Durham's Russiagate claim exposes FBI and DOJ's yearslong misinformation campaign
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
September 17, 2022 07:09 AM
The extent of a yearslong misinformation campaign by the FBI and Justice Department regarding the alleged main source of disgraced Christopher Steele’s Trump dossier has been laid bare by John Durham's latest court filing.
Igor Danchenko, a U.S.-based Russian lawyer charged with five counts of making false statements to the bureau, was cashing a check from the FBI as a paid informant from March 2017 to October 2020, special counsel Durham claimed.
The revelation, released ahead of the Russian national's trial next month, casts a shadow over statements made by the DOJ and the FBI in recent years, as both agencies spoke positively of their confidential informant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as well as the House and Senate.
The FBI also misled DOJ leadership about Danchenko.
The bureau put together “Talking Points re Crossfire Hurricane Cases” dated March 8, 2017, with the FBI misdirecting about Steele and Danchenko. At the meeting for DOJ and FBI leaders on March 6, 2017, then-FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe appeared to have led much of the presentation.
The FBI talking points referred to Steele as “CROWN” and repeated allegations in the dossier.
“CROWN’s reporting in this matter is derived primarily from a Russian-based source," the FBI incorrectly said. The bureau had already interviewed Danchenko multiple times and knew he was based near Washington, D.C., not Russia. The talking points also claimed that “the FBI has no control over the Russian-based sub-source.” The FBI made him an informant that month.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/fbi-mislead-danchenko-after-paid-confidential-informant
