Partner Keri Axel Quoted by Law360 about Trial of Lawyer Accused of Lying to FBI

Former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel was quoted by Law360 on May 16, 2022 on the trial of a former Perkins Coie partner accused of lying to the FBI. Axel said that while the false statement statute is “pretty simple,” prosecutors “are going to have to show that the information [allegedly] omitted would have been material to the government. That seems like the biggest challenge.”

In U.S. v. Sussman, Michael Sussman is accused of allegedly hiding his affiliation with the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign when he approached investigators about a potential link between Donald Trump’s company and a Russian bank.

Alex said the battle over whether Sussman’s alleged deception was material, meaning that It actually influenced the FBI’s investigation after agents received the information, holds the key to the trial.