Lol 3 replies. I wonder why.
From the filing (again, emphasis in original):
[T]he Indictment does not allege that Mr. Sussmann knew — or should have known — that the Russian Bank-1 Information was false. Instead, Mr. Sussmann is charged simply with purportedly lying about whether he was acting on behalf of a particular client when conveying that information. That is, the alleged false statement concerns, at most, Mr. Sussmann’s purported motivation for providing the tip to the FBI — not the tip itself. A false statement of this sort does not have the requisite close nexus to the FBI’s decision whether to initiate an investigation and is thus incapable of influencing that decision as a matter of law.
To hear the former Clinton attorney tell it, he was simply providing the FBI with a tip. And, Sussmann says, the tip isn’t itself identified as “false” in the indictment.
The motion to dismiss also makes sure to argue that Sussmann didn’t even lie in the first place.
“Sussmann did not make any false statement to the FBI,” the introduction says.
The FBI has, however, since concluded the alleged link between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Alfa Bank was not true.
Additionally, Sussmann claims, the FBI already knew about the information he allegedly lied about.
Again, from the filing; again, the emphasis is in the original:
Moreover, even the Indictment’s own allegations undermine any claim that the false statement could have been material. The Indictment alleges that the FBI “might have” taken “additional or incremental steps” had it known of Mr. Sussmann’s purported clients. But there is no reason the FBI would have acted differently if it learned of Mr. Sussmann’s supposed relationship with the Clinton Campaign. The FBI was already aware of what the Indictment described as the “political nature of his work.” Indeed, the Indictment makes clear that the FBI and Mr. Baker himself were well aware that Mr. Sussmann was representing the Democratic National Committee at a time when Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, was the Democratic National Committee.