FACT CHECK: Is Halyna Hutchins' Husband a Hillary Clinton Attorney Who Was Indicted In Russia Probe?

The attorney who was actually indicted was Michael Sussmann, who has no relation or link with Matt Hutchins.

Alec Balwin's Rust has been in news for the past week following the tragedy on set that saw cinematographer Halyna Hutchins getting killed after a prop gun that had live rounds accidentally discharged. Tributes have been pouring in from all corners for Hutchins amid ongoing police investigations.

In between all these, many have raised doubts about the identity of Hutchins widower, who is an ace lawyer. Claims have been doing the rounds on social media over the past couple of days that Hutchins husband is the same Hillary Clinton attorney who was indicted in the Russia probe last month for making false statements to FBI investigators.

The Claim

Halyna Hutchins with husband Matt Hutchins
Halyna Hutchins with husband Matt Hutchins Twitter

Truth is that the claim is completely baseless although Hutchins' husband Matt Hutchins is a lawyer. On Sunday, a claim started doing the rounds on Instagram by one of the users named @ryanweavercountry. The post straightaway claimed that Matt Hutchin's was the lawyer associated with Hillary Clinton who was indicted in the U.S. Justice Department's Russia probe on September 16 for making a false statement to FBI investigators.

To put things simple and straight, there is no truth in the claim. Matt Hutchins wasn't the attorney who was indicted. The attorney who was actually indicted was Michael Sussmann, who has no relation or link with Matt Hutchins.

False Claim Hutchins
This is how the claim looked like on Instagram, which has since been removed for being fake Instagram

Matt Hutchins and his son are in mourning since the freak accident that killed cinematographer wife after a real bullet hit her in the chest that was unknowingly fired by Baldwin while shooting for the movie Rust.

Since then tributes have been pouring in from all corners. Even Matt Hutchins mourned his wife's death in a twitter post on October 22.

The Origin of the Claim

The only faint relation that can be drawn between Matt Hutchins and Sussmann is the firm the former works for. Matt Hutchins works at the law firm Latham & Watkins. When Sussmann was indicated he was working as a lawyer for Perkins Coie. However, following his indictment, Sussmann resigned and the company's website also doesn't feature his name.

On the other hand, the two attorneys, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, who were representing Sussmann, work at Latham & Watkins, the same firm Matt Hutchins works at.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
Halyna Hutchins Instagram @halynahutchins

This is the only faint connection between Matt Hutchins and Sussmann. Even Latham & Watkins have confirmed that he works with them but has no other relation with the Russia probe.

Hence it can safely be said that the entirely claim is baseless and false. However, what is worse is that it comes at a time when the cinematographer's family is in shock and mourning her untimely death.

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