The trial of Igor Danchenko shows how much previous Special Counsel Robert Mueller either failed to include in or did not know about for his own report in his investigation on Russia interference in the 2016 election, constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News.
Turley made his observation Friday after Special Counsel John Durham rested his case and Judge Anthony Trenga threw out one count against Danchenko. Attorneys for Danchenko suggested they would not put forth a defense.
Danchenko, a Russian national, pleaded not guilty last year to lying about the source of information that he provided to ex-MI6 Agent Christopher Steele for the much-discredited Trump-Russia dossier. The FBI paid Danchenko – the primary sub-source for Steele's dossier – more than $200,000 to serve as a confidential human source from 2017 to late 2020.
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"It's very alarming," Turley said of the instances of money changing hands and how knowingly unverified information was presented to the FISA court – on which the George W. Bush-appointed Trenga also sits – to procure a warrant for then-Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
"It is really breathtaking how much either Special Counsel Mueller did not know or chose not to put it into his report."
"We have learned a lot from this special counsel (Durham), including how the Hillary Clinton campaign funded the Steele dossier, denied they were funding it [and how] they hid that funding through their attorney, Marc Elias, and they ultimately got false statements into the media," Turley added.
Durham, a former Connecticut federal prosecutor, charged Danchenko last year in connection with statements he made to the FBI relating to the sources he used in providing information to an investigative firm in the United Kingdom related to Steele's dossier.
Judge Trenga tossed one count against Danchenko related to correspondence he had with Democratic operative Charles Dolan Jr., in connection with allegations Dolan may have lied to Danchenko about the veracity of the information.
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Turley said that following the latest prosecution of Danchenko, the entire timeline is "breathtaking."
"It had the feel of a canned hunt. I mean, they were saying, look, we'll give you $1,000,000 if you can bag Trump.," he said. "And then they went ahead and [the] same person … they kept as an informant, the person used in the Steele dossier. And so this cross-pollination raises additional questions."
Turley added Durham's report may be one of the most important to ever come from the various investigations into Donald Trump and Russia.
He also said the charge that Trenga threw out was the weakest of the five that Danchenko faces. The others all allege lying to the FBI.
"It strengthens the prosecution case not to have that count because I felt that it was really something that was begging for a hung jury or an acquittal. So they'll go forward on those stronger, more direct counts," the Fox News contributor said.
Turley said team Danchenko's decision not to present a defense may be more strategic than confident. There are risks associated with Danchenko potentially taking the stand.
