Judge Junks One Charge vs Source Of Trump's Russia Dossier

A federal judge on Friday threw out one of five charges against Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, in a major setback for special counsel John Durham’s investigation, Marshall Cohen reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Igor Danchenko is the primary source of the Trump-Russia dossier.

The judge dropped one of the five false-statement charges, specifically pertaining to the allegation that Danchenko lied to the FBI about speaking with a Democratic operative about the anti-Trump dossier. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty.

District Judge Anthony Trenga said in court Friday that Danchenko’s answer to the FBI interviewer “was literally true” and that Durham’s case on that specific charge was too weak to send to the jury.

It’s a major victory for Danchenko, who has maintained that he was honest with the FBI agents who were trying to corroborate the dossier in 2017.

The ruling was a blow to Durham, who has personally handled many of the arguments and witness questioning throughout the weeklong trial. He personally urged Trenga to uphold the charge, before Trenga ruled against him, Holmes Lybrand also reported for CNN.

Danchenko still faces four additional counts of lying to the FBI, which is a felony.

Those remaining charges pertain to Danchenko’s alleged false statements about whether he got a phone call in July 2016 from a Belarusian-American businessman who had been in touch with people in candidate Donald Trump’s orbit and was a possible dossier source.

The trial will continue on Monday with closing arguments and jury deliberations. Durham rested his case on Friday. Lawyers for Danchenko, a Russian expat and former think-tank analyst, said they would not be calling any witnesses.

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