![]() Trump during a work-related trip after he was hired by Steele's firm. The document came under scrutiny after some of the accusations contained in it were cited by FBI investigators in an application to secure a warrant to surveil Page in October 2016 and then in three subsequent surveillance renewals.Īs part of a separate investigation into the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign and links to Russia, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee released last year a declassified summary of a three-day interview with a man identified as Steele's "primary sub-source," later revealed to be Danchenko, in late January 2017.Īccording to the documents, Danchenko told FBI investigators that Steele asked him to look for "compromising materials" about Mr. Trump and his 2016 campaign, some of which have since been shown to be false. The dossier was a collection of opposition research notes that contained unproven claims about Mr. "Certain allegations" Danchenko provided to Steele, which then appeared in the dossier, "mirrored and/or reflected information" the unnamed executive also received "through his own interactions with Russian nationals," the indictment alleged. ![]() The Justice Department said some of the information included in the dossier was gathered by Danchenko during a June 2016 trip to Moscow and at an October 2016 conference hosted at a Moscow hotel that was attended by the public relations executive, described in the report as a supporter of Hillary Clinton's. He was introduced to Steele around 2010 and then retained as a contractor for Steele's investigative firm, according to the indictment. The dossier, as well as the information collected by Danchenko, also played a role in the FBI's investigative decisions and in sworn declarations made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the indictment stated.ĭanchenko worked for several years as an analyst at the Brookings Institution, where he focused on Russian and Eurasian geopolitical matters. He also falsely stated that during the call, the purported chamber president told him about information described in the dossier as demonstrating a "conspiracy of cooperation" between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, and agreed to meet the chamber official in New York, according to prosecutors.īut federal investigators says Danchenko never received the phone call or information from the purported chamber president, and never made arrangements to meet the unidentified person in New York.ĭurham said the lies were "material to the FBI" for numerous reasons, as the investigation into the Trump campaign relied on the dossier to obtain the wiretap warrants on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, and the bureau devoted resources to investigate and corroborate the allegations in the dossier, including the reliability of Danchenko's sub-sources. The unidentified executive's role "as a contributor of information to the was highly relevant and material to the FBI's evaluation of those reports," the indictment stated.ĭanchenko also allegedly lied when he told agents that around July 2016, he received an anonymous phone call from a person he believed to be the president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. But the Justice Department alleged Danchenko sourced at least one accusation anonymously to the executive, described as a "long-time participant in Democratic Party politics" who was chairman of a national Democratic political organization, state chairman of former President Bill Clinton's 19 presidential campaigns, and an adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. ![]() resident, who was an executive at a public relations firm, about allegations in the dossier. In one instance, federal prosecutors said Danchenko falsely stated that he never communicated with an unidentified U.S. Danchenko's travel is restricted to the Washington, D.C., area. He was released on a $100,000 bond and required to surrender his passport within 24 hours. His attorney said he would plead not guilty. ![]() The false statements were allegedly made on five different occasions, from March 2017 to November 2017, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.ĭanchenko was arrested Thursday morning and appeared in court in Virginia later in the afternoon. Washington - A Russian analyst who worked with Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer behind a controversial dossier about former President Donald Trump and Russia, has been indicted on federal charges of making false statements to the FBI, according to the Justice Department.Ī federal grand jury charged Igor Danchenko, a 43-year-old Russian national living in Virginia, with five counts of lying to federal investigators about the sources of information he provided to Steele's firm, which was then included in the dossier passed to the FBI. New documents give more information on Steele Dossier source 01:57
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