The FBI offered in October 2016 to pay ex-British spy Christopher Steele $1 million for proof that could corroborate claims made in his dossier about then-candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, FBI supervisory analyst Brian Auten testified Tuesday, according to CNN.
Steele failed to “prove the allegations,” never receiving the $1 million, and would not even divulge source names at the meeting, Auten said in testimony, the outlet reported. The potential payment was revealed during the criminal trial of Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst and primary source behind information in the dossier. (RELATED: ‘Political Operation’: Trump DOJ Official Sounds Alarm Over Call To ‘Prosecute’ Social Media Users Spreading ‘Disinformation’)
The dossier was a key source behind the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign for allegedly engaging in a 2016 election inference conspiracy with Russia. It was also a major foundation for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications the FBI directed at former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
ALEXANDRIA, VA – OCTOBER 11: Russian analyst Igor Danchenko walks to the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse during a lunch break in his trial on October 11, 2022 in Alexandria, Virginia. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Special Counsel John Durham indicted Danchenko in November for allegedly making false statements to the FBI on five occasions between June and November 2017 concerning sources of information he gave to Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Solutions, which subsequently ended up in reports to the FBI. He was a paid source for the FBI from March 2017 to 2020, a court motion by Durham previously revealed.
Durham was tapped in December 2020 to investigate the origins behind the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, Politico reported.
An attorney representing Danchenko did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. The FBI referred the DCNF to the Justice Department.
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