enwatnu schreef op 14 februari 2022 23:12:
FIRST ON FOX: Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation has "accelerated," and more people are "cooperating" and coming before the federal grand jury than has previously been reported, a source familiar with the probe told Fox News.
The source told Fox News Monday that Durham has run his investigation "very professionally," and, unlike Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, his activities, and witness information and cooperation status are rarely, if ever, leaked.
"Durham does this right and keeps it a secret," the source said, adding that there has been "much more activity" in Durham’s investigation "than has been visible to the public."
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The closest look Durham has given with regard to grand jury witnesses came in a federal court filing last month, outlining materials that had been provided by the special counsel’s office to defense attorneys for former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann.
Sussmann has been charged making a false statement to a federal agent. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty.
Durham’s Jan. 25 filing tells the court that the special counsel’s office provided materials, including "transcripts of sworn grand jury testimony by the following witnesses" to Sussmann’s team.
Durham does not explicitly include the names of individuals who testified before the grand jury in the filing, but rather, their professional titles, or titles assigned to them by the special counsel’s office.
Durham lists a number of individuals, including "the above-referenced former FBI General Counsel," which could be a reference to James Baker, who served as FBI general counsel from January 2014 until May 2018. Fox News reported in October that Durham had plans to call Baker to testify in the case against Sussmann.
The indictment against Sussmann, says he told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016, less than two months before the 2016 presidential election, that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting in which he presented "purported data and 'white papers' that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.
Durham's Feb. 11 filing says that the "FBI General Counsel" will "likely be a central witness at trial."
Baker did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Durham also provided grand jury testimony from "the above-referenced former FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence." It is unclear to which official Durham is referring, but the title could be a reference to Bill Priestap, who served as the FBI’s assistant director for counterintelligence from 2015 to 2018.
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Priestap did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Durham also lists "a former FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence." It is unclear to whom Durham is referring.
Peter Strzok served as a deputy assistant director for counterintelligence. Three sources familiar with the FBI’s structure told Fox News there could be as many as three individuals serving in the deputy assistant director of counterintelligence role at a time.
Strzok, who was part of the original FBI investigation into whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, and later in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, was fired from the FBI in 2018 after months of scrutiny regarding anti-Trump text messages exchanged with former FBI General Counsel Lisa Page. Their anti-Trump text messages were uncovered by the Justice Department inspector general.
Fox News was unable to reach Strzok for comment.
Durham, in the filing, also lists testimony from "the attorney previously employed by Law Firm-1 who is referred to in the Indictment as ‘Campaign Lawyer-1.’" It is unclear to whom Durham is referring.
However, in a separate Durham filing on Feb. 11, the special counsel states that "Campaign Lawyer-1" was "serving as General Counsel to the Clinton Campaign." Three sources told Fox News that individual is Marc Elias, who served as general counsel to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and worked at the law firm Perkins Coie.
Elias’ law firm, Perkins Coie, is the firm that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign funded the anti-Trump dossier through. The unverified dossier was authored by ex-British Intelligence agent Christopher Steele and commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS.
A spokesperson for Elias did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Durham, in the filing, also lists "an FBI Special Agent who served as case agent for the FBI’s Russian Bank-1 investigation" and "an FBI Headquarters Supervisory Special Agent assigned to the Russian Bank-1 investigation." Durham also adds "two current employees of Agency-2;" "two current or former employees of University 1;" and "a former employee of Internet Company-3."
A spokesperson for Special Counsel John Durham told Fox News that special counsel's office "will decline to comment beyond the court filings."
But a source familiar with federal investigations told Fox News that federal prosecutors cannot indict an individual and then use a grand jury to investigate matters in an existing indictment.
The source, though, said a prosecutor can indict an individual for a specific crime, and continue to use the grand jury to explore other crimes related to that individual, and beyond.
"They are looking at more than Sussmann," the source said.
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In Durham’s Jan. 25, 2022 filing, he states:
"The Government also maintains an active, ongoing criminal investigation of the defendant’s [Sussmann’s] conduct and other matters," Durham wrote.
Meanwhile, Fox News first reported on Durham's Feb. 11 filing, which alleged that lawyers from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016 had paid to infiltrate servers belonging to Trump Tower and later the White House, in order to establish an "inference" and "narrative" to bring to federal government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia.
In a section titled "Factual Background," Durham revealed that Sussmann "had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign."