The Trump-Alfa Bank 'Secret Server'
■ The claim
Slate reported that computer scientists studying DNS logs believed a Trump Organization server was carrying on a sustained, human-like pattern of communication with servers of Russia's Alfa Bank, suggesting a covert channel. The piece called the evidence suggestive rather than conclusive.
■ What actually happened
The FBI investigated and, per the DOJ Inspector General, concluded by early February 2017 that there were no such cyber links. The Durham report quotes the FBI's Chicago field office assessing with high confidence that the servers almost certainly did not communicate intentionally or covertly; FBI cyber analysts and Alfa Bank's outside forensic firm also found no evidence of a secret channel. Durham found the data had been pushed to reporters and the FBI by Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann and Fusion GPS. Sussmann was acquitted in May 2022 of lying to the FBI about who he represented, but the trial and report did not revive the server theory. Slate never retracted the story.
■ The proof
DOJ OIG report (2019) footnote stating the FBI found no cyber links by Feb. 2017; Durham report (2023), Section IV.E, quoting the FBI's high-confidence assessment.
■ Original reporting
- Slate (Franklin Foer): A Group of Computer Scientists Believes a Trump Server Was Communicating With a Russian Bank (Oct. 31, 2016)http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html
■ Corrections, findings & records
- Special Counsel Durham final report (PDF), Alfa Bank sectionhttps://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf
- DOJ IG Crossfire Hurricane report (PDF)https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf
- The Intercept: Here's the Problem With the Story Connecting Russia to Donald Trump's Email Server (Nov. 1, 2016)https://theintercept.com/2016/11/01/heres-the-problem-with-the-story-connecting-russia-to-donald-trumps-email-server/
- NPR via LAist: John Durham's case against lawyer Michael Sussmann ends in acquittal (May 31, 2022)https://laist.com/news/npr-news/john-durhams-case-against-lawyer-michael-sussmann-ends-in-acquittal
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: Slate (Franklin Foer): A Group of Computer Scientists Believes a Trump Server Was Communicating With a Russian Bank (Oct. 31, 2016)https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html
■ Grade
DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →