(RoyalPatriot.com )- Jury selection for Democratic cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann’s high-profile criminal prosecution began Monday, with special counsel John Durham, who filed the case in his long-running investigation’s first trial, making a rare public appearance.
According to news reports, Sussman presented debunked allegations suggesting a secret backchannel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa-Bank during a September 2016 meeting with FBI general counsel James Baker. Sussmann was later charged with concealing his clients, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and former Neustar executive Rodney Joffe from general counsel Baker.
Durham sat at the prosecution table, close to the gallery, which was half-filled with reporters and other audience members who had come to the federal courtroom in Washington, D.C.
The court, the prosecution, and the defense questioned scores of possible jurors before a full jury was selected Monday evening. The jury is made up of 12 regular jurors and four alternates. Eleven women and five males make up the whole jury panel.
Many members of the jury pool, and those chosen for the jury, indicated a strong dislike for former President Donald Trump and supported Hillary Clinton. The majority stated they were unaware of the Sussmann case until the judge informed them last week, according to reports.
One juror said she very much disliked Donald Trump and didn’t think she could be impartial if the case were about someone on his team. Another said he had donated money to the Democratic side during the 2016 primaries but believed he could be fair. According to a media report, another juror, an attorney, said she had heard of Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented the Clinton campaign in 2016, but didn’t remember any details.
Judge Christopher Cooper reminded the jury that they were not there to relitigate the 2016 election. He added that the case has political connotations, but Donald Trump is not on trial, and Hillary Clinton is not being investigated.
Investigative reports show the Alfa-Bank accusations made by the Clinton campaign in the last days of the 2016 election were placed into doubt or rejected by Mueller, the FBI, the CIA, and a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe.
Special counsel John Durham believes that members of the Clinton campaign, Fusion, and Perkins worked together to advance the collusion allegations.
Washington D.C. is Democratic, as are many of the jury pools. Reports show In the 2016 presidential election, Clinton earned 90.9 percent of the vote to Trump’s 4.1 percent. President Joe Biden garnered 92.1 percent of the vote in 2020, while Trump received 5.4 percent.
Can Durham pop the DC bubble?
