Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann's Coordinated Leaks To Media

Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann’s Coordinated Leaks to Media an…r, Likely Came From Steele, Fusion GPS
| Jim Jordan | spygate | FISA 10/15/18, 01:15
The seal of the F.B.I. hangs in the Flag Room at the bureau's headquaters March 9, 2007 in Washington, DC.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael

Sussmann’s Coordinated Leaks to
Media and FBI’s James Baker, Likely
Came From Steele, Fusion GPS
BY JEFF CARLSON
October 4, 2018 Updated: October 9, 2018
https://www.theepochtimes.com/perkins-coie-lawyer-michael-sussmann…d-fbis-james-baker-likely-came-from-steele-fusion-gps_2679664.html Page 1 of 13
Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann’s Coordinated Leaks to Media an…r, Likely Came From Steele, Fusion GPS | Jim Jordan | spygate | FISA 10/15/18, 01:15
News Analysis
An analysis of documents suggests that Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for Perkins

Coie—which had been retained by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign—was feeding information to FBI General
Counsel James Baker and at least one journalist ahead of the FBI’s application for
a FISA warrant on the Trump campaign.
The information provided by Sussmann could have been used by the FBI as
“corroborating information.” This is particularly troubling given that the main
source of the Russia-collusion allegations, former British spy Christopher Steele,
had been hired by Perkins Coie—the law "rm Sussmann works for.
Michael Sussmann, partner at Perkins Coie, the law firm hired by the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the 2016
elections. (Courtesy Perkins Coie)
Sussmann’s identity was revealed following a Wednesday closed-door testimony

by Baker before congressional investigators in what has been termed an “explosive
testimony.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who was present at the hearing, told Fox News that,
“During the time that the DOJ and FBI were putting together the FISA during the
time prior to the election, there was another source giving information directly to
the FBI, which we found the source to be pretty explosive.”
Both Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told Fox News that the source who
provided information to the FBI in its Russia case was not previously known to
congressional investigators.
Further details were later provided in reporting by John Solomon of The Hill who
disclosed that Baker had met with at least one attorney from Perkins Coie. The
meeting was, according to Solomon, to discuss allegations of Trump-Russia
collusion in advance of the FBI’s Oct. 21, 2016, application for a FISA warrant on
Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
This admission is signi"cant as Perkins Coie was the law "rm that retained Fusion
GPS and former British spy Christopher Steele on behalf of the Clinton Campaign
and the DNC. Of equal importance is the fact that the involvement of Perkins Coie
does not appear to have been disclosed to the FISA Court. The controversial
dossier produced by Steele would later be used by the FBI as the primary evidence
used to obtain the FISA warrant on Page.
It now appears that Perkins Coie was acting as an “outside source” to corroborate
Steele.
Fox News’ Catherine Herridge con"rmed the identity of the Perkins Coie lawyer as
Michael Sussmann, who is a partner at the "rm. Sussmann reportedly provided
Baker with documents and electronic media related to alleged Russian meddling
in the election.
Sussmann was also the lawyer who spearheaded the handling of the alleged hack
of the DNC servers.
Although the DNC has claimed that the actual date of the hack was April 18, 2016,
alleged detection did not occur until April 28, 2016. Immediately following the
alleged discovery, DNC CEO Amy Dacey called Sussmann at Perkins Coie. A#er
speaking with Dacey, Sussmann contacted Shawn Henry, CSO and president of
CrowdStrike.
There are a number of unusual events surrounding the DNC’s version of events
that have been previously detailed, including the fact that the DNC’s "rst call
would be to outside legal counsel.
In the House Intelligence Committee’s "nal Report on Russian Active Measures,

mention is made of a meeting between James Baker and an unknown party in
footnote 43 on page 57. This is a particularly heavily redacted portion but the
following details are available:
“In September 2016 [redacted] shared similar information in a one-

on-one meeting with FBI General Counsel James Baker. HPSCI,
Executive Session of [redacted], Dec. 18, 2017. Around the same time
as his meeting with FBI, [redacted] shared the information with
journalists, [redacted] of Slate, who published an article at the end of
October. HPSCI, Executive Session of [redacted] Dec. 18, 2017;
[redacted] “Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?,”
Slate, Oct. 31, 2016. Candidate Clinton promoted the [redacted]
article to her social media followers the same day it was published.”
The date of Dec. 18, 2017, provided by the House Report is signi"cant. It
corresponds directly to a set of interview dates related to the Russia investigation.
The dates were revealed following a House Intelligence Committee vote on Sept. 28
to release a number of transcripts taken from interviews during its investigation
of 2016 election interference by Russia.
of 2016 election interference by Russia.
Dec. 18, 2017, is the date that Michael Sussmann was interviewed by the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Which indicates that Michael
Sussmann was the individual who met with James Baker in September of 2016.
Equally interesting is the article in question, “Was a Trump Server

Communicating With Russia?“, published on Oct. 31, 2016, by Franklin Foer. The
article concerns allegations regarding a server in the Trump Tower and was later
used in the promotion of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Notably, Foer’s
article was published on exactly the same day as a Mother Jones article by David
Corn, headlined “A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian
Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump.”
In the Slate article, Foer writes:
“In late July, one of these scientists…found what looked like malware
emanating from Russia. The destination domain had Trump in its
name.”
Interestingly, the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation into Trump-Russia ties

began on July 31, 2016. More from the article:
began on July 31, 2016. More from the article:
“It dawned on the researchers that this wasn’t an attack, but a

sustained relationship between a server registered to the Trump
Organization and two servers registered to an entity called Alfa
Bank.
The conversation between the Trump and Alfa servers appeared to

follow the contours of political happenings in the United States. “At
election-related moments, the traffic peaked.”
The server and Alfa Bank were investigated by the FBI and were also the subject of
a journalistic investigation by the New York Times’ Eric Lichtblau and Steven Lee
Myers. Nothing was found.
It was later discovered that the server was not operated by the Trump
Organization but was instead “run and managed by Cendyn, a vendor that
organizes email marketing campaigns for hotels and resorts.” The “tra$c” Foer
was reporting on was simply “mass emails, related to loyalty programs, discount
o%ers, and the like.”
Alfa Bank features prominently in one particular Steele Memo, in which it’s
misspelled as Alpha. The Memo is dated September 14, 2016.
Sussmann not only provided Baker, the top legal counsel for the FBI, with
documents and electronic media related to Russian meddling in the election, he
also personally helped establish rumors of Russian involvement with the Trump
Campaign through targeted leaks to Foer. And Sussmann did so in a manner that
allowed Foer’s article to perfectly coordinate with Corn’s article, which states:
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker. Baker testified in a closed-door hearing before Congressional investigators
on Oct. 3, 2018.
“A former senior intelligence officer for a Western country who

specialized in Russian counterintelligence tells Mother Jones that in
recent months he provided the bureau with memos, based on his
recent interactions with Russian sources, contending the Russian
government has for years tried to co-opt and assist Trump—and that
the FBI requested more information from him.”
Corn’s article was written via direct leaks from Steele. It’s possible that Sussmann
may have had additional coordination with Baker. A Dec. 22, 2017, article by
Politico, revealed that Baker communicated with Corn “in the weeks leading up to
the November 2016 election.”
Corn notes in his article that “a senior US government o$cial not involved in this
case but familiar with the former spy tells Mother Jones that he has been a credible
source with a proven record of providing reliable, sensitive, and important
information to the US government.”
Things get more interesting still. An earlier Sept. 23, 2016, Politico Magazine
article, “Who Is Carter Page? The Mystery of Trump’s Man in Moscow” by Julia
Io%e, made direct note of Alfa Bank. Her article also referenced what is almost
certainly Fusion GPS:
“As I started looking into Page, I began getting calls from two
separate “corporate investigators” digging into what they claim are
all kinds of shady connections Page has to all kinds of shady
Russians. One is working on behalf of various unnamed Democratic
donors; the other won’t say who turned him on to Page’s scent. Both
claimed to me that the FBI was investigating Page for allegedly
meeting with Igor Sechin and Sergei Ivanov.
In the interest of due diligence, I also tried to run down the rumors
being handed me by the corporate investigators: that Russia’s Alfa
Bank paid for the trip as a favor to the Kremlin; that Page met with
Sechin and Ivanov in Moscow; that he is now being investigated by
the FBI for those meetings because Sechin and Ivanov were both
sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The Steele Memo detailing Alfa Bank was written on Sept. 14, 2016. The Politico
article came out on Sept. 23, 2016. Io%e makes reference to two corporate
investigators. One clearly appears to be Fusion “working on behalf of various
unnamed Democratic donors.” But who is the second individual “who won’t say
who turned him on to Page’s scent.”
Either way, the implications are startling. Sussmann was getting information
directly from Steele and Fusion GPS which he then leaked independently to at
least one journalist but possibly more, thereby providing additional corroboration
for the Steele Memos—even though the source was the same.
Sussmann is a nationally recognized privacy, cybersecurity, and national security

lawyer. He was named by Washingtonian Magazine as a “Top Lawyer” for
cybersecurity. His expertise in cybersecurity was the primary reason Sussmann
represented the DNC and Clinton campaign in their responses to Russia’s alleged
https://www.theepochtimes.com/perkins-coie-lawyer-michael-sussmann…-fbis-james-baker-likely-came-from-steele-fusion-gps_2679664.html Page 10 of 13
represented the DNC and Clinton campaign in their responses to Russia’s alleged
hacking of the server.
A Perkins Coie spokesperson told Fox News in a statement the following:
“Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Michael Sussmann served as a

cybercrime prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the Department of
Justice during both Republican and Democratic administrations. As
a result, Sussmann is regularly retained by clients with complex
cybersecurity matters.
“When Sussmann met with Mr. Baker on behalf of a client, it was not
connected to the firm’s representation of the Hillary Clinton
Campaign, the DNC or any Political Law Group client.”
Questions remain as to what information exactly Sussmann provided to Foer. Did

Sussmann provide speci"c information regarding the Trump server detailed in the
Slate article? If so, how did this information come into his possession? Those
details were not present in the Steele Memo. Sussmann’s role also raises further
questions regarding CrowdStrike’s involvement in events surrounding the DNC
server.
server.
The Slate article managed to attract the immediate attention of Hillary Clinton
who posted a tweet on the same day the article was published:
“Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server

linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank.”
Attached to her tweet was a statement from her senior policy advisor, Jake
Sullivan:
“This could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and
Moscow. 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. It certainly seems the Trump Organization felt
it had something to hide, given that it apparently took steps to
conceal the link when it was discovered by journalists.”
These statements, which were later proven to be incorrect, are all the more
disturbing with the hindsight knowledge that it was a senior Clinton/DNC lawyer
who helped plant the story in the "rst place.
Je% Carlson is a CFA® Charterholder. He worked for 20 years as an analyst and

portfolio manager in the high-yield bond market. He runs the website
TheMarketsWork.com
UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a statement by Perkins Coie as
provided to Fox News
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not
necessarily re&ect the views of The Epoch Times.

Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann's Coordinated Leaks To Media

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann's Coordinated Leaks To Media

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael Sussmann’s Coordinated Leaks to Media an…r, Likely Came From Steele, Fusion GPS

| Jim Jordan | spygate | FISA 10/15/18, 01:15

Perkins Coie Lawyer Michael

An analysis of documents suggests that Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for Perkins

Sussmann’s identity was revealed following a Wednesday closed-door testimony

In the House Intelligence Committee’s "nal Report on Russian Active Measures,

“In September 2016 [redacted] shared similar information in a one-

of 2016 election interference by Russia.

Equally interesting is the article in question, “Was a Trump Server

In the Slate article, Foer writes:

Interestingly, the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation into Trump-Russia ties

began on July 31, 2016. More from the article:

“It dawned on the researchers that this wasn’t an attack, but a

The conversation between the Trump and Alfa servers appeared to

“A former senior intelligence officer for a Western country who

Sussmann is a nationally recognized privacy, cybersecurity, and national security

A Perkins Coie spokesperson told Fox News in a statement the following:

“Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Michael Sussmann served as a

Questions remain as to what information exactly Sussmann provided to Foer. Did

“Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server

“This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of

Je% Carlson is a CFA® Charterholder. He worked for 20 years as an analyst and

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi