Michael Sussman will not testify in his own defense in Durham investigation

Former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussman will not testify in his own defense in Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation. 

Sussman is a Democrat lawyer Durham and his team have accused of lying to the FBI by not disclosing he was working for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign at the time he turned over what he believed may be evidence of ties between the Trump Organization and the Kremlin. Sussman has denied the allegations, saying he acted on his own and in the interest of national security.

The defense team said this week Sussman will not testify in his own defense and rested its case on Thursday after two weeks of hearings in the US District Court in Washington, DC. The jury is expected to hear closing arguments on Friday morning.

The decision not to let Sussman appear on the stand avoids the possibility of him being questioned by the prosecution about some pieces of the case that remain questionable, including a text message Sussman sent to then-FBI Director James Baker the night before he turned over the evidence to Baker in his office, saying he was coming to Baker with the evidence on his own, and not in coordination with any campaign or political group.

The text to Baker says Sussman was coming to Baker with the evidence “not on behalf of any client or company,” but as a concerned citizen who wanted to “help the Bureau.” 

Durham’s case has garnered one guilty plea so far from an FBI attorney who admitted to tampering with a surveillance email. The investigation was ordered by former Attorney General Bill Barr. The Durham team entered a court filing last week that accused the Clinton campaign of feeding disparaging information about Donald Trump to the media prior to election day in 2016.