This could be the first firm tie between Clinton and the fake news.
QUICK FACTS:
- Former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook has testified before a grand jury in the Michael Sussmann case, according to Fox News.
- Mook testified Friday that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton approved the distribution of materials that alleged former President Donald Trump’s organization was tied to Russia’s Alfa Bank.
- These unverified materials were distributed to the media, despite officials’ inability to be “totally confident” in the legitimacy of the data.
- “I discussed it with Hillary as well,” Mook said, going on to say that they were not confident about the data, but hoped that a reporter would “run it down” to determine if it was “accurate” or “substantive.”
MORE OF MOOK’S TESTIMONY:
- “I don’t 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.
- “She agreed with that,” Mook testified in a statement that linked Clinton to the Alfa Bank story for possibly the first time.
- During the 2016 election, Clinton acted as if she got the information from the media, and not opposition research from her own campaign, likely furthering the reach of the information.
- Mook said: “We thought this was highly suspect and, if it was true, we wanted the American public to know about it for sure.”
BACKGROUND:
- The grand jury was assembled due to Sussmann being charged with making false statements to the FBI.
- The attorney allegedly told them in September 2016 that he was not doing work “for any client” when he requested to attend a meeting where 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.
