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The ongoing trial of Russian analyst Igor Danchenko has brought more revelations about how the FBI pays for information, with testimony that the source was awarded $200,000 over a period of more than three years.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Helson testified about payments in Danchenko’s trial on charges of lying to the FBI, following a years-long investigation by Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham into the origins of the Russia investigation.
Helson told the court that Danchenko, who was a primary source for the infamous file of ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, was paid $3,000 for just one meeting.
It’s all part of Durham’s look at a series of missteps involved in the making of the file, including lecherous unsubstantiated allegations about Trump’s alleged behavior in a Moscow hotel room during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.
Durham’s team has emphasized that the FBI is using the file to enforce surveillance orders against former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
Helson testified that he paid an additional $346,000 when he was shut down as a source, Fox news reported, but was not approved. The work that earned him $200,000 came in three and a half years.
On payroll: Russian analyst Igor Danchenko is on trial for lying to the FBI about his sources. An FBI executive testified that Danchenko was paid $200,000 over three and a half years
That disclosure came days after FBI surveillance analyst Brian Auten testified that the FBI offered Steele $1 million in cash to prove the lecherous charges in the dossier he compiled on Trump, but that the agency didn’t hand over the money because Steele couldn’t. repay the receivables.
Danchenko is charged with lying to the FBI when questioned about his information, and is on trial at the Alexandria, Virginia federal courthouse.
He was charged on five counts with making false statements to the FBI about the file as agents rushed to verify the information. Prosecutors previously told the court that Danchenko fabricated one of his own sources and concealed the identity of another when he was interviewed by the agency.
Danchenko’s own sources are also under scrutiny and appear in the indictment.
News You Can Use: Charles Dolan Jr. testified that he provided information to Danchenko that he saw on TV about the Trump campaign intrigue involving Paul Manafort
Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele compiled the infamous dossier with material about Donald Trump and the then candidate’s ties to Russia. An FBI supervisor testified that Steele was offered $1 million to back up his information, but was unable to
Steele compiled a series of reports on ties between Trump figures and Russia, along with lecherous unproven allegations about Trump’s alleged behavior in a Moscow hotel room
One of them, Democratic PR Director Charles Dolan Jr., testified that he lied when passing information to Danchenko, who was seeking intelligence about the sudden resignation of Paul Manafort, former Trump 2016 campaign chairman.
Manafort had significant lobbying and financial ties to Kremlin-backed figures in Ukraine, and there were public reports of internal campaign tensions when he left. And it turns out that Dolan relied on public information that he was trying to pass on as inside dope.
Auten (pictured) testified that information from the Steele file was used to support a surveillance order against a Trump campaign official Carter Page, although the information could not be confirmed
Danchenko, in turn, passed on the information and it was included in the dossier, which contained other baseless and insipid accusations about Trump.
Dolan read from an August 19, 2016 where Danchenko sought information about the Manafort intrigue.
Dolan said he would “dig around” and later told Danchenko, “I had a drink with a GOP friend who knows the players.”
In the stands, he admitted that he had never met a GOP source, the Washington Times reported.
“I thought I’d embellish a little.” He said Dolan had helped him in the past and that he wanted to “throw a bone.”
“I thought I’d spice it up a bit to make it look like his contacts were good,” he said.
“You didn’t really have any prior knowledge, did you?” prosecutor Michael Keilty asked him.
“No,” he replied.
Dolan said he wasn’t sure why Danchenko was looking for the information at the time.
“You never talked to Mr. Danchenko about anything that showed up in the file, did you?” Attorney Stuart Sears asked him.
“Right,” Dolan replied.
Prosecutors read a portion of the file in court that said a Trump-affiliated political figure had provided the reasons behind “Manafort’s demise” and that it was “true that the revelations about corruption in Ukraine played a part in this, but also that several senior players close to Trump had wanted Manafort out, primarily to relinquish his control over strategy and policy formulation.”
Manafort was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for tax, bank fraud and corruption, but was pardoned by Trump.
His contacts with Russia were part of multiple Russia ties of Trump-linked figures included in the dossier.
Durham’s years of investigation have resulted in a single conviction — of FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith for manipulating an email used to justify surveillance. The trial of Hillary Clinton’s campaign attorney Michael Sussmann resulted in an acquittal.