(FiveNation.com)- Igor Danchenko’s attempt to get the accusations against him for lying to the FBI dropped failed on September 29. He will probably face trial in October.
Danchenko was a significant source for the anti-Donald Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele on behalf of Democrats. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee, heard arguments from the special counsel’s team and attorneys representing Danchenko but decided not to dismiss any of the five charges brought against him.
Danchenko’s perspective was supported by claims that his allegedly false remarks to FBI investigators were “actually true.”
Both parties concur that Danchenko informed agents that he did not discuss any claims in the dossier with Charles Dolan, a longstanding friend of the Clinton family. Durham’s team believes it was untrue because at least one of the accusations Steele relayed to Danchenko came from Danchenko. Danchenko asserts that the Russian individual said truthfully because conversing does not include email.
Stuart Sears, the attorney representing Danchenko, said of the FBI’s failure to inquire about alternative kinds of communication specifically, “It was a terrible question.”
Durham, then-Attorney General William Barr, assigned in 2019 to probe for government wrongdoing in the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Trump, asserted that Danchenko’s remarks, if considered in context rather than in isolation, will demonstrate that he intentionally lied. He claimed that Danchenko had referred to written statements on social media sites as “speaking.”
While the defense’s hypothesis “may be a very persuasive, forceful argument to a jury,” according to Trenga, the government eventually met its burden to win a petition to dismiss.
A considerably higher bar will be left to a jury if the government can satisfy its burden of proving a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. After the government delivered its case during the trial, Trenga said he would return to the subject.
On October 11, the trial will begin in Alexandria, Virginia’s federal court.
If found guilty, Danchenko may spend up to 25 years behind bars.
Trenga postponed deciding on Durham’s motion to be allowed to include uncharged remarks and actions that the prosecution believes indicate a pattern, such as how Danchenko allegedly previously advised an associate through email on how to manufacture sources. Attorneys for Danchenko object to the request.
