{"id":1640697,"date":"2022-09-14T07:32:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T11:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1640697"},"modified":"2022-09-14T07:34:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T11:34:08","slug":"the-fbi-paid-for-russian-disinformation-to-frame-trump-and-7-other-takeaways-from-durhams-latest-court-filing-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-fbi-paid-for-russian-disinformation-to-frame-trump-and-7-other-takeaways-from-durhams-latest-court-filing-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The FBI Paid For Russian Disinformation To Frame Trump\u2014And 7 Other Takeaways From Durham\u2019s Latest Court Filing"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-fbi-paid-for-russian-disinformation-to-frame-trump-and-7-other-takeaways-from-durhams-latest-court-filing-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1640697&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The FBI put a contributor to the Hillary Clinton campaign\u2019s Donald Trump smear dossier on FBI payroll as a confidential human source after investigating Igor Danchenko for allegedly spying for the Russian government, revealed Special Counsel John Durham in a court filing unsealed by a Virginia federal court yesterday. The filing contains this bombshell and seven other significant details about the Democrat-led plot to use U.S. intelligence agencies to deny Americans the results of their choice for president in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI made Danchenko a confidential human source, providing him and the FBI\u2019s use of him \u201cnational security\u201d cover, in March 2017 and terminated that designation in October 2020, according to the court filing unsealed on Sept. 13. Danchenko is the <a href=\"https:\/\/technofog.substack.com\/p\/durham-shocker-danchenko-was-a-paid\">originator<\/a> of the false claim <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/donald-trump-pee-tape-golden-showers-explainer\">trumpeted<\/a> all over global media that Donald Trump told prostitutes to pee on beds the Obamas had slept in in a Russian hotel.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI had previously targeted Danchenko, Christopher Steele\u2019s primary source, as a possible Russian agent. But after discovering Danchenko\u2019s identity as Steele\u2019s Sub-Source No. 1, rather than investigate whether Danchenko had been feeding Steele Russian disinformation, the FBI paid Danchenko as a CHS.<\/p>\n<h2>Trial for Lying to the FBI to Take Down a President<\/h2>\n<p>Danchenko faces trial next month on five counts of lying to the FBI related to his role as Steele\u2019s primary sub-source. One count of the indictment concerned Danchenko\u2019s denial during an FBI interview on June 15, 2017, of having spoken with \u201cPR Executive-1\u201d about any material contained in the Steele dossier. \u201cPR Executive-1\u201d has since been identified as the Clinton and Democratic National Committee-connected Charles Dolan, Jr. Also according to the special counsel\u2019s office, Danchenko fed Steele at least two false claims about Trump that originated in part from Dolan.<\/p>\n<p>The four other counts of the indictment concerned Danchenko\u2019s allegedly false claims that he had spoken with a source whom he believed was the then-president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, Sergei Millian. Danchenko repeated that assertion during several different FBI interviews.<\/p>\n<p>Danchenko\u2019s trial begins next month, but two weeks ago, as part of the pre-trial process, the government filed a \u201cMotion in Limine,\u201d which seeks a ruling from the court on the admissibility of various evidence. While originally filed under seal, the court ordered the docket entry unsealed on Tuesday, making public more details about the case against the Russian national.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an overview of what we learned yesterday.<\/p>\n<h2>Witness: Danchenko Sought to Broker Putin\u2019s Purchase of Classified Intel<\/h2>\n<p>While it has previously been reported that Danchenko was a subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation from 2009 to 2011, the special counsel\u2019s motion revealed more specifics. Specifically, the prosecution explained that \u201cin late 2008, while the defendant was employed by a prominent think tank in Washington, D.C., the defendant engaged two fellow employees about whether one of the employees might be willing or able in the future to provide classified information in exchange for money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to one employee,\u201d the court filing continued, Danchenko thought the employee \u201cmight be in a position to enter the incoming Obama administration and have access to classified information.\u201d Danchenko allegedly then told the employee \u201che had access to people who would be willing to pay money in exchange for classified information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The think-tank employee relayed the information to a government contact, who passed it on to the FBI. The FBI then initiated a \u201cpreliminary investigation\u201d into Danchenko but converted it to a \u201cfull investigation\u201d after learning Danchenko \u201chad been identified as an associate of two FBI counterintelligence subjects\u201d and \u201chad previous contact with the Russian Embassy and known Russian intelligence officers.\u201d Durham also noted that Danchenko \u201chad also informed one Russian intelligence officer that he had interest in entering the Russian diplomatic service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The special counsel further revealed the FBI closed its investigation in 2010 after incorrectly concluding Danchenko had left the country.<\/p>\n<p>In its motion in limine, Durham\u2019s team argues this evidence is important to its case because it will establish that Danchenko\u2019s lies to the FBI were \u201cmaterial.\u201d Specifically, the FBI argues that had Danchenko truthfully told the FBI that he had discussed some of the content in the dossier with Dolan, the FBI might have interviewed Dolan or obtained Dolan\u2019s emails.<\/p>\n<p>That line of inquiry would have revealed the possibility that Danchenko was a Russian asset, the special counsel\u2019s motion argues, noting that \u201cDolan, on two separate occasions, stated in emails dated June 10, 2016, and January 13, 2017, that he believed the defendant was \u2018former FSB\u2019 and a Russian \u2018agent.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Had the FBI learned from Dolan that Danchenko was connected to the Russian intelligence services, \u201cthis naturally would have (or should have) caused investigators to revisit the prior counterintelligence investigation,\u201d Durham argues, and \u201craise[d] the prospect that the defendant might have in fact been under the control or guidance of the Russian intelligence services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While this revelation is spicy, Danchenko\u2019s attorneys will quickly dispatch this argument by pointing out that if the FBI\u2019s own counterintelligence investigation into Danchenko that included the details noted above didn\u2019t \u201craise the prospect\u201d that Danchenko was \u201cunder the control or guidance of the Russian intelligence services,\u201d surely Dolan\u2019s beliefs would not alter the trajectory of the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Further, because this evidence consists of \u201ccharacter\u201d or \u201cbad acts\u201d evidence, even if it helps the government build its materiality argument, the court will likely rule it inadmissible as \u201cunfairly prejudicial\u201d to Danchenko, meaning that it may cause a jury to wrongly convict Danchenko because of his past conduct, not because of his current alleged crime.<\/p>\n<h2>The FBI Paid for Russian Disinformation to Target a U.S. President<\/h2>\n<p>A second shocker from the Sept. 13 court filing concerned Danchenko\u2019s hiring as a paid CHS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn March 2017, the FBI signed the defendant up as a paid confidential human source of the FBI,\u201d the special counsel revealed in the motion. It was not until October 2020 that \u201cthe FBI terminated its source relationship with\u201d Danchenko.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put: Our federal government paid for Russian disinformation to frame the president of the United States for colluding with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI did this knowing that Danchenko \u201cwas associate of two FBI counterintelligence subjects\u201d; \u201chad previous contact with the Russian Embassy and known Russian intelligence officers\u201d; \u201chad also informed one Russian intelligence officer that he had interest in entering the Russian diplomatic service\u201d; and, according to a think-tank employee, suggested he had contacts willing to purchase classified information.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s team continued to use Danchenko as a paid CHS even knowing his stories were fabrications. In fact, Mueller\u2019s team was so focused on getting Trump, it completely <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/05\/06\/major-report-omission-shows-mueller-either-incompetent-political-hack\/\">ignored<\/a> whether the Steele dossier included Russian disinformation.<\/p>\n<h2>Hillary Paid for Russian Disinformation Too<\/h2>\n<p>Not only did the FBI pay for Russian disinformation, so did Clinton, and she did so to interfere in the 2016 election. The public already knew from Durham\u2019s (failed) prosecution of Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann that the campaign paid Fusion GPS for opposition research. Fusion in turn hired Steele to dig up dirt on Trump.<\/p>\n<p>That trial also revealed that Clinton personally approved pushing a smaller aspect of the Russia-collusion hoax, namely the Alfa-Bank secret communications hoax.<\/p>\n<p>From yesterday\u2019s filing we now know the primary sub-source for the Steele dossier paid for by Clinton was not merely a Russian national who fabricated the \u201cintel,\u201d but also a suspected Russian agent. Tuesday\u2019s motion also highlighted the fact that longtime Clinton backer \u201cDolan maintained a relationship with several high-ranking Russian government officials who appear in the Steele Reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, for all her vapors over Trump\u2019s connections with Russia and his supposed collusion with Russia to interfere in the election, the evidence shows Clinton holds that dishonor.<\/p>\n<h2>Lies, Damn Lies, and Sources<\/h2>\n<p>Durham\u2019s motion also revealed what appears to be the \u201ctradecraft\u201d of the spooks for hire, in the form of a February 24, 2016 email Danchenko sent his former boss, Cenk Sidar. Sidar, who ran the business intelligence firm Sidar Globak, asked Danchenko to review a report he had prepared. <\/p>\n<p>After reviewing the draft, Danchenko emailed Sidar recommendations on how to improve the report, including the following suggestion: \u201cEmphasize sources. Make them bold or CAPITALISED. The more sources the better. If you lack them, use oneself as a source (\u2018Istanbul-Washington-based businessman\u2019 or whatever) to save the situation and make it look a bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The government seeks to admit this email to show that Danchenko followed a similar or \u201ccommon plan\u201d when working for Steele by creating sources \u201cto save the situation,\u201d such as what the prosecution maintains Danchenko did with Millian. This argument holds merit, and the trial court accordingly will likely allow Durham\u2019s team to tell the jury about the email.<\/p>\n<h2>The FBI\u2019s \u2018Investigation\u2019 Makes Maxwell Smart Look Like Jack Ryan<\/h2>\n<p>While corruption may be a better explanation than incompetence, either way the special counsel\u2019s brief leaves the FBI looking like fools. First, the bureau closed an investigation on a suspected Russian asset after wrongly thinking Danchenko had left the country. Then the FBI paid that suspected Russian agent to serve as a confidential human source, with Danchenko then telling agents a litany of lies, including ones that should have been obvious.<\/p>\n<p>For example, as the motion highlights, Danchenko claimed to agents that Millian might be the source for the \u201cpee-tape\u201d info. But those allegations appeared in Steele\u2019s report dated June 20, 2016, and Danchenko \u201crepeatedly informed the FBI that the first and only time he allegedly communicated with Millian was late July 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut bluntly,\u201d the special counsel wrote, \u201cthese facts demonstrate that the defendant could not keep his lies straight, and that the defendant engaged in a concerted effort to deceive the FBI about the sourcing (or lack thereof) of the Steele Reports.\u201d Unless they were corrupt, this indicates the FBI agents investigating Trump were a bunch of incompetent boobs.<\/p>\n<p>The special counsel\u2019s team further exposed the incompetence (or corruption) of the FBI when it introduced the public to Bemd Kuhlen, a German citizen who served as the general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Moscow in June 2016, when the pee-tape tale was purportedly sourced. The Steele dossier described the source as \u201ca senior (western) member of staff at the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Durham, Kuhlen is prepared to testify at Danchenko\u2019s trial that at the time he was the only \u201cwestern\u201d member of management at the hotel. Kuhlen will also testify that he never heard any story resembling Steele\u2019s reporting until it became public and never discussed those claims with Danchenko.<\/p>\n<p>If six years after the fact prosecutors could locate and question Kuhlen, the Crossfire Hurricane team could have done the same for Steele\u2019s reporting, quickly disproving the dossier. If they wanted to, that is.<\/p>\n<h2>Steele Was Duped\u2014That\u2019s Our Story and We\u2019re Sticking to It<\/h2>\n<p>Yesterday\u2019s motion revealed another unsettling fact: Prosecutors appear poised to continue with the company storyline that Steele and in turn the FBI were duped. In its motion, the government notes that Danchenko \u201cinformed Steele that he met in person with Sergei Millian on two or three occasions,\u201d and that Danchenko \u201csubsequently informed the FBI that he had not in fact met with Millian on any occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, how does the special counsel address this discrepancy? Danchenko \u201cfurther stated to the FBI that Steele incorrectly believed the defendant had met in-person with Millian\u201d and that \u201cDanchenko had not corrected Steele in that misimpression.\u201d It was all just a big misunderstanding, folks, until Danchenko lied to the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>This short section of the motion shows Durham does not intend to expose the FBI\u2019s complicity at Danchenko\u2019s trial. While Durham may not want to put the FBI on trial, Danchenko has made clear that he intends to. Unless the special counsel\u2019s team acknowledges the FBI\u2019s role in the Russia collusion hoax, Danchenko will likely <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/06\/special-counsel-must-choose-risk-a-russia-hoaxers-second-acquittal-or-expose-more-deep-state-dirt\/\">score<\/a> the second acquittal.<\/p>\n<h2>Star Witness Says, \u2018No, Thanks\u2019 To Testifying<\/h2>\n<p>Four of the five counts against Danchenko concern Danchenko\u2019s allegedly false statements to the FBI about a telephone conversation Danchenko claimed he had with an individual he thought was Millian. Under these circumstances, Millian would seem to be a star witness for Durham. But in the motion in limine, the special counsel revealed that Millian refuses to testify because of \u201cconcerns for his and his family\u2019s safety (who reside abroad)\u201d and because \u201che does not trust the FBI and fears being arrested if he returns to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While \u201cthe Government has repeatedly informed Millian that it will work to ensure his security during his time in the United States, as it does with all witnesses,\u201d Millian remains firm in his refusal. And who can blame him? Even if Durham can provide physical security for Millian, Durham doesn\u2019t run the Department of Justice. As the recent raid on Trump\u2019s home shows, the deep state will go to great lengths to get its enemies.<\/p>\n<p>After establishing that it used its best efforts to arrange for Millian to testify at Danchenko\u2019s trial, the government argues that because he is \u201cunavailable,\u201d as that term is legally understood, three emails Millian wrote to a friend are admissible, even if they are hearsay. Those emails show that a mutual acquaintance attempted to connect Millian and Danchenko and that Millian later figured out Danchenko was Steele\u2019s source who invented the story of the phone call.<\/p>\n<p>The government presents a persuasive argument that these emails should be admitted at trial, and the court will likely agree, meaning Millian\u2019s prudent absence from the trial is unlikely to prompt an acquittal.<\/p>\n<h2>Strange Cyprus Things<\/h2>\n<p>A final takeaway from yesterday\u2019s filing stems from the special counsel\u2019s mention of Cyprus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn June 10, 2016, Dolan, while in Cyprus meeting with Olga Galkina (another source for the defendant), emailed a U.S.-based acquaintance regarding efforts to assist the defendant in obtaining a U.S. visa,\u201d the motion says. It quotes the email: \u201cMonday night I fly to Moscow and will meet with a Russian guy who is working with me on a couple of projects. He also works for a group of former MI 6 guys in London who do intelligence for business \u2026. [H]e owes me as his Visa is being held up and I am having a word with the Ambassador.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The special counsel\u2019s office included these details to establish that Danchenko had lied to the FBI about facts beyond those contained in the indictment. This helps Durham\u2019s case by showing Danchenko\u2019s allegedly false statements were not mere mistakes. The reference to Cyprus, however, also raises an entirely new set of questions.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Dolan\u2019s presence in Cyprus on June 10, 2016, where he met with another of Danchenko\u2019s sources, we have a June 1, 2016 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/15poundstogo\/status\/1569786622870437888\">email<\/a> to President Obama\u2019s undersecretary for State Victoria Nuland noting that \u201cKathleen [Kavalec] is recommending [she] look at the first 10 days of July for a Cyprus trip.\u201d Nuland <a href=\"https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/2016\/07\/12\/cyprus-talks-bilateral-ties-regional-issues-nuland-visit-nicosia\/\">made<\/a> the trip on July 12, 2016.<\/p>\n<p>On July 1, 2016, Steele emailed the DOJ\u2019s Bruce Ohr, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProfMJCleveland\/status\/1569784440145969154\">noting<\/a> that Steele was traveling to Cyprus with his family on holiday from July 9 to 16, 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Nuland\u2019s presence in Cyprus at the same time as Steele seems a tad too coincidental to ignore. After all, Nuland, who \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2019\/05\/11\/state-department-steele-dossier\/\">served<\/a> as Kavalec\u2019s boss at the bureau of European and Eurasian affairs, was the government official who approved an FBI agent in Rome meeting Steele in early July 2016.\u201d Steele would later also meet with Kavalec in D.C. in October 2016 about his Trump reporting. Jonathan Winer, who knew Steele since 2009 and <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2019\/05\/11\/state-department-steele-dossier\/\">reportedly<\/a> met with Steele in the Summer of 2016, appears to have arranged the Steele-Kavalec meeting.<\/p>\n<p>The overlapping players and timeframe demand answers. Did Steele meet with Nuland in Cyprus? If so, was Steele alerted to Nuland\u2019s travel plans? What did the duo discuss? Did Steele or Nuland meet with Dolan or the Cyprus sub-source?<\/p>\n<p>While Cyprus may well be a nothingburger, the FBI launched a full investigation into Trump\u2019s presidential campaign on less.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s extremely unlikely that Danchenko\u2019s trial will answer any of these Cyprus questions. But future filings and the anticipated week-plus trial may fill in some of the other Spygate blanks.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Margot Cleveland is The Federalist&#8217;s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. <\/p>\n<p>Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize\u2014the law school\u2019s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. <\/p>\n<p>As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FBI put a contributor to the Hillary Clinton campaign\u2019s Donald Trump smear dossier on FBI payroll as a confidential human source after investigating Igor Danchenko for allegedly spying for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":499,"featured_media":1640701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1640697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1640701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1640697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1640697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}