Durham convinces judge to review concealed documents in Clinton privilege battle
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
| May 04, 2022 03:12 PM
The judge in the case of Democratic cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann has agreed to review dozens of records currently withheld because of assertions of attorney-client privilege by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to see if they have been improperly concealed.
The agreement is a win for special counsel John Durham in his case against Sussmann, who has been indicted on charges of concealing his clients, the Clinton campaign and tech executive Rodney Joffe, from FBI general counsel James Baker when he pushed eventually debunked claims of a secret backchannel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank.
Judge Christopher Cooper said Wednesday he would grant the government’s motion, arguing he did not believe it was breaking attorney-client privilege for him to review the records in dispute in an “in camera” setting, away from the public and the press.
British ex-spy Christopher Steele created a dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump after being hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was itself hired by the Perkins Coie law firm and Marc Elias, the general counsel for Clinton’s campaign.
The judge repeatedly pointed to the difference between hiring a firm to do “fact-checking” versus hiring it to do “opposition research.”
Hillary for America, the DNC, and Perkins argue claims of attorney-client privilege should keep the records concealed and claim Fusion simply provided them legal services.
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