Special counsel John Durham's latest round of subpoenas in the ongoing investigation into the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election show powerful moves because of his calls for bank records, as the "best way to prove criminal corruption is to follow the money," former prosecutor and chief of staff for the Department of Defense Kash Patel said on Newsmax Monday.
"The moves he's taking as you highlighted with subpoenaing of bank records are powerful," Patel said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "They speak for themselves and are more powerful than any testimony ... in this case, the Democratic lawyers and the Hillary Clinton campaign lawyers led the money right to Durham."
The new round of subpoenas come after Durham charged Hillary Clinton's former campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann in an indictment alleging he lied to federal investigators in September 2016, when he gave them data that he claimed showed a connection between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank in Russia.
The new subpoenas follow Durham's charging former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann with lying to federal investigators at a meeting in September 2016, in which he gave FBI agents data that he claimed showed a link between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank in Russia.
In his subpoenas, Durham is seeking documents from Sussmann's former law firm, Perkins Coie, the firm represented both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton's presidential campaign. The law firm was also the one that hired the research company that paid former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who wrote the discredited dossier about then-candidate Donald Trump.
Patel said Monday that while there are many people becoming frustrated at the length of the Durham investigation, two years "is not a long time" for such a probe, and two indictments have already been made.
"He's looking at a large-scale conspiracy case," said Patel. "Let's take the Michael Sussmann indictment, for example. Lying to the FBI is a case that's brought frequently and it's usually a two-to-three-page indictment. John Durham issued a 27-page indictment, It's what we call a speaking indictment, and I, as a federal prosecutor, did the same when I wanted to educate the American public on the ongoings of my current investigation."
Patel noted that the indictment highlighted the actions of eight individuals, and now Durham is seeking bank records.
"When I was running the 'Russiagate' investigation for Chairman [Devin] Nunes, I took the deposition, I questioned Michael Sussmann, the same deposition that was cited by John Durham in his indictment," said Patel. "I think Jake Sullivan, the current national security advisor, who had been deposed as well, is in a similar situation about lying, either to the FBI or to the American public."
The best way to prove that, though, is through bank records, and in this case, Durham is saying that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign "paid Michael Sussmann to start this fraudulent investigation, and then [he] lied to the FBI," said Patel.
The Sussmann indictment also came because the investigation would have been going after its "easiest target," said Patel, and he thinks the attorney will cooperate.
"I don't think Michael Sussmann wants to spend a single day in prison, so it's likely that he will cooperate with the John Durham investigation like others are, and help him make a larger scale conspiracy case," said Patel.
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