Marc Elias, a prominent Democratic lawyer, testified Wednesday in the falsified trial of lawyer Michael Sussmann.
He detailed how he with his then Sussmann worked on behalf of the Clinton campaign to disseminate shaky evidence of allegedly unlawful interactions between the Trump organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank.
The prosecution claims that Sussmann lied when he presented proof of the Trump-Alfa relationship to FBI general counsel James Baker under the guise of a concerned citizen acting on behalf of no client. Elias was the Clinton campaign’s general lawyer and the Democratic National Committee’s outside general counsel (DNC).
Marc Elias And Michael Sussmann Were Colleagues
In 2016, he was a consultant at Perkins Coie. Under questioning from the prosecution, Marc Elias admitted that providing opposition information to the FBI may hypothetically be useful in generating media attention. Prosecutors are seeking to establish that Sussmann was furthering the Clinton campaign’s interests when he came out with the material, which is a significant element in the trial. When asked if he knew of any cases when an FBI investigation sparked articles or made reporters more eager to publish them, Elias said yes.
Under questioning from defense attorney Sean Berkowitz, Elias said that he did not feel Sussmann‘s going to the FBI with the Trump-Alfa Bank claims would have been “helpful to the campaign.” Elias highlighted the FBI’s inability to prevent the disclosure of DNC emails earlier that year, James Comey’s apparent enmity toward Hillary Clinton, and the fear that it may delay the story’s publication to back up his claim.
Sussmann may have notified Marc Elias about his intention to go to the FBI with the charges before the meeting with Baker, or he may have learned about it afterward. Elias, on the other hand, feels it was the latter. He further stated that Sussmann, or another member, was not necessary to manage communications with the agency.
