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Technology executive Rodney Joffe asked a federal judge on Tuesday to keep special counsel John Durham out of the way of four emails he shared with a US research firm in the upcoming trial of a Clinton campaign lawyer accused of lying to the FBI.
Joffe, who filed a court filing Tuesday, said his emails were protected by attorney-client privilege because his lawyer, Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann, had been copied over them.
Investigating the origins of the FBI’s Trump-Russia collusion investigation, Mr. Durham alleged that Mr. Joffe, Mr. Sussmann and Ms. Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign formed a “joint venture” to spread damaging and false information about the former President. Donald Trump’s connections with Russia.
Mr. Sussmann is accused of lying to the FBI about his ties to the Clinton campaign while giving evidence to a senior clerical attorney about ties between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank. The allegations were later refuted.
A trial for Mr Sussmann is scheduled to begin on 16 May.
According to a court filing earlier this year, Mr. Joffe hired Mr. Sussmann as his attorney in February 2015 in connection with an unclear matter involving a US government agency.
He then commissioned a researcher to mine internet data to create a narrative that Mr Trump colluded with Russia, the special counsel’s claim.
Prosecutors say Mr Joffe told subordinates Mr Sussmann, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias, and the Clinton campaign itself were “looking for a true story that could be used as a basis for closer scrutiny.”
As a result, Mr. Joffe and Mr. Sussmann prepared a “white paper” claiming that the Trump Organization computer servers were secretly communicating with Russia’s Alpha Bank. Mr. Sussmann delivered this paper to FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016.
Mr. Durham wishes to present the Joffe emails in Mr. Sussmann’s case, which he claims were “for the purposes of cooperation and encouragement” of the Russian bank claims, rather than facilitating legal advice.
He argued that attorney-client privilege was waived because the discussions between him and his attorney, Mr Sussmann, were shared with the investigative firm.
In his motion, Mr. Joffe argues that emails should be protected because the anonymous investigation firm was commissioned by Mr Sussmann to provide legal advice.
Mr. Joffe is not named in the file. Instead, he used the nickname given to him by Mr. Durham, “Tech Executive-1”. Durham was not charged with any crime in the investigation.
“Despite the government’s firm claims, the purpose of the four communications was to enlist the help of the U.S. Bureau of Investigation on cybersecurity and technical matters to allow Mr. Sussmann to provide Tech Executive-1 with competent, informed legal advice,” Joffe’s lawyers said. . .
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