Correction: A previous version of this article, based on an incorrect report, stated that Special Counsel John Durham used the word “infiltrate” to describe the actions. The filing used the word “exploited.” The headline has been changed. Furthermore, the language on exploited servers has been changed to reflect the specific language of the indictment, which says exploited internet data, not exploited servers.
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump consistently claimed that his campaign — and administration — had been illegally spied on by Hillary Clinton operatives and nefarious government agents seeking to paint a picture of collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Despite assurances from the media and Democrat leadership that such claims were a work of fiction, it now appears that President Trump was right all along.
According to new evidence from the Department of Justice as part of a bombshell court filing from Special Counsel John Durham, operatives linked to Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign “exploited” Internet data “pertaining to” Trump Tower and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to establish a “narrative” linking President Donald Trump to Russia.
Here’s everything we know so far about the latest developments in the case.
The Clinton Lawyer At The Heart Of The Scandal
Back in 2016, a lawyer named Michael Sussman met with the FBI to present evidence of a “covert communications channel” between Donald Trump’s campaign and a Kremlin-linked Russian bank. During the meeting, Sussman claimed he was not was presenting the evidence on behalf of a client.
However, we now know, according to a 2021 indictment against him, that Sussman was representing two clients at the time — and one of them happened to be Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Because of that claim, Sussman has now been charged with lying to a federal agent. The indictment also notes that Sussman acted “on behalf of at least two specific clients,” namely “the Hillary Clinton Campaign.”
According to Special Counsel Durham, Sussman had been working with cyber researchers and employees from multiple internet companies, including an influential tech executive, to compile the supposed evidence.
“Tech Executive #1”
According to Durham, the information Sussman presented to the FBI as “evidence” of collusion was gathered largely with the help of an influential tech insider known initially as “Tech Executive #1” in federal documents. The executive, later identified as Rodney Joffe of the tech company Neustar, allegedly played a crucial role in exploiting the Internet data.
According to Durham, he “exploited his access to non-public and/or proprietary Internet data,” and “also enlisted the assistance of researchers at a U.S.-based university who were receiving and analyzing large amounts of Internet data” as part of a government contract.
The Special Counsel also alleges that Joffe “tasked these researchers to mine Internet data to establish ‘an inference’ and ‘narrative’ tying then-candidate Trump to Russia,” in hopes of “pleasing certain VIPs,” including the Clinton campaign.
Perhaps most shockingly, Joffe and his accomplices allegedly exploited domain name system data “pertaining to” Trump Tower, Trump’s private residence, and even the Executive Office of the President.
As Durham alleges, Joffe’s company had an existing contract with the Executive Office of the President where the company “had come to access and maintain dedicated servers for the EOP as part of a sensitive arrangement,” which was then “exploited” with “the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.”
The supposed information found on the Executive Office of the President servers was then allegedly shared with Clinton’s lawyer Sussman, who then presented it to a separate government intelligence agency in 2017. But according to federal investigators, they found “no support for these allegations” which claimed Russian collusion.
The ‘Evidence’ Against Trump
Joffe and his ‘researchers’ had access to DNS (domain name system) data “pertaining to” Trump Tower, and later the Executive Office of the President, meaning they could determine the websites that certain phones and computers within the network were accessing.
Joffe and his team allegedly combed through this data and cherry-picked instances of users on the network accessing Russian websites or other content, and passed it onto Sussman, who in turn took it to U.S. intelligence agencies as “proof” of collusion with Russia. Among other pieces of “evidence” was the claim that “Trump and/or his associates were using supposedly rare, Russian-made wireless phones in the vicinity of the White House and other locations.”
However, according to Durham, not only did this data provide “no support for these allegations” of Russian collusion, much of it was totally irrelevant to President Trump and his campaign. Sussman, though claiming to be presenting evidence against Trump, allegedly did not mention that comprehensive DNS data “involving the EOP” relating to “Russian Phone Provider-1” spanned all the way back to 2014 — meaning Obama staffers could also be guilty of supposed “Russian collusion.”
Trump Responds
Not surprisingly, President Trump responded strongly to the newest revelations from Special Counsel Durham.
He issued a statement the day after the latest revelations, saying they provide “indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia.”
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.