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Russian analyst Igor Danchenko has been cleared of all charges of lying to the FBI in their investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, in a stunning setback to Special Counsel John Durham.
Danchenko was a primary source of British spy Christopher Steele’s dossier alleging Trump had ties to Russia before the 2020 election.
He was accused of lying to the FBI when agents attempted to verify information in the infamous file, including lecherous and unverified allegations about Trump’s alleged behavior in a Moscow hotel room.
The verdict came in a lawsuit that spawned a series of revelations about the infamous file and its own intelligence-gathering techniques, including testimony that the FBI offered to pay Steele, a former British intelligence officer, $1 million in cash to cover the lecherous allegations. in the file.
FBI surveillance analyst Brian Auten testified that the agency made the offer in 2016 at a meeting in the United Kingdom — but didn’t hand over the money because Steele couldn’t substantiate the evidence.
The special counsel appointed by President Trump has had a mixed record in his years of investigation, which began as an effort to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation and any FBI misconduct.
Trump has repeatedly railed against the Russia probe, branding it a “witch hunt” and repeatedly deriding “Russia, Russia, Russia” before and since his departure.
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
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 campaign attorney Michael Sussmann also led to acquittal.
In an early sign of where things were headed, Judge Anthony Trenga had already dropped a fifth indictment in the case before it went to the jury for deliberation.
In the tally that was thrown out, prosecutors claimed that Danchenko lied to the FBI when he told an agent that he had never “talked” to a Democratic agent named Charles Dolan about the information on the file.
It turned out that there was evidence that Dolan and Danchenko had discussed the information via email. Defense attorneys argued that Danchenko’s response was literally true because they were not speaking verbally, and the question the FBI agent asked specifically referred to talking.
The verdict is another setback for Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham
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
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
The verdict came in a case that brought new revelations about how the FBI gathered information from its network of sources, even as prosecutors failed to convince the jury that Danchenko was lying about his own role.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Helson testified that the source was awarded $200,000 over a period of more than three years.
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.
Danchenko’s is the third case Durham has brought and there is speculation that it could be his last.
The trial brought intense focus to the Steele case, as Durham personally participated in parts of the trial.
In addition to revealing FBI payments to information sources, it revealed aspects of the murky world of private intelligence gathering, where information can be broken up, obtained anonymously, and sometimes repackaged to make it appear solid in intelligence reports sent to clients. be willing to pay for.
One player in the trial, Democratic PR exec 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.
Dolan told Danchenko in a 2016 email offered as proof that he would “dig around” following news of a Trump campaign rift that resulted in Manafort’s departure.
“I had a drink with a GOP friend who knows the players,” Dolan told him.
But in the stands, he admitted that he had never met a GOP source. “I thought I’d embellish a little.” Dolan said Danchenko had helped him in the past and that he wanted to “throw a bone.”
Durham issued a statement in response to the verdict. “While we are disappointed with the result, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service,” he said.
“I also want to acknowledge and thank the investigators and the team of prosecutors,” he continued.