Attorney Michael Sussmann Charged With Lying To FBI During Russia Probe

Cybersecurity attorney Michael Sussmann, who represented the Democratic National Committee regarding the 2016 Russia hack, was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of lying to the FBI when he allegedly said that he wasn’t working for a client when providing information to the agency. The charges were brought by Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed by Trump Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins of the Russia probe.

“Specifically, SUSSMANN state falsely that he was not doing his work on the aforementioned allegations “for any client,” which led the FBI General Counsel (James A. Baker) to understand that SUSSMANN was acting as a good citizen merely passing along information, not as a paid advocate or political operative,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment Thursday.

Prior to the indictment issued by a federal grand jury, Sussmann’s attorneys claimed that the Democratic attorney “has committed no crime” and that an indictment is a “baseless, unprecedented and an unwarranted deviation” that they are confident that he will “vindicate his good name.”

“Mr. Sussmann has committed no crime,” Sussman’s attorneys said in a statement ahead of the indictment. “Any prosecution here would be baseless, unprecedented, and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work. We are confident that if Mr. Sussmann is charged, he will prevail at trial and vindicate his good name.”