empaneled today in the federal trial cyber attorney, Michael Sussmann, whose firm represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign," said CBS Correspondent Catherine Herridge in a May 16 post on Twitter. "Opening statements will begin tomorrow. Special Counsel John Durham was present in the courthouse at various times today."
During the trial, the government will be represented by federal prosecutors Deborah Brittain Shaw, Andrew DeFillippis, Michael Keilty and Jonathan Edgar Algor IV, while defense attorneys Sean Berkowitz, Michael Bosworth, Catherine Yao and Natalie Hardwick Rao will represent Sussmann, according to Fox. Sussmann’s team of attorneys will face his charge of lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting about potential links between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.
"We are here because the FBI is our institution. It should not be used as a political tool for anyone — not Republicans, not Democrats, not anyone," Shaw said in her opening statements, according to Business Insider.
Sussmann's accusations include the state's assertions that Sussmann told James Baker, former FBI general counsel, he was not acting on behalf of any specific client when he showed him FBI data indicating abnormal internet activity that could potentially connect the Trump Organization to Alfa Bank, a Kremlin-linked financial institution, according to Business Insider. However, the prosecution argues Sussmann was actually acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign, concealing his relationship with the campaign to bolster the credibility of his tip.
The trial will continue for the next few weeks.
