Special counsel John Durham on Wednesday filed a motion to block Igor Danchenko, a key source for the anti-Trump Steele dossier, from using classified information as part of his defense at his upcoming criminal trial.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/17/john-durham-objects-igor-danchenkos-bid-use-classi/

Mr. Durham’s team filed the objection under seal, so it is unclear why he opposes Mr. Danchenko using the information at his trial, which is set to start in October.

A brief, one-page order accompanying the motion says the government objects to the “use, relevance and admissibility” of the classified information.

Earlier this month, Mr. Danchenko filed his own motion signaling that he intends to use classified information in his defense. That motion was also filed under seal and did not offer any more details on how the materials could help defense attorneys make their case.

The government has already provided Mr. Danchenko’s attorneys with 5,000 classified documents and 61,000 unclassified documents, according to a court filing in May.

Mr. Danchenko last fall was charged with repeatedly lying to the FBI about how he compiled information for British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s salacious and unverified dossier that was filled with now-debunked accusations tying former President Donald Trump to Russia.

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He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors say the information Mr. Danchenko gathered was built on exaggerations, rumors and outright lies. The indictment also suggests that Mr. Danchenko lied to Mr. Steele about how he was getting his information.

Mr. Danchenko is accused of intentionally misleading the FBI when he denied in a 2017 interview that his primary source for a section of the dossier was Charles H. Dolan Jr., a former aide to Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, lost the election to Mr. Trump.

Both sides have spent the summer fighting over the use and production of classified documents.

In May, Mr. Danchenko’s attorneys blamed Mr. Durham’s team for slow-walking the production of classified documents. Mr. Durham, in turn, accused the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies of delaying handing over documents to his team.

Mr. Durham said the FBI and other intelligence agencies have been slow to declassify some of the materials because of “recent world events,” possibly referring to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

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Ultimately, all or most of the classified documents were turned over to Mr. Danchenko’s attorneys by June, according to court filings.

Mr. Durham was tapped by Attorney General William P. Barr in 2019 to probe allegations of misconduct by the FBI and other U.S, intelligence agencies investigating allegations of collusion between candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.