Trump predicted that Durham would expose the “crime of the century” within U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies investigating his campaign’s ties to Russia. But so far, None of the people charged by the special prosecutor went to jail, and only one government employee pleaded guilty to a criminal offense. In both trials this year, Durham argued that people deceived FBI agents, not that investigators targeted Trump in corrupt ways.
The jury in the Danchenko case deliberated for about nine hours over two days. Juror Joel Greene said in an interview that there was no objection during the deliberations and that the decision was “quite unanimous.”
“We looked at everything very carefully,” said Green, who declined to comment on the political nature of the case. “The conclusions we’ve come to are the ones we’ve all been able to draw.”
Durham, a longtime federal prosecutor who served as U.S. attorney in Connecticut during the Trump administration, has personally defended most of the administration’s cases against Danchenko.Special counsel claims Danchenko misled FBI officials about his sources in 2017 after the agency identified The researcher is an unnamed person Behind some of the most explosive allegations against Trump in a compiled report By ex-British spy Christopher Steele.
The trial could be Durham’s last. The grand jury the special counsel has been using in Alexandria is now inactive, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, although the status of a similar panel in Washington, D.C., is unclear. When asked if Durham would remain as special counsel after Danchenko’s acquittal, a Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon after the jury announced its verdict, Barr declined to comment. In a statement released by the Justice Department after the verdict, Durham said: “While we are disappointed by the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and appreciate their service. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the investigators and the prosecution team. Relentless efforts to seek truth and justice in this case.”
Representatives for Trump could not be immediately reached for comment.
After the verdict was announced, Danchenko choked and hugged his defense attorneys Stewart A Sears and Danny C Onorato. Danchenko declined to comment, but Sears said outside court, “We always knew Mr. Danchenko was innocent.”
“We’re now glad the American public knows that too,” he said.
To win a conviction, Durham had to convince jurors Danchenko lied, and his deceit had a “significant” impact on the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Defense attorneys argued that Danchenko believed that what he told the agent was true and that giving indeterminate answers to imprecise questions did not constitute a crime.
In May, a jury in federal court in Washington acquitted cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussman, who was also charged by the special counsel with lying to the FBI. Former FBI attorney Kevin Kline-Smith admitted in his 2020 plea deal with Durham that he altered a government email used to testify against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page The covert surveillance was justified and was sentenced to one year of probation.
Durham will be asked to write a report after his investigation is complete, but It will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide how much, if any, to release to the public.
The indictment lists five charges against Danchenko as he spoke to FBI investigators about whether his sources included longtime Democratic public relations chief Charles Dolan Jr. and the former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia Statement by Sergey Milian. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga dismissed Dolan-related charges before the case was brought to a jury.
For Durham, the FBI’s handling of the Steele report has been a key area of investigative interest. Steele was employed to produce the report by research firm Fusion GPS, which has been hired by a law firm representing Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. A website funded by deep-pocketed Republican donors initially hired Fusion GPS to dig up Trump’s background.
But before using the Steele dossier to support a warrant request involving Page, the FBI began examining possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. The Justice Department’s inspector general determined it was reasonable for the FBI to open an investigation that will eventually be taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller III.
Mueller found no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but a report from his office laid out various ties between Trump campaign officials and the Kremlin, describing the campaign as eager to make a deal in 2016. Benefit from Russian help.
In closing remarks, Durham defended his investigation as apolitical and “logical” consequences after Mueller failed to find that the Trump campaign was unlawfully conspiring with Russia.
FBI witnesses testified that some of Danchenko’s emails and information about Dolan and Milian that he kept to himself were valuable to investigators in their 2017 review of the dossier’s alleged sources. Brian Auten, the FBI director who led intelligence analysts in the 2016 Trump investigation, and Kevin Helson, a special agent in Russia’s counterintelligence service, both testified that if they If they knew as much as Danchenko, they would probably have taken a different approach.
But Auten and Helson also described Danchenko as a credible source of information on Russian influence activities that U.S. investigators have unearthed over the years — testimony that appeared to frustrate Durham, who then became more aggressive with his questions about FBI officials.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.