US Judge Drops One Count In Russian National Danchenko's Case Of Lying To FBI - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2022) A US Federal judge has dropped one out of five counts against Russian national Igor Danchenko, who is accused of lying to the FBI during its probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion investigation, Fox news reported.

District Judge Anthony Trenga acquitted Danchenko on the first count, which alleged that the defendant lied to FBI agent Kevin Helson when stating that he had not "talked" to Charles Dolan, a US Democratic party PR executive, about any information contained in the so-called "Steele dossier."

Trenga ruled to drop the count because, in his opinion, the prosecution, led by Special Counsel John Durham, had not provided sufficient evidence to support its claims that Danchenko understood the word "talk" to mean something more than the spoken word.

"He (FBI agent Helson) didn't ask for written communications or e-mail," the report cited Trenga as saying during the trial.

Danchenko's trial began on Tuesday with the prosecution wrapping up its presentation of evidence earlier on Friday.

Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled to begin Monday before the jurors retire to contemplate the verdict.

In November, Danchenko pleaded not guilty to all five counts of making false statements to the FBI about the alleged collusion between former US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin during the 2016 US presidential election.

The prosecution insists that Danchenko lied to the FBI about the sources of information given to British spy Christopher Steele concerning alleged contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, including information that the Kremlin may have facilitated Trump's election. The indictment states that Danchenko did not receive such information from anyone and fabricated facts.

Danchenko provided data to former British spy Steele, who used the information to prepare the dossier, which served as a guide for US authorities investigating alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. A subsequent Special Counsel investigation proved that there was no collusion between Trump and Russia.