Durham Speaks Out After Anti-Trump Dossier Source Found Not Guilty
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A jury has found Russian national Igor Danchenko not guilty on four false statements charges, declining to convict him for the allegations that the main source of British ex-spy Christopher Steele had lied to the FBI about his sourcing for the discredited anti-Trump dossier.
The jury reached their decision on Tuesday after less than two days of deliberations, delivering John Durham another defeat in his long-running investigation of the Trump-Russia investigators after the special counsel lost another false statements case against a Clinton campaign lawyer in May.
According to Durham’s November 2021 indictment, Danchenko anonymously sourced a fabricated claim about Trump 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort to Charles Dolan, a Clinton ally who spent years, including 2016, doing work for Russian businesses and the Russian government, but in a blow to Durham’s case, the judge threw out that charge before the jury could decide on it. Durham’s indictment also alleged Danchenko lied to the FBI about a phone call he claims he received from someone he believed was Sergei Millian, a Belarus-born U.S. citizen and businessman the Steele source had said told him about a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between then-candidate Donald Trump and the Russians, which the special counsel said is false.
DURHAM SLAMS FBI FOR BOTCHING TRUMP-RUSSIA INVESTIGATION IN CLOSING DANCHENKO ARGUMENTS
Danchenko briefly appeared outside the federal courthouse with his wife and legal team after the verdict was handed down, though he did not speak.
“We’ve known all along that Mr. Danchenko was innocent,” Danchenko lawyer Stuart Sears said in a brief statement. “We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well. We thank these jurors for their hard work and deliberations in making the right call, and that’s all we have at this time.” Sears declined to take questions from reporters.
Durham released a statement by email. “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service,” the statement said. “I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.”
The verdict came after Durham took aim at the FBI in the closing stages of his trial on Monday.
Addressing the “elephant in the room” at the trial, Durham made it clear that he believed the FBI had botched up its Trump-Russia investigation but that lies told to the bureau about Steele’s dossier still mattered.
Durham said that “the FBI mishandled the investigation at issue” and that “the FBI didn’t do what they should have done” in the inquiry, bluntly saying that “the FBI failed here.” He said the jury did not have to “feel bad for the FBI
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