Quote (Sioux @ Nov 4 2021 04:39pm)
Is it thought? He lied to the FBI about a source, but that doesn't say anything about the validity of the underlying information
He lied specifically about a call that purportedly had information on communication between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/steeles-main-dossier-source-arrested-in-durham-investigation-reportQuote
“The June 15, 2017, false statement count alleges that Danchenko denied that he had spoken with a particular individual about material information contained in one of the Company Reports when he knew that was untrue,” Durham’s office said. “The March 16, 2017, May 18, 2017, Oct. 24, 2017, and Nov. 16, 2017, counts involve statements made by Danchenko on those dates to FBI agents regarding information he purportedly had received from an anonymous caller who he believed to be a particular individual, when in truth and in fact he knew that was untrue. The information purportedly conveyed by the anonymous caller included the allegation that there were communications ongoing between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and that the caller had indicated the Kremlin might be of help in getting Trump elected.”
This is beside the point, though, because the FBI knew as far back as 2017 that the credibility of the Steele dossier had been serially undermined.
Quote
FBI notes of a January 2017 interview with Danchenko showed he told the bureau he “did not know the origins” of some of Steele's claims and “did not recall” other dossier information. He told the FBI that Steele mischaracterized at least one of his Russian source contacts and noted much of what he gave to Steele was “word of mouth and hearsay," some of which stemmed from a “conversation that [he] had with friends over beers," and the most salacious allegations may have been made in “jest.” Horowitz said Danchenko “contradicted the allegations of a ‘well-developed conspiracy’ in” Steele’s dossier.
The real tragedy here is that the FBI, which was clearly aware that these allegations were bogus, and which lied to FISA courts in order to hide exculpatory evidence, will face no repercussions for their behavior, and instead the blame will be shifted onto the sources that provided them with the necessary ammunition.