NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump reacted to the bombshell testimony out of the trial of Michael Sussmann that Hillary Clinton herself approved the dissemination of false information alleging a covert communications channel between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank to the media.
Trump told Fox News Digital that the entire Russia investigation is "one of the greatest political scandals in history," and that he will "never" get his "reputation fully back."
Former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook on Friday testified as part of the first criminal trial out of Special Counsel John Durhams years-long investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, saying Clinton approved and "agreed" to share the discredited data with the media.
HILLARY CLINTON APPROVED DISSEMINATION OF TRUMP-RUSSIAN BANK ALLEGATIONS TO MEDIA, CAMPAIGN MANAGER TESTIFIES
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker testified Thursday that the bureau investigated the data alleging a Trump connection to the Kremlin-linked bank, and found that "there was nothing there."
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the American Freedom Tour at the Austin Convention Center on May 14, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
"This is one of the greatest political scandals in history," Trump told Fox News Saturday morning. "For three years, I had to fight her off, and fight those crooked people off, and youll never get your reputation fully back."
"Where do I get my reputation back?" Trump said again.
"I had to fight them off," Trump said. "And if we had real leadership, instead of people like Mitch McConnell, they would do something about it. And guys like Bill Barr. They would have done something about it."
Trump said that the law enforcement and intelligence community resources devoted to investigating him and members of his 2016 campaign distracted officials from what "could have been a real danger with Russia."
Attorney Michael Sussmann departs the U.S. Federal Courthouse after opening arguments in his trial in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson)
The FBI, in July 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Donald Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign.
That FBI investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, was handed off to Special Counsel Robert Mueller after Trump was elected. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017.
DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW
After nearly two years, Muellers investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Durham was tapped in 2019, shortly after Mueller announced his findings, byAttorney General Bill Barrto investigate the origins of the FBIs original investigation into the Trump campaign, which led to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel.
Special Counsel John Durham departs the U.S. Federal Courthouse after opening arguments in the trial of attorney Michael Sussmann. (REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson)
Mook, during cross-examination by government prosecutor Andrew DeFillippis, was asked about the Clinton campaigns understanding of the Alfa Bank allegations against Trump and whether they planned to release the data to the media.
Mook said he was first briefed about the Alfa Bank issue by campaign general counsel Marc Elias, who at the time was a partner at law firm Perkins Coie.
Mook testified that he was told that the data had come from "people that had expertise in this sort of matter."
Mook said the campaign was not totally confident in the legitimacy of the data, but had hoped to give the information to a reporter who could further "run it down" to determine if it was "accurate" or "substantive."
He also said he discussed whether to give the information to a reporter with senior campaign officials, including campaign chairman John Podesta, senior policy advisor, now White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and communications director Jennifer Palmieri.
"I discussed it with Hillary as well," Mook said.
"I dont remember the substance of the conversation, but notionally, the discussion was, hey, we have this and we want to share it with a reporter," Mook said.
The government asked Mook if Clinton approved "the dissemination" of the data to the media.
"She agreed," Mook testified.
DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW
Mook later said he "can't recall the exact sequence of events," when asked if he shared the idea to give the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations to the media with Clinton before or after the decision was made.
"All I remember is that she agreed with the decision," Mook testified.
Sussmann has been charged with making a false statement to the FBI when he told Baker in September 2016, less than two months before the presidential election, that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and attended a meeting in which he presented "purported data and white papers that allegedly demonstrated a covert communicates channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.
Durhams team alleges Sussmann was, in fact, doing work for two clients: the Hillary Clinton campaign and a technology executive, Rodney Joffe. Following the meeting with Baker, Sussmann billed the Hillary Clinton campaign for his work.
Sussmann has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mook, earlier in questioning from the defense, was asked whether he or anyone on the Clinton campaign approved or gave Sussmann permission to bring the allegations to the FBI, to which he said: "No."
Later, the defense further questioned Mook, asking if Hillary Clinton herself approved Sussmann going to the FBI.
"I'm not aware," Mook testified.
When asked again, he said: "I don't knowI don't know why she would."
Meanwhile, Baker testified Thursday that the FBI began an investigation into the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations, which lasted "several weeks, maybe a month, maybe a month and a half."
"We concluded there was no substance," Baker testified. "We couldnt confirm it. We could not confirm there was a surreptitious communications channel."
Baker added: "There was nothing there."
FLASHBACK: MUELLER REPORT SHOWS PROBE DID NOT FIND COLLUSION EVIDENCE, REVEALS TRUMP EFFORTS TO SIDELINE KEY PLAYERS
In testimony on Tuesday afternoon, FBI Special Agent Scott Hellman also said the data revealing the alleged covert communications channel between Trump and Russia that Sussmann brought to the FBI turned out to be untrue, and said he did not agree with the narrative.
Hellman testified that whoever drafted the narrative describing the DNS data was "5150," and clarified on the stand that meant he believed the individual who came to the conclusions "was suffering from some mental disability."
Mooks testimony revealing Clinton approved the plan to share the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations with the media comes after Fox News first reported that the CIA, dating back to July 2016, had information of Clintons "approval of a plan" to tie Trump to Russia "as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server."
Fox News obtained declassified notes from then-CIA Director John Brennan after briefing then-President Obama on July 28, 2016, memorializing Clintons purported "proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service."
DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON 'STIRRING UP' SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA
The information was properly forwarded to the FBI in an Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL), and to the attention of then-FBI DirectorJames Comeyand then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok on Sept. 9, 2016.
"The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate," the 2016 CIA memo to Comey and Strzok stated.
FLASHBACK: SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
"Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date," the memo continued. "An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clintons approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server."
The memo was heavily redacted.
Fox News first reported that those materials were provided to the Justice Department by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe in 2020 to support Special Counsel John Durhams investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
Link:
- North Korea Wants to Convince the World It Can Nuke Hawaii. Donald Trump Is Happy to Oblige. - The Intercept [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump's peculiar obsession with authoritarian leaders - Chicago Tribune [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Does Donald Trump Have Dementia? - The Root [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse - Forbes [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- 'South Park' Creators Skirt Donald Trump Next Season Because Monkey Running Into Wall Can't Be Made Funnier - Deadline [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- AFT President: Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump Are Dismantling Public Education - TIME [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- This is the best news Donald Trump has had in a while - CNN [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Predicts Mideast Peace Is 'Not As Difficult As People Have Thought' - Huffington Post [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- The Donald Trump Zone of Uncertainty shows up in the health-care debate - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Make America Great Again! | Donald J Trump for President [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Stephen Colbert Defends Donald Trump Jokes After Controversy Erupted - NBCNews.com [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Donald Trump May Have Exaggerated the Size of Something Else - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Amanda Knox: Donald Trump supported me when I was wrongly accused of murder. What do I owe him? - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Says Peace in the Middle East Is 'Not as Difficult as People Have Thought' - Newsweek [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Donald Trump says he's a big fan of history. But he doesn't seem to trust historians. - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Deletes Tweet Calling Mahmoud Abbas Meeting 'an Honor' - Newsweek [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- FCC to Investigate Stephen Colbert Over Controversial Donald Trump Joke - Variety [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- How Trump won another unlikely victory - CNN [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Tweets of the Week: Blasting North Korea, Shading the Democrats, Winning Bigly - Newsweek [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- All Major TV Networks Block Trump's 'Fake News' Ad - Variety [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Martha Stewart Appears to Give Donald Trump the Middle Finger - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Outside Donald Trump's offices, pigs will fly - The indy100 (satire) [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- President Trump seizes on election rules to push his agenda in new ways - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Donald Trump finally gets a bill passed but his history of dealmaking is still full of failure - Salon [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Star Gets the Toilet Treatment ... Wanna 'Take a Trump?' - TMZ.com [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Why Emmanuel Macron is the anti-Donald Trump - CNN [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's highly abnormal presidency: a running guide for May - VICE News [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Urges Senate Republicans to 'Not Let the American People Down' on Health Care - TIME [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Donald Trump wants to ramp up America's presence in Afghanistan - Salon [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Trevor Noah: Donald Trump Is 'Comedy Cocaine' - Variety [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump says Congress has too much power. He's wrong. - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Republicans abandon their virtues to stand behind Donald Trump and clap - Chicago Tribune [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's New Website Features Military Personnel, Tweets, Merchandise - Newsweek [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Can't Stop His Team from Undermining Him - GQ Magazine [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Pipelines and Donald Trump: British Columbia Goes to the Polls - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Trump made one of his own tweets into a Twitter header. Cue the Twitter shade. - CNN [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Read Donald Trump's Interview With TIME on Being President - TIME [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Thinks He Invented a Phrase That's Been Around Since 1932 - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump After Hours - TIME [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Launching a Panel to Investigate Voter Fraud - Fortune [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump thinks he invented the phrase 'priming the pump.' That's telling. - CNN [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- What Donald Trump doesn't understand about the federal government - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump, 'Brexit,' Snapchat: Your Thursday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Backslides on Campaign Promise To Curb Legal Immigration - Breitbart News [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- James Comey, Donald Trump, San Antonio Spurs: Your Friday ... - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the ... - AlterNet [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- WikiLeaks Offering $100000 For Donald Trump's 'Comey Tapes' - HuffPost [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's tax law firm has 'deep' ties to Russia - ABC News [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Is Donald Trump boosting the economy? Goldman finds mixed signals - MarketWatch [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Does Donald Trump want to be president? - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump la Mode - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Yet another reason Donald Trump is bad news: He's utterly lacking in integrative complexity and that's dangerous - Salon [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Today Marks Trump's Twenty-First Visit to a Golf Club Since Becoming President - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Who Is Mary Anne Trump? Donald Trump's Immigrant Mother Came To America For A Better Life - Newsweek [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey supports Donald Trump's use of the social media platform - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Mother's Day proclamation is straight out of The Handmaid's Tale - Quartz [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- See Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump Dismiss Nixon... - RollingStone.com [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Reportedly Considering Blowing Up the West Wing - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- 'Our Institutions Are Under Assault' - HuffPost [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's disastrously bad week in Washington - CNN [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- What Donald Trump said about the spread of classified material during the campaign - PolitiFact [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's plan to disenfranchise minority voters - The Hill (blog) [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Donald Trump, douard Philippe, Ransomware: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Republican Congress won't rein in Donald Trump - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is a Stress Test for Democracy and We Are Failing - Slate Magazine [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Donald Trump, Ransomware, North Carolina: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Donald Trump, Israel, Erdogan: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Can Donald Trump Be Trusted With State Secrets? - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- KING: Donald Trump has reached peak white privilege - New York Daily News [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- How Trump learned about the special prosecutor - Politico [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Stephen Colbert Uses 'Let It Go' From 'Frozen' To Mock Donald Trump - HuffPost [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Said Saudi Arabia Was Behind 9/11. Now He's Going There on His First Foreign Trip. - The Intercept [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Chinese propagandists are using adorable kids to take on Donald Trump - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Google: Your Thursday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Trump's Loyalty Test - TIME [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Donald Trump: Come out, come out, wherever you are - The Hill (blog) [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Donald Trump May Be Causing Problems For Disney World - HuffPost [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Don't underestimate Donald Trump - Chicago Tribune [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- A Prayer for Donald Trump - New York Times [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]