A lawyer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign lied to the FBI to "manipulate" the agency in order to win the election, a court has heard.

Arguments in the trial of Michael Sussman have begun with prosecutors saying he hoped to create an "October surprise" in the race's final weeks.

Mr Sussman has pleaded not guilty.

He is the first defendant to go on trial in an investigation into the FBI's original probe of Donald Trump's ties with Russia.

The charges arise from a meeting between Mr Sussman, a cyber-security lawyer, and an FBI agent in 2016.

Mr Sussman presented what he claimed was evidence of suspicious internet traffic connecting the Trump Organization to Russia's Alfa Bank. The FBI looked into the allegation and found nothing suspicious.

Prosecutors say he lied by not disclosing in the meeting that he was working for the Democrat's campaign. The indictment charges that he claimed not to be representing any particular client and that he presented h