Durham probe suffers set-back as judge limits evidence prosecutors can offer in trial: report

According to a report from Politico, special counsel John Durham's probe into Hillary Clinton's campaign and an attorney associated with the Democratic Party suffered a major setback on Saturday.

The report notes that U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper has denied a request from Durham that now "limits evidence and testimony prosecutors can offer against attorney Michael Sussmann" who has been accused of lying to investigators.

As Politico's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein wrote, "The ruling spares the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee the potential embarrassment of a federal judge finding they were part of a coordinated effort to level since-discredited allegations that candidate Donald Trump or his allies maintained a data link from Trump Tower to Russia’s Alfa Bank."

Sussman has been accused of lying to FBI investigators "when he approached the bureau’s top lawyer James Baker with what he described as evidence of links between Trump Tower and Alfa Bank."

The report adds that Durham's office has contended that Sussman was working in concert with the Clinton campaign, but Judge Cooper was unmoved.

According to Politico, "Cooper said that permitting prosecutors to lay out evidence of such a broad, political conspiracy would amount to a 'time-consuming and largely unnecessary mini-trial,' considering Durham has not charged Sussmann with conspiracy but only with a 'narrow' false statement to the FBI."

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