The John Durham probe may be underperforming when it comes to prosecutions and convictions despite going on for just about two years, but it sure is uncovering some interesting information along the way.
Turns out that a witness in the Igor Danchenko trial testified that the FBI offered Christopher Steele up to $1 million for proof of the material in his anti-Trump dossier, but he couldn’t give them anything.
FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten said that the bureau had made the offer to Steele as he testified about having interviewed Steele in 2016 and Danchenko in 2017.
Danchenko, a Russian-born lawyer who repeatedly pushed the dossier at the FBI, is on trial for repeatedly lying to the bureau about the sources of the dossier.
Trial getting underway
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Durham conducted the questioning of Auten as the trial got underway after jury selection and opening arguments.
Auten testified that neither Steele nor Danchenko could offer any substantial proof of the allegations in the dossier.
However, Auten circulated a memo in February 2017 about his interview with Danchenko that left out the inconsistencies and lack of proof concerning the dossier, leading top officials to consider the information true,
The lies continued
Danchenko was also made a paid informant by the FBI as a result of Auten’s memo, continuing to provide false information to the bureau.
The FBI, including former Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, really, really wanted to take former President Donald Trump down, it turns out.
They almost succeeded until Trump got wind of it and got the then-Republican congress to appoint Durham to investigate how the Russian collusion narrative started.
Given Auten’s testimony, however, it makes you wonder if there shouldn’t be charges brought against Auten as well.