A Russian national who was a key source of information used in the 2016 dossier of allegations about former President Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia has been arrested and indicted for allegedly lying to the FBI.Igor Danchenko was taken into custody Thursday morning as part of special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe. He's been charged with five counts of making false statements.Danchenko, 43, was a key source of information for the so-called Steele dossier, a collection of reports compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The dossier contained salacious claims about Trump as well as allegations that people within Trump's orbit were conspiring with Russia to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Steele provided the information he'd collected to the FBI during the 2016 campaign. The bureau later used some of the information in the dossier to get surveillance on a former Trump campaign adviser. Durham was appointed by former Attorney General William Barr in May 2019 to look into the FBI's investigation of Trump's alleged Russia ties, and to determine whether there was any wrongdoing. So far, Danchenko is the third person to face charges as part of Durham's work. In September, Durham unveiled charges against a Washington lawyer with close ties to the Democratic Party for allegedly lying to the FBI. The lawyer, Michael Sussmann, has pleaded not guilty. The other individual is a low-level FBI attorney who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email. Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
A key source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier is charged with lying to the FBI
