(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Special counsel John Durham had two major wins in preparation for the upcoming criminal trial of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, Just the News reported.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered a key witness to testify and agreed to review memos that were submitted as evidence that the defense was attempting to cover up.
However, Cooper noted that he does not believe the memos between the Clinton campaign, Sussmann’s law firm and Fusion GPS should not be central to the case itself.
At one point, Fusion contacted a reporter as evidence of “assisting a media strategy” rather than legal advice.
Cooper also granted Fusion GPS computer researcher Laura Seago limited immunity in exchange for her testimony.
Seago’s lawyer told prosecutors she planned to “invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination absent a court order of immunity compelling her to testify at trial,” according to the unsealed records.
Cooper formally ordered Seago to “give testimony or provide other information which she refuses to give or to provide on the basis of her privilege against self-incrimination as to all matters about which she might be interrogated at trial and any proceedings ancillary thereto.”
The judge also said “no testimony… may be used against Laura Seago in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury, giving a false statement, or otherwise failing to comply with this Order.”
These recent rulings by Cooper are another win for Durham as he attempts to prosecute Sussmann on a charge of lying to the FBI in an attempting to implicate former President Donald Trump in 2016 as part of the now debunked Russia collusion hoax.
Cooper had previously rejected Sussmann’s request to dismiss the charges by Durham, ruling that the question of Sussmann’s alleged lie was “a question that generally must be answered by a jury.”
