The jury had one job: to weigh the presented evidence and apply the law to the case – not to judge whether or not the case should have been brought.

After the verdict, the jury forewoman, who declined to give her name, spoke to the media.

“I don’t think it should have been prosecuted.”

“There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI.”

“It was the government’s job to prove it, and they succeeded in some ways and not in others.”

“We broke it down, and it did not pan out in the government’s favor.”

“Politics was not a factor.”

Jury Nullification

A jury's knowing and deliberate rejection of the evidence or refusal to apply the law either because the jury wants to send a message about some social issue that is larger than the case itself, or because the result dictated by law is contrary to the jury's sense of justice, morality, or fairness.

Jury nullification is a discretionary act, and is not a legally sanctioned function of the jury.  It is considered to be inconsistent with the jury's duty to return a verdict based solely on the law and the facts of the case.  The jury does not have a right to nullification, and counsel is not permitted to present the concept of jury nullification to the jury.  However, jury verdicts of acquittal are unassailable even where the verdict is inconsistent with the weight of the evidence and instruction of the law.

See U.S. v. Thomas, 116 F.3d 606 (2d Cir. 1997).

Michael Sussmann

Michael A. Sussmann (born 1964) is an American former federal prosecutor and a former partner at the law firm Perkins Coie, who focused on privacy and cybersecurity law. Sussmann represented the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and retained CrowdStrike to examine its servers after two Russian hacker groups penetrated DNC networks and stole information during the 2016 U.S. elections.

The Trump administration appointed John Durham as special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI probe into links between Trump associates and Russian officials. Durham spent three years on the investigation and, in 2021, brought a single charge of making false statements against Sussmann, accusing him of having lied to the FBI in one meeting in 2016, with no witnesses. Sussman pleaded not guilty. After a jury trial in May 2022, Sussman was unanimously acquitted.