Special counsel John Durham is now stating in a new court filing that “members of the media” could have “misinterpreted” claims he made in a filing before that, which could have lead to the spark of theories swirling about Hillary Clinton’s campaign being accused of spying on Donald Trump by trying to infiltrate servers.
As of now, there is only allegations that Hillary Clinton’s campaign tried to infiltrate servers tied to Donald Trump, but of course – the investigation needs to be done and theories proven before they’re stated as true.
The acknowledgment in Thursday’s filing came as former President Donald Trump and the right-wing media falsely claim that an earlier filing from Durham definitively proves that the Hillary Clinton campaign “illegally spied” on Trump in 2016 and 2017.
That filing related to a conflict-of-interest matter in Durham’s ongoing case against the former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who was charged last year with lying to the FBI. It did not allege that anyone associated with the Clinton campaign illegally spied on Trump or his White House. (Insider)
Several media outlets used that information to deem the investigation as proof that Hillary Clinton’s campaign spied on Donald Trump in hopes to link him to Russia, however it was not meant to be used in that way. It was merely an accusation that still likely requires further investigation to be deemed a fact.
Sussmann’s attorneys referred to some articles that pointed at Durham and accused him of using misleading information in his filing that was “plainly intended to politicize this case, inflame media coverage and taint the jury pool” when it comes to how people view Hillary, her campaign, and anyone else allegedly involved.
Durham responded by saying it’s not his fault if anyone misinterpreted the details he filed.
“[D]efense counsel has presumed the Government’s bad faith and asserts that the Special Counsel’s Office intentionally sought to politicize this case, inflame media coverage, and taint the jury pool,” Thursday’s filing said. “That is simply not true.”
“If third parties or members of the media have overstated, understated, or otherwise misinterpreted facts contained in the Government’s Motion, that does not in any way undermine the valid reasons for the Government’s inclusion of this information,” it continued.
Sussmann got charged with lying to the FBI and is in the middle of his own problems when it comes to this situation.