WASHINGTON—A Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer lied to two CIA officers in 2017 when presenting data he claimed showed that President Donald Trump was linked to a Russian bank, a former CIA officer testified in federal court on May 20.
The officer, who was referred to as Kevin P., told the court that he and another officer, Steve M., met with Michael Sussmann, the lawyer, on Feb. 9, 2017, at the headquarters of the spy agency in Langley, Virginia.
Sussmann said he was not representing any “particular clients” and referred to the sources of his information as “contacts,” Kevin P. testified.
That’s the same lie Sussmann is on trial for allegedly telling James Baker, an FBI lawyer to whom he passed some of the data in September 2016.
Sussmann told the CIA officers that he was a member of a law firm and other lawyers at the firm represented Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, but made it clear that he did not have any connection with that, according to the ex-officer.
Sussmann said he wanted his contacts to “remain anonymous because of potential threats to them from the Russians.”
Kevin P. took the information and passed it on to CIA technical experts. The information pertained to alleged links between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank, with Sussmann and others with the Clinton campaign suggesting the links were nefarious.
The FBI concluded the information did not support that suggestion.
For the first time, in April, it was revealed that the CIA determined the information was not “technically plausible,” did not “withstand technical scrutiny,” “contained gaps,” “conflicted with [itself],” and was “user created and not machine/tool generated,” according to special counsel John Durham’s office, which is prosecuting Sussmann.
Kevin P.’s testimony, and that of retired CIA officer Mark Chadason, were the first time anybody from the CIA addressed the matter in public.
By John Haughey and Zachary Stieber
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