US Lawmakers Demand Explanation on Why FBI Paid Danchenko During Trump Probe - Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Republican senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson in a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland demand an explanation on why the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) paid Russian citizen Igor Danchenko, who served as a key source during the Trump-Russia collusion probe, Fox News reported on Monday.

The Republican senators are seeking to obtain all FBI and Justice Department records involving Danchenko and related to government payments along with the counterintelligence concerns he posed and the bureau’s decision to rely on him as a source, the report said.

"The FBI, even in light of the extensive derogatory information attached to Danchenko, proceeded to pay him as a confidential human source three months later from March 2017 to October 2020 as part of Crossfire Hurricane," the report cited Grassley and Johnson as saying in the letter.

The letter has been sent after Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed to lead the origins of the Russia probe in 2020, revealed a court document that the FBI made Danchenko "a paid confidential human source" in March 2017.

Danchenko provided data to ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who prepared, based on this data, materials of the dossier, which the US authorities were guided by in the investigation of alleged ties between the Trump headquarters and Russia, according to the document.

After the 2016 presidential election in the United States, the US authorities have been investigating alleged Trump campaign ties to Russia, based on a dossier prepared by ex-UK intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Now a trial is underway in the US against Danchenko, whom the FBI accuses of making false statements in the case of Trump's alleged collusion with the Russian authorities.

The prosecution insists that Danchenko lied to the FBI about the sources of information given to Steele about 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.