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CNN —Former President Donald Trump is suing retired British intelligence officer Christopher Steele over the controversial dossier he compiled which shook Washington with its unverified and salacious allegations about Trump. Multiple US government inquiries uncovered dozens of contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russians, which have since been acknowledged. The money trail behind the Steele dossier has also been a subject of intense political scrutiny for years. About one year after the 2016 election, it became public that Steele was indirectly paid by Democrats to research Trump. Steele has faced a series of civil lawsuits in the US and UK stemming from the dossier.

Persons: Donald Trump, Christopher Steele, Steele, Orbis Business Intelligence –, Trump, Tim Lowles, John Durham, Steele’s handiwork, Igor Danchenko, ” “, Danchenko, ” Steele, Hillary Clinton’s, Perkins Coie, Clinton’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, Orbis Business Intelligence, Kremlin, London’s, Department, Democratic National Committee, Fusion, DNC, FBI Locations: Washington, Russia, Durham, Trump

☆ Why the Durham Report Matters to Democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The final report by special prosecutor John Durham. Special counsel John Durham ’s final report makes clear that a partisan FBI became a funnel for disinformation from the Hillary Clinton campaign through a secret investigation the bureau never should have launched. The 306-page Durham report released Monday afternoon is far more comprehensive than anything issued by original special counsel Robert Mueller . Mr. Durham had already unfurled some of the narrative with his prosecutions of Russian national Igor Danchenko and Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann . He lost those cases, though the indictments laid out how the Clinton campaign used foreign nationals, an oppo-research outfit, and political insiders to feed the FBI and the media lies about Trump collusion.

☆ US special counsel faults FBI's handling of 2016 Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI lacked “actual evidence” to investigate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and relied too heavily on tips provided by Trump’s political opponents to fuel the probe, U.S. Special Counsel John Durham concluded in a report released on Monday. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at his final campaign event at the Devos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. November 8, 2016. That Crossfire Hurricane investigation would later be handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 concluded there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. In his new 306-page report, Durham concluded that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement did not possess any “actual evidence” of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia prior to launching Crossfire Hurricane. He also accused the bureau of treating the 2016 Trump probe differently from other politically sensitive investigations, including several involving Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

☆ Special counsel issues report criticizing FBI for launching Trump-Russia investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The special counsel who spent four years investigating the Trump-Russia probe accused the FBI of acting negligently by opening the investigation based on vague and insufficient information in a sweeping 300-page report made public Monday. The FBI responded to the report, indicating that the missteps identified by Durham have already been addressed. Durham's report examines in painstaking detail various aspects of the now infamous FBI investigation code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," which led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Durham's investigation found that at the time, neither the FBI nor CIA had any intelligence suggesting an improper relationship between Trump and Russia. Durham appears to suggest that the intelligence information should have given the FBI pause in its pursuit of allegations involving the Trump campaign.

☆ Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched full Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen Devan Cole Tierney Sneed Evan Perez Hannah Rabinowitz Jeremy Herb Marshall Cohen | Zachary Cohen | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. Mixed results over 3+ yearsBarr tapped Durham in 2019 to review the origins of the Russia probe, and the scope of Durham’s work grew over the years. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which inherited the initial Russia probe, released a detailed accounting of Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but investigators documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

☆ John Durham Finds Russiagate’s Rosetta Stone
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Throw in a few real names and places to make your inventions believable and people will believe them. This is the method of many a disgraced journalist such as the New York Times ’s Jayson Blair and the Washington Post’s Janet Cooke . It was the method of the Steele dossier fabulists Igor Danchenko and his boss Christopher Steele . It was also the method of the most consequential fabricator of all, whoever dreamed up the presumably fake email exchange between then-Democratic Party chief Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and activist Leonard Benardo of the Open Society Foundation. This imaginary exchange may have made Donald Trump president.

☆ Judge fined a group of Trump lawyers $50k each for filing meritless and mistake-strewn lawsuit against Hillary Clinton
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A group of Trump lawyers was fined over a failed case alleging a vast pro-Clinton conspiracy. The judge called it a "deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda." On Friday, Judge Donald Middlebrooks slammed the failed case, describing it as "a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda." In particular, Trump's lawyers accused Dolan of being the source of the dossier's infamous claims of an encounter between Trump and prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. But the case failed to establish this, and made several basic errors in the process, Middlebrook said.

As in Danchenko’s trial, Durham failed to convict Sussmann of making false statements to the FBI. And therein lies the reason underlying Durham’s losing trial record. On Monday, during Durham’s closing argument against Danchenko, the special prosecutor made a point of rebuking the FBI’s 2016 investigation. The Hartford Courant reported her concern about “pressure from Barr ... to produce results before the election.”Durham, however, stuck with Barr. And Barr’s energetic attempts after Jan. 6 to rehabilitate his image cannot erase his sad final legacy as a Trump enabler.

☆ Analyst who provided Trump-Russia dossier information acquitted of lying to FBI
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Julia Jester | Julia Jester Is A Producer For Nbc News Based In Washington | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Prosecutors alleged Danchenko provided false information to the FBI in 2017 when the agency was trying to verify information in a dossier detailing Trump’s alleged ties to Russia that was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The largely unsubstantiated dossier was used by the FBI to support its surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Millian has denied being a source of information for the dossier. When asked by the FBI whether he had talked to Dolan for the information, Danchenko said he had not. Trump had called the dossier fake news and evidence of a political witch hunt against him.

☆ Igor Danchenko Acquitted of Lying to FBI About Trump-Russia Dossier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ALEXANDRIA, Va.— Igor Danchenko , a consultant whose information comprised the bulk of the 2016 “Steele dossier,” was acquitted Tuesday of lying to the FBI, leaving special counsel John Durham with losses in both cases he took to trial as his yearslong inquiry into the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election winds down. Over four days in federal court outside Washington, D.C., Mr. Durham sought to portray Mr. Danchenko as fabricating one of his own sources and concealing another one when the FBI questioned him in 2017 about where he obtained the allegations he provided to ex-British spy Christopher Steele , who was paid by Democratic operatives to collect opposition research on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and alleged ties to the Kremlin.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A Russian researcher who contributed explosive details to the "Steele dossier" that alleged ties between former President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia was acquitted on Tuesday on charges he lied to the FBI about the sources of his intelligence. "While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service," Durham said in a statement. The decision marks the second defeat for Durham and his team of prosecutors. Earlier this year, a jury in Washington, D.C., acquitted Michael Sussmann, an attorney for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, of charges he lied to the FBI when he passed along a later discredited tip about possible communications between Trump's business and a Russian bank. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Tim AhmannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FBI offered former British spy behind the discredited 'pee tape' dossier up to $1m to prove Trump-Russia links, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FBI offered a British ex-spy up to $1m to prove Trump's ties to Russia, per The Times of London. A senior FBI analyst revealed this during the trial of the Steele dossier's primary source — Igor Danchenko. Christopher Steele could not verify his allegations, and the money was not paid out. Danchenko, a Russian citizen, was sent by Steele to search for material on Trump, The Times said. The Mueller report contained passing references to some of the allegations in the dossier.

☆ Durham’s Steele Dossier Case Hits Hurdles From His Own FBI Witnesses
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Igor Danchenko is accused of lying to FBI agents as they probed Russian interference in the 2016 election. ALEXANDRIA, Va.—A central source for a salacious 2016 dossier on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump became a valuable informant for the FBI and agents who worked with him thought he was telling the truth, FBI employees testified this week. Their testimony, as witnesses in a case brought by the prosecution, presented serious challenges to Special Counsel John Durham ’s case against consultant Igor Danchenko on charges of lying to the FBI, the second case Mr. Durham has brought in his yearslong inquiry into actions FBI agents took as they probed Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mr. Durham engaged in heated confrontations with two of his primary witnesses, including at the end of Thursday with FBI agent Kevin Helson.

☆ Trial Opens for Igor Danchenko, Key Source of Discredited Steele Dossier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Igor Danchenko, who is charged with five counts of making false statements to the FBI, arrived at the courthouse for his trial in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday. ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Prosecutors revisited the tumultuous 2016 presidential campaign as they opened their case against Igor Danchenko, saying the analyst who had served as a central source for a dossier of opposition research material about then-candidate Donald Trump and his alleged ties to Russia repeatedly lied to the FBI at a crucial moment in an unprecedented inquiry. “This is a false-statements case, about lies that the FBI relied on in a historic investigation,” assistant special counsel Michael Keilty told jurors on Tuesday, describing how the Federal Bureau of Investigation raced to determine the validity of the dossier’s allegations that the Trump campaign was coordinating with the Russian government to influence the presidential election.

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