Igor Danchenko, the alleged principal source of the notorious Steele dossier charged with lying to the FBI in 2017, in court documents Friday said he has cooperated with authorities.
"Between January and November 2017, Mr. Danchenko not only answered every question to the best of his ability, even when asked to speculate, but also provided emails and contact information for other potential sources of information in the [Steele] Reports," Danchenko's attorneys told the court on Friday, reported The Washington Examiner.
"The investigation into the Reports was ultimately completed by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III in or about November 2017 and the Special Counsel's office closed its entire investigation into possible Trump/Russia collusion in March 2019."
Danchenko was charged as part of a probe by special counsel John Durham into the origins of the original investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign's suspected coordination with Russian agents during the presidential race.
The Steele dossier was used by the FBI to justify a warrant application to tap the phone of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016.
"Approximately 34 individuals were charged by Mueller's office, including several for providing false statements to investigators. Mr. Danchenko was not among them," Danchenko's legal team argued Friday. "To the contrary, not only did investigators and government officials repeatedly represent that Mr. Danchenko had been honest and forthcoming in his interviews, but also resolved discrepancies between his recollection of events and that of others in Mr. Danchenko's favor."
His lawyers also said Danchenko provided hours of truthful information to the U.S. government.
"These equivocal and ambiguous answers were prompted by fundamentally ambiguous questions, are literally true and are immaterial as a matter of law."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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