Durham’s Prosecution of Sussmann to Proceed to Trial, But Questions Remain About What Can Be Asked in Court

John Durham speaks to reporters on the steps of U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., on April 25, 2006. Bob Child/AP Photo

Former Clinton Campaign attorney Michael Sussmann will go on trial May 16 for allegedly lying to the FBI about being a “concerned citizen” in September 2016 when he provided the agency with data purporting to document a “secret server” link between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank.

But Sussmann won’t be tried on the claims made from data itself; he won’t be asked if he knew when he presented the information to FBI general counsel James Baker on Sept. 16, 2016, that it a was bogus concoction timed to hit the headlines within weeks of the Trump-Clinton presidential election.