Last month Washington was rocked by the indictment of Michael Sussman, former counsel for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, for his alleged role in spreading a false Russia conspiracy theory. Special counsel John Durham — who is variously described as either painfully methodical or positively glacial as a prosecutor — reportedly was prompted to indict Sussman by an expiring statute of limitations.
Absent such a deadline involving Sussman, it seems unlikely that Durham would have disclosed as much as he did in the indictment. The reason is that he is likely focusing on other possible targets and witnesses. That could include the most notable figure exposed in the Sussman indictment: Jake Sullivan.
In that event, Sullivan potentially could be in the unenviable position of having to argue that he was not perjurious, just clueless, in denying knowledge of key facts to Congress. The “ignorance is bliss” defense is a favorite fallback in Washington scandals but it is less common when that person is the current national security adviser to the President of the United States.
While an indictment of Sullivan is viewed as unlikely, he popped up unexpectedly in the indictment and the National Security Advisor may not be done with the Special Counsel. If Durham is focusing on who knew or approved of the Alfa Bank conspiracy claim in the Clinton campaign, one of the highest figures referenced in the indictment (and just below Hillary Clinton) is Sullivan.
With Sussman, Durham indicted someone who he believes intentionally hid the role of the Clinton campaign in creating and pushing Alfa Bank scandal. In testimony to Congress, Sullivan also insisted that he did not know the Alfa Bank scandal was the work of a Clinton lawyer and people associated with the campaign. It is not clear if Durham has evidence to contradict his claim of total ignorance on the work performed by campaign counsel and campaign researchers.
Lying to Congress is neither easy nor common for prosecution, though Special Counsel Robert Mueller prosecuted figures like Roger Stone on that basis. Michael Cohen was also indicted for lying to Congress about the involvement of Donald Trump in negotiations over a Moscow real estate deal. Sullivan will have to argue that, despite being one of the top campaign advisers, he was unaware of the campaign’s prior work on developing the allegation.
The Sussman indictment refers to a wide array of characters responsible for creating the alleged conspiracy theory about a secret communications link between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin through Russia’s Alfa Bank. The unsupported claim was allegedly orchestrated in part by Sussman, who was then a partner at the law firm Perkins Coie; another partner at the time, Marc Elias, was the general counsel for the Clinton campaign and played a significant role in pushing the infamous Steele dossier.
The indictment revealed that the Alfa Bank theory was never viewed as particularly credible by the researchers tasked with creating it. Those researchers warned that it would be easy to “poke several holes” in the claim and see the data as “a red herring.” Yet, as with the Steele dossier, the Clinton operatives were counting on an enabling media to ask few questions before the election. The researchers were told they should not look for proof but just enough to “give the base of a very useful narrative.”
We now know the identities of many of the figures described in the 27-page indictment. The researchers appeared in part to be operating out of Georgia Tech, including one who, according to the indictment, warned “Tech Executive-1” in mid-2016 that “we cannot technically make any claims that would fly public scrutiny. The only thing that drives us at this point is that we just do not like [Trump].”
According to media reports, the mysterious “Tech Executive-1” mentioned in the indictment appears to be Rodney L. Joffe, who was the chief cybersecurity officer at Washington tech contractor Neustar Inc. Joffe, 66, also was a longtime client of Sussman’s and reportedly boasted that he was offered a high-ranking position in the Clinton administration, if she won the election.
In his emails, Joffe pushed for any documentation that could be used as a foundation for the campaign: “Being able to provide evidence of anything that shows an attempt to behave badly in relation to this, the VIPs would be happy.”
That brings us to Sullivan.
As soon as the conspiracy theory was packaged and delivered to the FBI and the media by Sussman, the indictment recounts an exchange between some of those “VIPs”: “… on or about September 15, 2016, Campaign Lawyer-1 exchanged emails with the Clinton Campaign’s campaign manager, communications director, and foreign policy advisor concerning the Russian Bank-1 allegations that SUSSMANN had recently shared with Reporter-1.” The campaign lawyer reportedly was Elias, and the “foreign policy advisor” reportedly was Sullivan.
Sullivan was quoted in an official campaign press statement as stating that the Alfa Bank allegation “could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow.” In the statement, Sullivan said: “Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank. This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trump’s ties to Russia … This line of communication may help explain Trump’s bizarre adoration of Vladimir Putin.”
The U.S. intelligence community ultimately rejected the Alfa Bank conspiracy. It also concluded that the Steele dossier not only relied on a suspected Russian agent but likely was used by Russian intelligence to spread disinformation through the Clinton campaign.
Yet, when Sullivan was later questioned by Congress, he went full Sergeant Schultz, claiming he basically did not have a clue about the basis or origins of the Alfa Bank controversy or other campaign-orchestrated scandals. Sullivan was adept at laying qualifiers upon qualifiers to render statements useless: “broadly speaking, at some point in the summer, and I don’t remember exactly when it was, around the convention, I learned that there was an effort to do some research into the ties between Trump and Russia.” That will make any false statement claim difficult absent direct involvement in the planning of these “campaign efforts.”
Sullivan denied knowing that Elias or Sussman were working for the Clinton campaign, despite numerous news articles identifying Elias as the campaign’s general counsel. Sullivan just shrugged and said: “To be honest with you, Marc wears a tremendous number of hats, so I wasn’t sure who he was representing. I sort of thought he was, you know, just talking to us as, you know, a fellow traveler in this — in this campaign effort.”
That seems odd, given Sullivan’s long, close involvement with Clinton and her campaigns. He advised her during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and later became her deputy chief of staff and policy planning director at the State Department. He was one of the notable names in Clinton’s email scandal and the recipient of her controversial order to strip the classification headings on a key email. He later rejoined Clinton again during the 2016 campaign as one of her senior-most advisers.
Yet, the lack of disclosure over those behind the “campaign effort” seems suspiciously consistent. Sussman was indicted for allegedly hiding his representation of Clinton in pushing the Alfa Bank conspiracy. Elias was accused of doing the same with reporters on the Steele Dossier. He also reportedly sat next to campaign chair John Podesta when he denied such connections to Congress. Now Sullivan denies any knowledge of the campaign’s early role in these scandals.
It is notable that, when Sullivan was the Clinton campaign’s foreign policy adviser, President Obama was given a national security briefing of Clinton’s alleged plan to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.” That briefing was on July 28, 2016 — three days before the Russia investigation was initiated.
This brings us back to Durham’s calendar. Sullivan reportedly gave his series of denials to Congress in December 2017. The statute of limitations for lying to Congress is five years, which means that Sullivan still would be within range for Durham if the special counsel does not buy Sullivan’s denials. He could also find himself unindicted but entirely exposed in a report that is likely to be blistering.
If so, Sullivan could find himself a “fellow traveler” with Sussman — not “in this campaign effort” but in Durham’s still-unfolding prosecution effort instead.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
Look at the photo of Jake Sullivan. He looks like a doofus cartoon character. No one in America should feel safe or believe that the country is in good hands with a lightweight, corrupt, Clinton groupie at the helm of our National Security. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
> Washington was rocked by the indictment of Michael Sussman
That is a laughable mischaracterisation. There was a collective shoulder shrug with predictions of the indictment being tossed out. But, of course, the Trump fascists howled with disappointment that there weren’t QAnon-style mass arrests..
Jake Breaker
Thank you Jonathan Turley for your fair minded analysis, summarizing Durham’s evidence based probe of how security officials and official government offices were used to make false accusations about an elected president, for political purposes, to thwart what people elected him to do. There seems to be a government that people elect, and due to unelected officials, with “covid mandates” about election processes, or vaccine mandates, threats to employees to lose their jobs for not complying with a vaccine mandate which is unlike the smallpox mandate of a century ago where there was a 30% deathrate for smallpox, and our current “pandemic” has less of serious affect for young people and children than the common flu, we see ourselves more and more governed by unelected officials who utilize government institutions to enhance their power and control over people’s lives.
It is amazing how much mileage Trump has been able to convince a willing right wing media and Turley to “investigate the investigators” for anything involving Trump. It is enough to often scare people into not whistleblowing on him, and why he has gotten away for years paying $750 per year in taxes on purportedly billions in income, sexually assaulting dozens of women, and basically building an empire out of money laundering for corrupt foreign enterprises.
At every turn when investigators have a chance to do something about him, they lose their nerve, they are threatened by some shady character in a garage, and the charges just go away. Tony Soprano should be so lucky to have friends like Turley working for him.
Garland is a fascist, he won’t let anyone touch these fraud peddlers.
Cady says:
“Garland is a fascist..,”
If that’s what it takes to rein in you lying Trumpists, then that’s what it takes.
Spoken like a true liberal.
How dare you challenge the school committee!
I gotta be me, Bob.
What’s next, the dog catcher.
Professor Turley deftly glosses over Roger Stone being convicted of 8 felonies including repeatedly lying under oath to Congress, obstructing a Congressional hearing & witness tampering. JT neglects to mention the Mueller investigation concluded that the Trump campaign welcomed & expected to benefit electorally from Russia’s broad sweeping interference in the 2016 election. 12 Russian intelligence officials were indicted for hacking & leaking tens of thousands of confidential DNC emailed in an effort to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Trump repeatedly praised Wikileaks during the 2016 election campaign for posting the DNC emails stolen by Russian intelligence officials.
It is notable that Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence, proving how unconcerned conservatives are when a Trump adviser is convicted of repeatedly lying under oath to Congress.
Keep doing your part to keep everyone informed, JT.
LVPA
You seem to have very clear ideas about what Turley should have said.
Why don’t you write your own column, then it will be done right?
Probably because nobody would read your work if you didn’t piggyback off Turley.
Media Madders (sic) Trolls peddle the “russia, Russia, RUSSIA!” BIG LIE because it is their alternate universe. See Matt Taibbi’s excellent pieces:
It’s official: Russiagate is this generation’s WMD: The Iraq war faceplant damaged the reputation of the press. Russiagate just destroyed it
and
Master List Of Official Russia Claims That Proved To Be Bogus
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/master-list-of-official-russia-claims
At least JT mentions Roger Stone. Too many liberal publications wouldn’t even mention the corrupt Hunter Biden prior to the 2020 election. Good try for a liberal hypocrite such as yourself.
Funny how you select one of the few criminals around Trump to vilify. What about the corrupt Hunter Biden whom the media chose to hide from the public in the 2020 election? I could go on and on about the corrupt hypocritical Democrats. Stop your “holier than thou” attitude. Some patriot that you are…lol
Patriot,
You gotta remember that Turley and Barr are as thick as thrives so to speak, and Turley has a natural inclination to marginalize the Mueller Report to back-up Barr’s dismissal of it. Turley has conflicts of interest. He is an attorney for the Republicans. He is an employee of Fox News. He does not want to lose these lucrative gigs. Naturally, he will bolster the Right’s narratives where he can without going full Trumpist, that is, lying. More shamefully, he will keep silent when speaking out publicly would render him persona non grata at Fox and the Republican Party.
He is no dummy. He knows what is in his best financial interest. It would not surprise me were he quietly leave GW law school because his employment at Fox has irreparably damaged his good name among Liberal academics especially if Fox is found guilty of defamation. Who would want to be associated with a news operation found guilty of broadcasting the Big Lie which led to the 1/6 “desecration” as Turley famously characterized it. It’s very embarrassing for an academic to sully his reputation by being on the same team as the hate-monger Mark Levin, White Nationalist Tucker Carlson, the Trump parrot Hannity, and the bigoted Laura Ingraham. Is it any wonder that Turley NEVER praises or dares mention the names of his colleagues?
Turley keeps out of public forums where he might be confronted with his hypocrisy. He attends Congressional hearings where he is largely ignored by the Democrats and given leading softball questions by Republicans designed to bolster Trumpist false narratives. It’s gainful work if you can live with yourself.
It’s funny you attack JT but don’t offer a single rebuttal to him or more importantly, Durham. Any thinking person would acknowledge that while Roger Simon may not be the most honest or likeable character, Dems have some serious explaining to do over their crimes pushing a falsified “Russia collusion” narrative to US intelligence agencies and upon Congress and the American people.
Hu Fan,
I don’t know what you are talking about. Who is Roger Simon?
Name calling. Definitely your best play.
“ JT neglects to mention the Mueller investigation concluded”. “Concluded” and “Proved” are not even in adjacent galaxies! I conclude that things that are proved are facts and concluding something is merely opinion!
Are your referring to USA v Concord? What an embarrassment to Mueller! Case dropped after the Russians showed up in court and Mueller attempted to block discovery. What a tool!
A Government lawyer created his own evidence and lied about a CIA e-mail and still has a law license. I don’t want to hear any nonsense about Stone. That is just ridiculous.
Cadu says:
“A Government lawyer created his own evidence and lied about a CIA e-mail”
Pish tosh. “Process crime,” as you Trumpists say.
Nice deflection from the CONTENT of the DNC emails. And of course, the way you combat Russian influence into a campaign is to exert your own false and misleading influence, and somehow convince the government to do it for you as well.
We can only hope that Durham weeds out some of these deep state leftists and hangs them out to dry. They have been bold and reckless from cankles McFraud all the way up to this senile bozo flush with chicom filthy lucre. All is fair in love and war…it’s there time to squirm for the worm dirt they are.
How. about justhangig them for treason?
Durham will set it up to let FBI criminals off the hook by going with a narrative that “the FBI was duped”….not that it was planned, orchestrated, implemented, and coordinated out of the WH or from all the top brass. No, the FBI was duped, you see.
Make no mistake….this is the Swamp of Washington DC….they all protect each other…Durham’s final indictment tally will be yet another enormous let down for anyone foolish enough to expect to see anyone being disbarred let alone doing prison time or losing their gov pensions……and then it will be business as usual for a swampy corrupt 2024 election cycle where the people actually believe their vote counts.