Durham's Probe: Hillary Clinton Sowed Dragon's Teeth by Peddling Trump-Russia Hoax, Analyst Says

The indictment of Michael Sussmann, 57, a former federal prosecutor and partner at the Perkins Coie law firm, for making a false statement to the FBI, has again put a spotlight on Special Counsel John Durham's probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation as well as Hillary Clinton's role in it.

Special Counsel John Durham issued a new set of subpoenas on 30 September, including to Perkins Coie, a law firm with close ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. The move followed the indictment of the firm's former partner Michael Sussmann for making a false statement to the FBI and could be an indication that Durham may be trying to build a broader criminal case, according to CNN.

The allegedly false statement made by Sussmann relates to his meeting with FBI General Counsel James Baker on 19 September 2016 when the Perkins Coie lawyer shared his suspicions about supposed "secret communications" between the Trump Organization and Russia's Alfa Bank. During the meeting, Sussmann provided the FBI with three "white papers" and data files allegedly confirming the existence of the aforementioned "back channel". However, the lawyer stated falsely that he was not doing this work on behalf of any client, making Baker believe that Sussmann was acting as a "good citizen", the indictment says. In reality, the lawyer acted on behalf of specific clients, including a US technology industry executive and the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign, the document emphasises.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump makes a boxing gesture while greeting the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally in New Orleans, Friday, March 4, 2016

© AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

The Trump-Alfa Bank Story

However, it is not only Sussmann's alleged lie which is discussed in the indictment, but the entire research of supposed "secret communications" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which was eventually debunked by the FBI as not holding water.

The document has drawn attention to the fact that technical specialists and researchers who sought the traces of Trump-Russia "collusion" expressed doubts in their internal email exchange that their findings could back this story.

One of the researchers wrote: "Let[']s for a moment think of the best case scenario, where we are able to show (somehow) that DNS communication exists between Trump and R[ussia]. How do we plan to defend against the criticism that this is not spoofed traffic we are observing. There is no answer to that."

The individual also admitted the group's bias against Donald Trump: "The only thing that drive[s] us at this point is that we just do not like [Trump]. This will not fly in the eyes of public scrutiny. Folks, I am afraid we have tunnel vision."

Despite having doubts the researchers continued to mine data on Trump being directed to do this by their technical executive, who, according to the indictment, later claimed to have been offered a position in the Hillary Clinton government in the event of her victory.

One of the researchers even suggested that to link the Trump Organization to Alfa Bank one could "'fill out a sales form on two websites, faking the other company’s email address in each form,' and thereby cause them 'to appear to communicate with each other in DNS'."

Look closer at Durham's indictment of Michael Sussmann -

There lurks potential charges against the Alfa Bank research group for using classified gov't data for their own political operation.

— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 17, 2021

An American lawyer known by his nom de plume Techno Fog presumed in his/her op-ed that the group of technical specialists and researchers in question did nothing short of fabricating a Trump-Alfa Bank story to smear the then-Republican presidential nominee. "That describes a conspiracy," the lawyer believes.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton walk to their seats after arriving for the second presidential debate at Washington University, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis

© AP Photo / Evan Vucci

Hillary Clinton and Trump-Russia "Collusion"

The Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign played a substantial part in the Trump-Russia "collusion" story, according to US independent journalist Glenn Greenwald.

The indictment reveals that Sussmann billed the time spent on the Trump-Russia research to the Clinton campaign. Moreover, Sussmann shared his findings with ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele, the author of the "dirty dossier," who was also funded by the Clinton campaign through Perkins Coie.

Not only did the Clinton campaign fund the anti-Trump research, but also promoted uncorroborated and fabricated Trump-Russia stories via US media, the journalist noted in his September op-ed.

The indictment reveals that even before the FBI opened an investigation in response to Sussmann's September 2016 request, the Perkins Coie lawyer and individuals acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign started providing details of their Alfa Bank research – that originated from July 2016 – to the press.

Although Sussmann's Trump-Russia story reeked of forgery, Slate, a liberal progressive online magazine, readily took it at face value, according to Greenwald. On 31 October 2016 – nearly a week before the presidential elections – the magazine published a story eloquently titled "Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?"

Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank. pic.twitter.com/8f8n9xMzUU

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 1, 2016

On the same day, Hillary Clinton and her chief foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan issued statements insisting that Trump colluded with Russia.

"Look at the blatant scam that happened here," Greenwald wrote. "Both Hillary and Jake Sullivan were pretending that they had just learned about this shocking story from Slate when, in fact, it was Hillary's own lawyers and researchers who had spent weeks pushing the story to both the FBI and friendly journalists."

The journalist noted that Slate was the first to link Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin and insinuate that Trump's candidacy was a "Kremlin plot" in July 2016. Greenwald underscored that less than a month after that the Clinton campaign released a political ad which speculated about Trump's alleged links to Moscow under the headline "What is Donald Trump's connection to Vladimir Putin?"

Former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Clinton, left, talking during the funeral service for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, in Detroit

© AP Photo / Paul Sancya

What Were Hillary Clinton's Motives?

Intent is an element of just about every "crime" and Hillary Clinton definitely had a motive to fabricate and peddle Trump-Russia collusion stories, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel.

First of all, one should bear in mind that Steele's "dirty" dossier and the Trump-Alfa Bank story were compiled at the time when Hillary Clinton's was in damage control mode over her emailgate scandal and WikiLeaks' massive dumps of messages from her email server as well as those from DNC and John Podesta.

She took this challenge seriously, according to the Wall Street analyst. On 26 July 2016, Hillary Clinton allegedly approved "a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service" as a distraction from the controversy surrounding her private email server, according to then-CIA chief John Brennan's memo. The memo was written after Brennan briefed President Barack Obama in late July 2016 on the intelligence the CIA received.

Former FBI Director James Comey arrives to testify during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington,DC

© AFP 2023 / Brendan Smialowski

Meanwhile, the publication of Slate's Trump-Alfa Bank "bombshell" came just three days after Comey gave shivers to Team Clinton by announcing the resumption of the Hillary Clinton email investigation on 28 October 2016 based on newly-obtained evidence.

One of the Clintons' tactics is "gaslighting", i.e. accusing an opponent of behavior that they themselves have employed for many years, Charles Ortel points out.

"According to former FBI Director Louis Freeh, in November 1997, he personally recommended opening a special investigation of the Clintons for reasons including suspicion that they and allies were taking funds from foreign governments; against America's interests. (See Freeh, My FBI, starting p. 255)," the Wall Street analyst says. "Attacking Trump's supposed Russian ties grabbed and still grabs headlines."

In addition to that, attacks against Trump were also aimed at distracting the public from "demonstrably provable charity frauds, still ongoing, involving Clinton 'charities'," Ortel says referring to the string of controversies surrounding the Clinton Foundation.

However, the problem is even bigger than that, according to the Wall Street analyst.

"To attempt the due administration of justice, Durham and his team must use their considerable power to understand why the Obama and Bush teams are so determined to hobble and then stop Donald Trump - the story goes way back to George H.W. Bush's project of forging a 'New World Order', in which proponents of unregulated globalism might thrive, while nationalists might be left behind, tending to much smaller projects and matters," he says.

President Barack Obama, center, speaks about Haiti as former presidents Bill Clinton, left, and George W. Bush, right, listen in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010.

© AP Photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Ortel presumes that "the rush to embrace globalism made strange bedfellows in America." He draws attention to the fact that "Bill Clinton did not punish those who defied laws in the Iran/Contra scandal," while George W. Bush and Barack Obama "did not punish obvious and gigantic Clinton Foundation frauds as these continued and expanded from 2001 onwards".

Given this, wealthy, nationalist Donald J. Trump was an existential threat to the previous three presidents before him since he could expose the scam, according to the analyst.

"Why would government resources be harnessed for so long to persecute Trump and his supporters?" asks Charles Ortel. "Because the truth concerning supposed progress and epic corruption of unregulated globalist exploits will ruin many people who believe they can always operate above national laws. Durham must understand why lawyers and others would break so many laws for so long. The question is will he dare to become truly consequential, expose much of the rot and pave way for long overdue reforms? Or will he succumb to immense pressures and merely punish a few, low level offenders?"