U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga on Friday dismissed one count of lying to the FBI that Special Counsel John Durham brought against Igor Danchenko, the primary source for Christopher Steele’s infamous dossier.
Durham brought several charges of lying to the FBI against Danchenko as part of his investigation into the origins of Russiagate. However, Judge Trenga dismissed one of five counts of lying to the FBI after Danchenko’s attorneys bought a motion to dismiss following the end of the prosecution’s case-in-chief.
The dismissed charge alleged that Danchenko lied to FBI Special Agent Kevin Nelson when he claimed he had not “talked” to Charles Dolan, a longtime Clinton ally, about information that ended up in Steele’s dossier.
Although Durham presented evidence that Danchenko discussed dossier-related information with Dolan over email, the judge dismissed the charge because he determined that electronic communications did not fall under the traditional definition of “talking,” which is what the FBI asked Danchenko if he did.
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – OCTOBER 11: Russian analyst Igor Danchenko (C) arrives at the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse for his trial on October 11, 2022 in Alexandria, Virginia. Danchenko faces five counts of lying to the FBI over his sources as to claims made in the “Christopher Steele Dossier” as part of the investigation of Special Counsel John Durham into the origins of the FBI probe of alleged collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
According to transcripts of the interview between Helson and Danchenko, Helson asked, “You never talked to Dolan about the dossier?”
“No… We talked about, you know, related issues perhaps but no, no, no, nothing specific,” Danchenko reportedly replied.
Judge Trenga said the criminal code regarding false statements “are not to be loosely construed,” and that the questioner had the burden to “pin the witness down,” Fox News reported.
“That the FBI wanted to obtain as much information as possible doesn’t change the meaning of the words used,” Trenga said. The judge also said the prosecution “has not presented any evidence that Mr. Danchenko understood the word ‘talk’ to mean more than the standard accepted meaning.”
“The language of the question controls,” Trenga reportedly said, adding that Helson “didn’t ask for written communications or email.”
Danchenko still has to face other counts of lying to the FBI about conversations he had relating to the Steele dossier.
On Tuesday, it was revealed during Danchenko’s trial that the FBI offered Steele “up to $1 million,” if he could provide corroborating evidence to back up his dossier.
The trial’s closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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