Thread by @SarahNLynch

Greetings from day three in the trial of Michael Sussmann, a former Clinton campaign attorney accused of lying to the FBI about who he was representing when he passed along a tip about Donald Trump in Sept 2019

They just said Michael Keilty, one of the lawyers for the Special Counsel, had a family emergency and may not be in court for awhile.

Judge Cooper says some evidence on Sussmann's meetings with Christopher Steele/Fusion GPS can be introduced as evidence, but the govn't cannot get into anything about Steele providing his dossier to the FBI

The U.S. calls Deborah Fine, a former Clinton presidential campaign official

Fine is talking about the Clinton campaign's contract with research firm Fusion GPS, which was tasked with performing opposition research on Trump

When asked if she was aware of whether Fusion GPS did any research on Alfa Bank, Fine said: "I wasn't aware of research related to Alfa Bank."

Michael Bosworth, an attorney for Sussmann, now approaching to ask some questions.

Fine testifies that in calls with Fusion GPS, nothing about Alfa Bank came up, nor was there any discussion of bringing allegations of ties between the bank and Trump to the FBI.

Fine says she had no knowledge at the time that Sussmann went to the FBI with the Trump-Alfa Bank tip.

Up next: The United States calls Laura Seago, formerly of research firm Fusion GPS

Seago says she attended a meeting with Marc Elias, Sussmann, another Fusion colleague and Rodney Joffe about the allegations of communications between Alfa Bank and the Trump Org.

After the meeting, Seago says she did some research on the alleged communications between Alfa Bank and Trump Org

Seago testifies that she met with one journalist, Frank Foer, to discuss the Alfa Bank-Trump Org allegations.

"We certainly hoped he would publish an article," Seago says of Frank Foer.

It appears the government is using this witness to lay the ground work for convincing the jury that Sussmann was representing clients Joffe and the Clinton campaign when he passed the Alfa Bank-Trump Org tip to the FBI.

Questioning by the government is over. Court is taking brief recess. Resuming at 11.

We are back. Sean Berkowitz, a lawyer for Sussmann, is doing the cross-examination of Laura Seago

She confirms that Joffe did seem like a reliable and credible expert in the field.

On the FBI probe into the Alfa Bank-Trump Org alleged communications, Seago testifies: "I had no knowledge of that investigation."

Seago says she felt the Alfa Bank-Trump org story was important. "I thought it was a matter of national security if a Russian bank was interfering in our elections," she said.

Seago's testimony has concluded.

The government now calls Marc Elias, the former top attorney for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign

Elias is testifying about the fee schedule for how Perkins Coie was paid by the Clinton campaign. It was a flat fee, meaning it did not matter how many hours are worked. Early in the campaign the amount was higher- $130K a month - but then later the monthly amount decreased

Elias said he was responsible for hiring Fusion GPS for its research/investigative services

The government is presenting an exhibit showing the consulting contact between Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS

Elias confirms the seemingly obvious: Sussmann was aware Perkins Coie had retained Fusion GPS

"Even within Perkins" he says, his practice was to limit who knew the identity of consultants/client identities etc. "When you represent presidents, former presidents...it is better to keep things limited...because of leaks" and things that can "disadvantage" the client

They're diving into the nitty gritty of Perkin's billing practices and procedures

Elias on Rodney Joffe: "My understanding was that he was the person who found - discovered - whatever the secret connection was" between Alfa Bank & the Trump org.

They are breaking for lunch. Back at 1:45

Juror No 8 is being asked to stay back... (speculating this was the late juror who delayed the start of today's proceedings? But we do not know).

The juror is being called to the stand. He sent a text saying he is due to start a new job as a maintenance tech.

The juror did not disclose this. "I was completely nervous and I forgot," the juror says.

The juror says he told his new employer but he is due to start training on Monday. The juror is not sure if the training can be re-scheduled

Judge seems to think they can keep Juror #8 without any issue

Court is back in session.

They are discussing some scheduling matters for a CIA witness only referred to as "Kevin P."

And...it's back to a nitty gritty discussion of billing. Glad I bought myself a second cup of coffee. 😅

The government is presenting exhibits showing that Sussmann billed the Clinton campaign in August 2016 for a meeting he had with Rodney Joffe

"I think we get the concept of the records" the judge just said, urging prosecutors to speed it along. The folks in the media room will not disagree on that one. 🤪

The government is showing a billing entry to the Clinton campaign from Sussmann dated 9/17/2016 for about $4K for "multiple telephone conferences" and other communications with experts and Marc Elias. Elias says he does not know if it related to Alfa Bank.

Elias is not 100% sure when he learned Sussmann went to the FBI about the Alfa Bank matter. But he thinks it was right afterwards.

"If Mr. Sussmann wanted to deal with the FBI for the campaign, he wouldn't necessarily have to come to me first," Elias said.

Cross examination is beginning now.

"Donald Trump was a bully who used litigation as a tactic," Elias says.

Sussmann's lawyer asks: Was Alfa Bank a primary focus of his legal work?
"Not relative to the large number of topics I was dealing with," Elias says.

Elias says the campaign would have benefited from a story about the alleged secret comms between Alfa Bank and the Trump Org

Sean Berkowitz is pointing out the Sept 17, 2016 billing statement to Hillary is not "task-based," meaning it does not break down how much time was spent on particular calls or tasks.

Q: "Did you tell him to go to the FBI?"
A: "No."
Q: "Did he seek your permission to go to the FBI?"
A: "No."

When asked if it would be a good idea to go to the FBI ahead of a possible story about Trump and Russia?
Elias says no, he did not think the FBI would "give a fair shake" to anything that was seen as anti-Trump and pro-Clinton.

"If you get the FBI involved, any number of things could prevent that from happening," Elias says

Berkowitz says prosecutors claim that in September, the Clinton campaign was trying to plant the Alfa Bank story as an "October surprise." He asks Elias to explain the meaning of that. "First of all, an October surprise comes in October."

"Did you authorize anyone to leak to the press that the FBI was looking into this at all?" Berkowitz asks.
"No."

"The concern that I had was the addition of the FBI into this was going to slow it down," Elias says. "There wasn't an endless runway of time for this news story."

They just said they will call James Baker today

What I am openly wondering now: This case is about a single false statement on Sept 19, 2016. The indictment indicates Sussmann billed his meeting with Jim Baker to the Clinton campaign. But so far, prosecutors have not presented billing records from this date. Why?

Baker on the stand now. Prior to this, defense said they might move to seek a mistrial based on comments the govn't made making it sound like Sussmann won't testify. But that won't be dealt with today. Unclear what will happen

It was not immediately clear what the defense's concerns were, but it was in connection with a statement Elias made about Sussmann in response to a question. Sounds like we can expect filings later today spelling it out

Baker now testifying. Sayings he knew Michael when they worked at DOJ and they became closer friends after attending the funeral of a mutual friend.

"At some point in 2016, I learned he was representing the DNC and/or the Hillary Clinton...campaign related to the cyber incident that occurred," Baker says. "But I understood him to represent those clients in connection with the cyber matters" and not on "political" matters

The govn't shows a Sept 18 text Baker got from Sussmann setting up the meeting in which Sussmann said he was coming "on my own- not on behalf of a client or company"

"I kind of wondered how Michael had gotten my personal cell phone number" Baker said, though he was not freaked out because Michael was a friend.

Baker says he turned the text over to the govnt' after they sought info for discovery purposes. "I am not out to get Michael and this is not my investigation," Baker says to the prosecutor. "This is your investigation so if you ask me a question, I answer it."

Now they are breaking for the day.

Judge just said he is "not inclined" to grant a mistrial