A prominent tech guru who worked with the Clinton campaign to investigate Donald Trump’s possible links to Russia pleaded the Fifth to avoid cooperating with Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation, according to court filings.
Rodney Joffe said in a deposition this month that he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in response to a grand jury subpoena by Durham. Joffe testified that he was contacted by the special counsel more than a year ago to provide testimony and documents, seemingly about his efforts to investigate Trump. Joffe has been identified as the tech executive who worked with Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann to investigate purportedly suspicious email server contacts between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. The FBI investigated the allegations but ultimately found them baseless. Durham has released other evidence that casts doubt on the Trump-Alfa link.
Joffe’s interactions with the Durham team suggest the prosecutor is taking a hard look at Joffe’s work with the Clinton campaign to dig up dirt on Trump. While Joffe has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, Durham has alleged that he “exploited” web traffic data for the White House, Trump Tower, and Trump’s apartment building in order to find “derogatory” information on Trump. Durham alleged that Joffe provided the information to Sussmann, who in turn shared it with the CIA in February 2017. Responding to the revelation, Trump called for criminal prosecution for the people involved in the “spying operation” against him.