![]() Jurors were shown portions of Steele’s memos, which he has previously said weren’t ever meant to become public. The week-long trial against Danchenko resurrected many of the 2016 election dramas.įBI agents described their efforts to corroborate the Steele dossier, which ultimately came up empty. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.” ![]() In a statement, Durham said: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service. “We thank these jurors for their hard work and deliberation in reaching the right decision.” We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well,” Sears told reporters outside the courthouse. The proceedings were rocky at times for the special counsel, who lashed out at some of his own witnesses after they ended up providing testimony that helped Danchenko’s defense.ĭanchenko attorney Stuart Sears praised the result. In many ways, the verdict is a direct blow to Durham, who personally handled most of the arguments and witness questioning. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty ImagesįBI offered Christopher Steele $1 million to prove dossier claims, senior FBI analyst testifies Laurie's memo raises questions about the role of Sir John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, who later became head of MI6.Former UK intelligence officer Christopher Steele arrives at the High Court in London on July 24, 2020, to attend his defamation trial brought by Russian tech entrepreneur Alexej Gubarev. However, a newly declassified document reveals that Sir Kevin Tebbit, then a top official at the Ministry of Defence, warned the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, in January 2003 that the US would "feel betrayed by their partner of choice" if Britain did not go along with the invasion.ĭespite its concerns, MI6 told ministers before the invasion that toppling Saddam Hussein "remains a prize because it could give new security to oil supplies". They include top secret MI6 reports warning of the damage to British interests and the likelihood of terrorist attacks in the UK if it joined the US-led invasion of Iraq. The document is one of a number released by the Chilcot inquiry. There has probably never been a greater detailed scrutiny of every piece of ground in any country." "We could find no evidence of planes, missiles or equipment that related to WMD, generally concluding that they must have been dismantled, buried or taken abroad. Laurie said he recalled that the chief of defence intelligence, Air Marshal Sir Joe French, was "frequently inquiring whether we were missing something" and was under pressure. I had no doubt at that time this was exactly its purpose and these very words were used." He continued: "Alastair Campbell said to the inquiry that the purpose of the dossier was not 'to make a case for war'. Laurie, who was director general in the Defence Intelligence Staff, responsible for commanding and delivering raw and analysed intelligence, said: "I am writing to comment on the position taken by Alastair Campbell during his evidence to you … when he stated that the purpose of the dossier was not to make a case for war I and those involved in its production saw it exactly as that, and that was the direction we were given." His evidence is devastating, as it is the first time such a senior intelligence officer has directly contradicted the then government's claims about the dossier – and, perhaps more significantly, what Tony Blair and Campbell said when it was released seven months before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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