Those who thought Trump appointed Special Counsel John Durham was down for the count after an apparent loss in the March Michael Sussman trial — where the Court declared Sussman innocent — are now sadly mistaken. On Wednesday, Durham announced the request for 30 new subpoenas.
The subpoenas will compel testimony in the pending trial against research analyst Igor Danchenko who reportedly is a primary contributor to the discredited “Steele dossier” used to defame former President Donald Trump.
At the Wednesday filing, a Durham spokesperson said, “It is respectfully requested that the Clerk of said Court issue subpoenas as indicated below for appearance of said Court in Alexandria, Virginia … to testify on behalf of the United States on Oct. 11.”
Unlike the notably left-leaning Washington, D.C., Court that oversaw the Sussman case, the Danchenko case will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, a 2008 George W. Bush nominee.
Durham charges that Danchenko made false statements to the FBI regarding his role in providing sensitive information to former UK spy Christopher Steele.
Durham appears to be laying a foundation to link Steele and Danchenko to illegal activity directly tied to Hillary Clinton and her 2016 campaign.
The Epoch Times reports that “according to Durham’s indictment, Danchenko’s alleged fabrications ‘were material to the FBI because … the FBI’s investigation of the Trump Campaign relied’ on the dossier to obtain secretive warrants to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.”
A previous Durham filing read:
“The FBI ultimately devoted substantial resources attempting to investigate and corroborate the allegations contained in [the dossier, concluding that], Danchenko’s sub-sources were reliable [and that] Danchenko played a role in the FBI’s investigative decisions and in sworn representations that the FBI made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court throughout the relevant time period.”
Danchenko is the third person to be charged by Durham.
Danchenko’s former lawyer, Mark Schamel, issued a statement claiming his client’s work as a researcher is “above reproach.”
“For the past five years,” Schamel said, “those with an agenda have sought to expose Mr. Danchenko’s identity and tarnish his reputation while undermining U.S. National Security.”
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