A24 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 , 2022
BY DEVLIN BARRETTA former technology company
executive testified Tuesday that
he felt “extremely uncomfort-
able” being asked in 2016 to use
his commercial data firm to
search for information about as-
sociates of then-presidential can-
didate Donald Trump.
Jared Novick at the time was
chief executive of a firm founded
by another tech executive, Rod-
ney Joffe. He offered one of the
more colorful bits of testimony —
and one of the last pieces of
prosecution evidence — in the
trial of Michael Sussmann, a
well-connected lawyer being
prosecuted by special counsel
John Durham on charges he lied
to the FBI when he made allega-
tions about possible Trump-
Russia connections.
Less than two months before
the 2016 election, Sussmann
gave the FBI data and analysis
that argued a Trump Organiza-
tion computer was in secret con-
tact with a server for Russia-
based Alfa Bank. Sussmann is
charged with lying when he
claimed he wasn’t bringing the
information on behalf of any
client; in fact, prosecutors allege,
he was acting on behalf of Joffe
and Hillary Clinton’s presiden-
tial campaign.
Prosecutors are trying to con-
vince the jury that Sussmann lied
to obscure an underhanded ef-
fort by Clinton partisans to dig
up damaging information about
candidate Trump, share that in-
formation with reporters and get
the FBI to launch an investiga-
tion. Sussmann has denied the
allegations, and his lawyers say
the prosecution argument of a
sprawling conspiracy are un-
founded.
On Tuesday, Novick testified
that Joffe tasked him in August
2016 with searching for data on
people associated with Trump —
including Carter Page, a former
Trump campaign adviser who
was investigated by the FBI as a
suspected agent of the Russian
government, and Richard Burt, a
former U.S. ambassador who re-
portedly advised the campaign
on foreign policy matters.
Novick said he was also askedto look at computer addresses
with the word “Alfa” in them.
Page was the target of a For-
eign Intelligence Surveillance
Act court-approved surveillance
in 2016 and 2017. A review of that
case found the FBI made serious
omissions and errors in the ap-
plications presented to the court.
Page was not charged with a
crime.
Novick testified that t he
search terms he was given by
Joffe were “associates of Donald
Trump and Russian entities.” He
said he was “extremely uncom-
fortable” by what seemed to be
the political motivations of the
request, particularly since his
company examines broad swaths
of data for corporate security, not
individuals’ data.
He compared the request to
having a commercial satellite
used for flood analysis suddenly
being repurposed to study some-
one’s backyard at a specific ad-
dress.
“Given the political nature of
the work and the individuals, I
knew I could only trust certain
people at the company,” said
Novick, who decided to give the
project a code name so that only
a few employees would know
about it.“We called it Crimson Rhino
because the last thing I wanted
in our office was Donald Trump’s
name,” he testified.
Sussmann’s lawyer, Sean
Berkowitz, pressed Novick to ad-
mit that he did not like or get
along with Joffe, suggesting thatwas his motive to now testify in
the case.
“I had a challenging time with
Rodney, correct,” said Novick.
Sussmann’s trial is the first
courtroom test of the investiga-
tive work done over the last three
years by Durham, who was ap-pointed by Trump administra-
tion attorney general William P.
Barr to probe whether the feder-
al agents who investigated the
2016 Trump campaign commit-
ted wrongdoing. The case has
served as a kind of Rorschach
test for those still smarting over
the 2016 election and eager to see
political opponents suffer legal
consequences for what hap-
pened.
Prosecutors said they will pre-
sent only one more witness be-
fore finishing their case — a
person who can summarize ex-
hibits and testimony and is ex-
pected on the stand Wednesday.
After that, Sussmann’s defense
team is expected to call a number
of witnesses, including former
New York Times reporter Eric
Lichtblau, an FBI agent and a
character witnesses. Closing ar-
guments could come as early as
Friday.
Lichtblau’s potential testimo-
ny is complicated by his asser-
tion that as a journalist, he
should not be forced to testify
about issues beyond his conver-
sations with Sussmann and Joffe.
U.S. District Judge Christopher
Cooper said he intends to hear
arguments about that issue be-
fore any potential testimony.Witness was ‘extremely uncomfortable’ over Trump associate data search
Prosecution nears end in
case against lawyer
accused of lying to F BIJULIA NIKHINSON/REUTERS
Lawyer Michael Sussmann, left, is charged with lying to the FBI
when he made allegations about possible connections between
Russia and the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump.Biden delivered the remarks
less than two hours after return-
ing from Asia and just seven days
after he last spoke about a mass
shooting that had upended
America. It was the second time
in the course of 10 days that an
18-year-old in body armor car-
ried a rifle into a building full of
unsuspecting people, interrupt-
ing everyday life for everyday
Americans with terror, mayhem
and bloodshed.
For some Democrats and ac-
tivists, it was a moment of exple-
tive-filled frustration, of help-
lessness turning to rage. It was a
moment of demanding change,
of attacking Republicans who
boast of their love of guns, of
pointing to the children whom,
they say, Congress is failing.
For Biden, and for the nation
as a whole, the massacre in
Uvalde was a painful echo of the
2012 shooting in Newton, Conn.,
that killed 20 children and six
adults at Sandy Hook Elemen-
tary School, bookends to a dec-
ade filled with mass shootings.
“As a nation we have to ask:
When in God’s name are we
going to stand up to the gun
lobby?” Biden asked, his voice
rising. “When in God’s name do
we do what we all know in our
gut needs to be done?”
He added: “I am sick and tired
of it. We have to act. And don’t
tell me we can’t have an impact
on this carnage.”
Mass shootings have touched
nearly every facet of American
life, from country music concerts
to suburban movie theaters,
from churches and schools to
local Walmarts and neighbor-
hood grocery stores.
Several Republicans said
Tuesday that they wanted to wait
for more information about the
shooting before discussing po-
tential action. But many Demo-
crats escalated their rhetoric,
bemoaning the young age of the
victims and attempting to shake
free of the usual responses.
“I am here on this floor to beg,
to literally get down on my hands
and knees and beg my col-
leagues: Find a path forward
here,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-
Conn.), who once held a 15-hour
filibuster on the Senate floor to
push for stricter gun laws, said
during a Senate floor speech not
long after he learned about the
shooting. “Work with us to find a
way to pass laws that make this
less likely.”
Vice President Harris deviated
from her scheduled remarks at
an evening gala for the Asian
Pacific American Institute for
Congressional Studies. “I would
normally say in a moment like
this — we would all say, naturally,
that our hearts break. But our
hearts keep getting broken,” she
said. “And yet it keeps happen-
ing.”
“Enough is enough. Enough is
enough,” Harris added. “As a
nation, we have to have the
courage to take action.”
Biden learned of the shooting
during a flight back from a
five-day trip to Seoul and Tokyo.
He quickly signed a proclama-
tion to have federal flags flown at
half-staff. He spoke with Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) while flying
on Air Force One, and his staff
scrambled to have him deliver a
rare prime-time address.
Many lawmakers from both
parties expressed horror and
sadness immediately after the
shooting.
BIDEN FROM A1
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on
Twitter that he was “completely
sickened and heartbroken,” that
he was “lifting up in prayer” for
the community and that there
had “been too many of these
shootings.” Cruz, along with for-
mer president Donald Trump
and Abbott, is scheduled to speak
Friday at the National Rifle Asso-
ciation’s annual meeting in
Houston, about 275 miles from
Uvalde.
Critics of Cruz tweeted angrily
back at him, including Rep. Ru-
ben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who wrote,
“Just to be clear fuck you @ted-
cruz you fucking baby killer.”
House Majority Leader Steny
H. Hoyer (D-Md.) encapsulated
the shock and anger felt by
Democrats toward their Republi-
can colleagues, noting that legis-
lation passed in the House lastyear had been languishing in the
Senate.
“How many more times will
Senate Republicans express out-
rage at horrific shootings like the
one today in Uvalde, Texas, and
then block meaningful, biparti-
san background-check legisla-
tion supported by nine out of ten
Americans and most responsible
gun owners?” he said in a state-
ment. “How many more times?”
House Democrats passed two
bills in March 2021. One would
have eliminated a provision that
allows a gun sale to proceed if a
background check cannot be
completed after three days. The
“Charleston loophole” legisla-
tion, named after the 2015 mas-
sacre in South Carolina, would
have extended the review period
to 20 days.
A separate bill would haverequired background checks to
close the “gun show loophole,”
which allows buyers to forgo a
review if they buy a gun at a gun
show or online.
Both bills passed with over-
whelming Democratic support
but were never taken up in a
50-50 Senate, where 10 Republi-
cans would be needed to send the
legislation to the president’s
desk.
On Twitter, some resurrected a
tweet from Rep. Tony Gonzales
(R-Tex.), who represents Uvalde,
in which the congressman boast-
ed about voting against the two
bills and noted that he remains
“a proud supporter of the Second
Amendment and will do every-
thing I can to oppose gun grabs
from the far Left.”
Some lawmakers noted that
the country was still reeling froman attack on a Black community
in Buffalo a little over a week ago
that killed 10 people at a super-
market. After that racially moti-
vated attack, Democrats private-
ly acknowledged that any gun
reform push would probably
stall in the Senate.
Instead, they set their sights
on fast-tracking a domestic ter-
rorism bill that would expand
the ability of federal agencies to
track and analyze any domestic
terror activity, including white-
supremacy groups. After making
changes to appease liberals con-
cerned the power could be
abused, the House passed the
legislation last Wednesday. The
legislation will be before the
Senate on Thursday, but it’s un-
likely it will gain the support of
10 Republicans necessary to
overcome a filibuster.
While partisan recriminations
have become routine after mass
shootings — as Democrats urge
more gun control and Republi-
cans accuse them of politicizing
tragedy — Tuesday’s killing of so
many children seemed to raise
the back-and-forth to a new
pitch.
“I’m sickened and angry. I’m
furious that yet ANOTHER
senseless school shooting has left
at least 15 families without their
loved ones — including 14 pre-
cious, innocent children and a
dedicated educator — just days
after 10 people were murdered in
Buffalo,” Rep. C.A. Dutch Rup-
persberger (D-Md.) tweeted. “To
my colleagues across the aisle:
we’ve had enough of your mere
thoughts and prayers. We need
action NOW.”
In his remarks, Biden said the
shooting had made him reflect
on why the United States has
been uniquely incapable of stop-
ping mass shootings.
“What struck me on that 17-
hour flight, what struck me was
these kinds of mass shootings
rarely happen anywhere else in
the world. Why?” he said. “They
have mental health problems.
They have domestic disputes inother countries. They have peo-
ple who are lost. But these kinds
of mass shootings never happen
in other countries like in Ameri-
ca.”
Biden began his remarks with
a shaky voice and reddened eyes.
“Another massacre at a Texas
elementary school. Beautiful, in-
nocent second-, third-, fourth-
graders.” he said, before later
concluding: “God bless the loss
of innocent life on this sad day.
May the Lord be near to the
brokenhearted and save those
crushed in spirit. Because they’re
going to need a lot.”
It was just a week earlier that
he was visiting with grieving
families in Buffalo, dropping
flowers at a makeshift memorial
and consoling traumatized po-
lice officers.
The shooting also marked the
latest swerve in Biden’s presiden-
cy, forcing him to grapple with
an issue on which he has long
focused but which suddenly had
a renewed resonance.
Responding to gun violence
has in some ways been a
through-line of Biden’s career.
On the campaign trail, he often
bragged about his purported suc-
cess in taking on the NRA. He
helped pass the Brady Handgun
Violence Prevention Act in 1993
and an assault weapons ban in- But the latter bill included
a 10-year “sunset” clause, expir-
ing in 2004 after Congress did
not renew it. In years since,
Biden’s efforts toward change
have been repeatedly rebuffed.
In the aftermath of the Sandy
Hook shootings in 2012, Biden
took the lead in attempting to
mobilize a legislative response
that was ultimately stymied.
In the aftermath of the shoot-
ings in Parkland, Fla., in 2018 —
which left 14 students and three
educators dead at Marjory Stone-
man Douglas High School —
Biden met with the families of
victims. And he has developed
friendships through grief with
many of the victims of gun
violence, offering his own advice
on how to channel the loss into
something that could feel pro-
ductive.
Since entering the White
House, he has announced four
packages of executive actions
related to gun control, including
cracking down on “ghost guns”
and promoting the safe storage
of firearms.
When he met with mourning
families in Buffalo, Biden told
them that change would come,
but perhaps not quickly. When
he spoke publicly, he teared up as
he described one man who had
stopped by the supermarket to
buy a birthday cake for his
3-year-old son, who would now
have to celebrate birthdays with-
out a father.
But when he left, just before
boarding Air Force One, he con-
ceded there were few executive
actions he had left to take. And
while he said, “I’m not going to
give up trying,” the odds of
persuading Congress to act were
“very difficult.”
He reiterated his call for Con-
gress to enact gun-control mea-
sures, including an assault weap-
ons ban.
“Look, I’m not naive,” Biden
said that day. “I know tragedy
will come again.”
What he didn’t know is that it
would come again just seven
days later.
Marianna Sotomayor and Mike
DeBonis contributed to this report.Biden implores action on guns after latest mass shooting
PHOTOS BY OLIVER CONTRERAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTTOP: A White House staffer lowers the American flag to half-staff after the elementary school shooting
in Texas. ABOVE: President Biden arrives to address the nation on the tragedy. “As a nation we have to
ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” t he president said. He added: “I
am sick and tired of it. W e have to act. And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.”