Durham Arrests Christopher Steele's Top Dossier Source
Federal agents arrest Igor Danchenko in Special Counsel John Durham’s probe
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The primary source for British spy Christopher Steele's infamous anti-Trump dossier has been arrested as part of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigations, according to reports.
On Thursday, federal agents arrested Igor Danchenko, the primary researcher for debunked "Steele Dossier."
The explosive move is part of Durham’s probe into the origins of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The New York Times (NYT) first reported that Danchenko was taken into custody on Thursday morning but details of the indictment are still sealed.
Danchenko was employed by Steele’s firm, Orbis Business International.
However, he was previously investigated during the Obama administration as part of an investigation into suspected Russian spies operating in Washington, DC.
Before his time at Orbis, Danchenko worked as a Russia analyst at the liberal Brookings Institute.
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During his time at the institute, Danchenko first became known for accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of plagiarizing his economics dissertation.
SCOOP: The arrest of the analyst, Igor Danchenko, is part of the special counsel inquiry led by John H. Durham, who was appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation for any wrongdoing. https://t.co/6U7WhlaKbY
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) November 4, 2021
The details of the charges against Danchenko are not yet known, since Durham’s indictment is sealed.
Danchenko claimed to have interviewed six individuals as part of his work on the Steele dossier.
He falsely claimed they had knowledge of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
However, evidence of the fabrications began to emerge when Danchenko contradicted many of the dossier’s key assertions during a 2017 FBI interview.
The FBI concluded as a result that “the reliability of the dossier was completely destroyed,” according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Nevertheless, Danchenko has attempted to defend his work on the Steele dossier.
In a 2020 interview with NYT, he describes it as “raw intelligence from credible sources.”
A Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General report found that the dossier served as primary evidence for the FBI’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) warrant request for Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
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Durham has targeted the production and dissemination of the anti-Trump Steele dossier as a central part of his investigation into the origins of the DOJ probe into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia.
In September, Durham indicted Hillary Clinton and Democratic National Committee attorney Michael Sussmann, formerly of Perkins Coie law firm.
He was charged with lying to the FBI’s top attorney during a meeting in which Sussmann passed along allegations against the Trump campaign.
This is a breaking news story. Check back with Neon Nettle as we continue to report on this unfolding story as more information becomes available.
