Judge Refuses to Dismiss Case Against Igor Danchenko

After the disappointing result in the trial of Michael Sussmann, all eyes are now focused on the upcoming trial of Igor Danchenko, Christopher Steele’s source for much of his discredited dossier. He stands accused of lying to federal agents, multiple times during the investigation into Trump.

Danchenko claimed that he had gotten much of his information from Sergei Millian. He later admitted that he never spoke to Millian at all.

Danchenko’s lawyers had asked the court to dismiss the charges, but U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga ruled that the case needed to be decided by a jury. But, he called his decision close.

How could it possibly be close? Danchenko has already admitted to lying. Perhaps it was close because he was appointed by George Bush, no friend of President Trump or the American people. It appears that Danchenko made up most of the salacious accusations made against President Trump.

From Hot Air

U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga ruled that Danchenko’s case must be weighed by a jury, clearing the way for his trial next month. But it was “an extremely close call,” Trenga said from the bench…

…the judge’s remark that the decision was difficult could be an ominous sign, as Durham still must convince jurors Danchenko is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The AP has more on the arguments made in court:

Danchenko’s lawyers argued Thursday that all the charges should be dismissed because Danchenko’s answers to the FBI were technically true, if not necessarily illuminating.

Specifically, Danchenko denied that he “talked” to Dolan about the allegations in the dossier. In reality, Danchenko had discussed the accusations in an email with Dolan, but never spoke with him in an oral conversation.

“It was a bad question,” said Danchenko’s lawyer, Stuart Sears. “That’s the special counsel’s problem. Not Mr. Danchenko’s. … He is not required to guess what the question actually means.”

The other counts deal with a statement to the FBI that Danchenko received other details in an anonymous phone call from someone he “believed” to be Sergei Millian, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Sears said Danchenko never said with any certainty that Millian was the source and that it can’t be a false statement if that was what Danchenko truly believed.

At the time, news outlets were reporting that Millian was the main source for the most explosive parts of the dossier. Some still report it as the truth even though Danchenko has admitted he never even spoke to him. They can’t admit to anything that exonerates Trump. It’s a large part of their derangement.

Sergei Millian, a 38-year-old American citizen who has claimed he helped market Trump properties to Russian buyers, wasn’t a direct source for the 35-page dossier.

Now, Danchenko says that he truly believed he had spoken to him, even though he had not. Sure, that happens to me all the time. Why, just the other day, I mentioned that very thing to Thomas Jefferson as we exchanged favorite recipes.

In case you’ve forgotten, here’s a list of responses when the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple asked left-wing journalists how they felt about the dossier in 2020:

• MSNBC’s Rachel “Maddow declined to comment on the record.”
• CNN’s Alisyn Camerota “Declined to comment on the record.”
• CNN’s John Berman “Declined to comment on the record.”
• Former State Department official Jonathan Winer (appearing on CNN) “did not return a request for comment.”
• Former federal prosecutor Paul Butler (appearing on MSNBC) offered “No response to a request for comment.”
• CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd…Wemple lists this as “Awaiting a reply.”
• Journalist Jacob Weisberg (appearing on MSNBC)…Wemple writes “Attempts to secure a comment from Weisberg have been unsuccessful.”
• Journalist Natasha Bertrand (appearing on MSNBC) “Bertrand did not respond to requests for comment.”

These are the very same “journalists” that swore by it for almost three years.