A federal judge on Thursday questioned the relevance of allegations Special Counsel John Durham’s team made in a pretrial filing in the case against former Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussmann after those allegations generated a furious response in right-wing media and caught the attention of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper navigated the fallout from the filing during a status conference in the politically charged case, warning attorneys involved that outside observers may use the case to push different agendas.