WASHINGTON (CN) — A longtime FBI agent testified on Tuesday in the Michael Sussmann trial that he took a back seat in the bureau’s investigation of the 2016 Trump-Alfa Bank claims so that a probationary agent could learn the ropes.
The investigation is part of what led Special Counsel John Durham to look into the FBI’s handling of the 2016 "Crossfire Hurricane” probe into Trump-Russia collusion, which prompted Sussmann’s indictment last September for allegedly falsely stating that he was not representing any clients when he met with the FBI’s top lawyer in 2016 and provided him with data files supposedly containing evidence of secret communications between Russia’s Alfa Bank and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Curtis Heide – who revealed on the witness stand that the FBI is currently investigating him for allegedly withholding exculpatory information in the Crossfire Hurricane probe – said he approached Allison Sands and let her take the lead on the case because he wanted to train her on how to open an investigation.
But Sussmann’s defense attorney Sean Berkowitz pointed out that their report — which states that the Trump-Alfa Bank investigation referral came from the Department of Justice (DOJ) — had a “typo.”
Heide said he does not think they knew it was a mistake at the time they drafted the report in 2016 — rather, it was during a 2019 interview with the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General “that I learned that we had a typo in there.”
“I believe that this was the first time that we identified the typo in our paperwork ... that it was brought to our attention,” Heide said.
Although the 16-year FBI veteran was unable to recall on the witness stand whether he or Sands drafted certain portions of the report, he said one of them may have “conflated” the terms DNC, which stands for Democratic National Committee, and DOJ “somehow."
“I don’t know how that information got in there,” he said.
To raise questions about the timing of the typo discovery, Berkowitz pointed out that Heide was not given any documents to review during other prior related meetings with government investigators.
He asked if Heide was “led to believe” that the Trump-Alfa Bank claim referral came through the DNC based on reviewing the 2016 case documents shown to him during the 2019 meeting.
The FBI agent walked around the question with a non-answer and said, “That’s what we had written in our opening communication.”
In a sarcastic manner, Berkowitz responded by saying that he would show Heide the related documents “so that there are no mistakes.”
The defense attorney also grilled Heide about why he was not allowed to interview the source of the Trump-Alfa Bank information.
Heide said his internal requests to interview the source went unanswered, which was “pretty frustrating.”
“And that made your investigation incomplete — did it not?” Berkowitz asked.
“Yes,” Heide said.
On redirect, U.S. Attorney Jonathan Algor asked Heide if his view of the conclusion of the FBI probe — which found no evidence to substantiate the Trump-Alfa Bank claims — has changed. Heide said it has not.
Jurors also heard brief testimony from then-FBI deputy general counsel Trisha Anderson, who was unable to recall specific details independent of notes like several other high-level government witnesses that previously testified.
And Jared Novick, then-CEO of data research company BitVoyant, testified that Rodney Joffe directed him to look at research and data related to Trump and Russia, which he said was “extremely uncommon” and “unique.”
“We never before did any tasking like this,” Novick said.
He later added that, “the whole thing to me felt like opposition research.”
Novick also told jurors he met with government investigators before taking the witness stand on Tuesday. Berkowitz noted that it was only after a “man with a gun came to visit” Novick that he “voluntarily” met with investigators “several” times.
The trial is expected to resume on Wednesday with the government’s summary witness. Meanwhile, the defense is still deciding whether to call Sussmann to testify.
Sussmann has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of making a false statement to the FBI. His attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to dismiss the case in March, but he allowed it to proceed to trial.
Sussmann, 57, resigned from his position at Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie after being indicted last September. If convicted, he faces up to five years behind bars.
Follow @EmilyZantowNews
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Minnesota governor appoints two Supreme Court justices April 22, 2024 -
