Russian Analyst’s Freedom May Hinge on Definition of ‘Talked’

(Bloomberg) -- Russian business analyst Igor Danchenko’s freedom may hinge on how a federal jury near Washington defines the word “talked.”

Danchenko, the primary source for the 2016 “Steele dossier” on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, is on trial this week for allegedly lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the sources for some of his most damning claims, including that Trump’s campaign was in a “well-developed conspiracy” with the Kremlin.

When FBI agents interviewed Danchenko over several days in January 2017 as part of their effort to corroborate or refute the dossier’s findings, they asked the Russian if he’d ever talked about the research with a Democratic political operative named Charles Dolan, who’d worked on every recent Democratic presidential campaign including those of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Danchenko told the FBI agents no.

Prosecutors claim that was a false statement that misled the government, including FBI analyst Brian Auten, in a crucial probe related to national security.

Auten -- the government’s first witness in the politically charged criminal trial -- on Wednesday testified that emails unearthed between Danchenko and Dolan show they repeatedly discussed Trump and Russia and concluded their interests were aligned, and that the men met in Moscow at least once earlier in 2016.

“Would it have been valuable for you to know that Mr. Danchenko’s goals coincided with those of Mr. Dolan,” the US Justice Department’s Special Counsel John Durham asked Auten, who helped interview Danchenko.

“Yes,” Auten responded.

Read More: Trump-Russia Dossier Source on Trial for Alleged Lies to FBI

Danchenko’s lawyer, Danny Onorato, told the jury in his opening statement that everything his client is accused of lying about was actually true because “talked” refers only to speaking, not emails. He blamed the disputed statements to the FBI on poorly worded questions.

“The questions weren’t asked properly and that’s not his fault,” Onorato said, adding later: “They want you to suspend reality. They want you to become mind readers.”

Danchenko is also charged with lying to the FBI about his source for the “well developed conspiracy” tip, which he said came from an anonymous phone call in early July 2016. Danchenko told investigators he believed the caller was the former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, Sergei Millian. The government claims Danchenko fabricated the entire call.

That alleged lie is central to one of Trump’s lasting grievances from the Russia investigation -- that the FBI improperly surveilled Carter Page, a senior adviser to his campaign. Federal judges repeatedly signed off on secretive warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to intercept the emails and telephone calls of Page, a US citizen, in part because of the alleged Trump-Kremlin conspiracy tip in the dossier that was never verified.

“Those lies mattered,” Durham, who must prove that the allegedly false statements had a material impact on the FBI, said in his opening statement.

Danchenko’s defense team argues he had every reason to suspect that Millian had called him because emails show he’d reached out to Millian twice to initiate contact. The defense also argues Millian was known to be bragging about meeting “with Trump and his people” about a week before the alleged phone call.

Page was never charged with anything and no such conspiracy was ever found, even after an extensive investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that turned up plenty of unusual contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russians. Mueller did conclude, however, that Russia interfered extensively in the election with the aim of helping Trump win.

“This case is about protecting the function and integrity of our government institutions,” said Durham, who was chosen during the Trump administration to investigate the Trump-Russia inquiry.

Dolan, who is based in Virginia, is expected to be a witness at the trial, which is likely to last several more days.

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