Wednesday | November 10th, 2021

It’s Wednesday, November 10th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) Source Of Steele Dossier Indicted

The Topline: One of the main sources behind the Steele Dossier, Igor Danchenko, has been indicted under counts of lying to the FBI about the Trump campaign. The Dossier was among the catalysts for a two-year national scandal. 

Quote Of The Day: “This indictment is designed to smear Christopher Steele’s intelligence reports…”

– MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

Igor Danchenko

Danchenko is a Russian national who lives in the United States and formerly worked at the Brookings Institution. In 2016, Danchenko worked for Christopher Steele, giving him unfounded rumors about Donald Trump which formed the substance of the Steele Dossier.

The FBI used the Steele Dossier, which was funded by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, to petition the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for four successive warrants to spy on a Trump campaign official named Carter Paige.

Danchencko told the FBI he obtained his information from Russians with direct knowledge of the allegations, but his real source has come forward: an American named Charles Dolan Jr., a PR executive who had formal roles in the Clintons’ presidential campaigns for 29 years. 

Indictment

John Durham indicted Danchenko for five counts of making false statements to federal investigators. If convicted, he could face a fine and up to 5 years in prison for each of the five counts. Last week, a judge released Danchenko on a $100,000 bond, with no electronic surveillance. The defendant has indicated he’ll plead not guilty to the charges, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

Rumors

Danchenko started the rumor about Donald Trump hiring two prostitutes to urinate on a bed Barack Obama had once slept on during a trip to Russia before he was president. 

The indictment also says Danchenko was responsible for “the allegation that there were communications ongoing between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and that … the Kremlin might be of help in getting Trump elected.”

Media Reaction: All three major network news broadcasts and CNN’s prime time hosts ignored the arrest. NBC, ABC, and CBS spent 2,202 minutes covering the alleged Russian collusion scandal in the first two years of Trump’s presidency, not to mention hundreds of hours from MSNBC and CNN. 

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