Samuel Case, FISM News
Igor Danchenko, a former analyst at the Brookings Institution and a key source in the dossier that claimed former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia, was arrested on Thursday for lying to the FBI. Danchenko is the latest individual to be charged from special investigator John Durham’s probe into the origin of the Trump-Russia FBI investigation.
Danchenko, a Russian citizen, served as a primary source for Christopher Steele, the man who composed the now infamous Steele dossier at the behest of the Clinton campaign. Danchenko admits the information he provided was largely based on “rumor and speculation.” The dossier, which has been widely debunked, was used as a basis for a court application to investigate Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
According to newly unsealed documents, Danchenko lied to the FBI five times during the course of several interviews in 2017. Danchenko told the FBI he never spoke with Chuck Dolan, a longtime Democrat operative with connections to the Clinton campaign. However, the indictment says that Danchenko had, in fact, used Dolan as an anonymous source for multiple claims in the dossier.
The indictment says that the information provided by Dolan “included the allegation that there were communications ongoing between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and that the caller had indicated the Kremlin might be of help in getting Trump elected.”
Danchenko faces five counts of lying to the FBI and could face up to five years in prison for each count. In September, attorney Michael Sussmann was indicted on similar charges as a result of the Durham investigation.