(Bloomberg) — A Russian business analyst who was the primary source of a 2016 dossier on Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia was acquitted of charges he lied to the FBI, in a blow to the special prosecutor probing the agency’s investigation.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Igor Danchenko, 44, was found not guilty Tuesday of lying about the suspected identity of a Russian source he said called him anonymously to report a “well developed conspiracy” between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Kremlin — a tip that was never borne out.
It was the second loss for Special Counsel John Durham, who was tapped under the Trump administration to probe the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry and who prosecuted the case at trial himself. His first Trump-Russia trial — against a former lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s campaign who was also accused of lying to the FBI while providing a tip — ended in acquittal as well.
Durham declined to comment on the verdict as he left court.
Fuel for Democrats
The Danchenko verdict could fuel Democratic criticism that the probe of the FBI’s Russia inquiry is a politically motivated remnant of the Trump administration. It may also deprive the former president of a valuable talking point as he weighs another White House run in 2024.
Danchenko and his wife showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read out. Outside the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, his lawyer Danny Onorato said his team “knew all along that Mr. Danchenko was innocent.”
Read More: Trump-Russia Dossier Source on Trial for Alleged Lies to FBI
“We are happy now the American public knows that as well,” he said.
The jury reached its verdict after more than eight hours of deliberation
Government Overreach
Danchenko attorney Stuart A. Sears has called the prosecution “a case of extraordinary government overreach.” He has accused the US of charging his client over “ambiguous” statements to FBI agents in a series of 2017 interviews that didn’t have any material impact on the direction of Durham’s probe.
Danchenko said the tip came from an unknown caller in early July 2016. He told FBI agents he believed the caller was the former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, Sergei Millian. The government claimed Danchenko fabricated the call.
Read More: Russian Analyst’s Freedom May Hinge on Definition of ‘Talked’
The government’s case took a hit four days into the trial when US District Judge Anthony Trenga threw out one of five counts after finding prosecutors hadn’t presented a minimum amount of evidence to justify letting the jury decide.
The count related to prosecutors’ claim that Danchenko lied when he said he hadn’t talked about his Trump-Russia research with a Democratic political operative named Charles Dolan, who had worked on every recent Democratic presidential campaign. The US said Dolan provided information to Danchenko that wound up in the dossier.
Steele Dossier
Danchenko argued he had answered the question truthfully because he’d emailed with Dolan rather than spoken directly with him. The judge agreed.
The release of the Steele dossier, named for the former British spy who wrote it, caused an uproar ahead of the election, which Trump won. Some of the dossier’s elements did pan out, including its finding that Russia was systematically interfering in the election and wanted Trump to beat Clinton.
The case is USA v. Danchenko, 21-cr-00245, US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).
(Adds details and context in third through eighth paragraphs.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
