ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The FBI agent assigned to be the handler for Igor Danchenko sought to have the bureau pay the main source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited anti-Trump dossier more than $500,000, as the FBI apparently relied on him in Russia-related investigations, according to new revelations in special counsel John Durham‘s investigation.
FBI agent Kevin Helson, who was the handling agent for Danchenko as he worked as a paid informant and confidential human source for the bureau from March 2017 to October 2020, testified Thursday that the dossier source went on to become a key part of the FBI’s efforts to combat Russian malign influence in the United States, and, after Danchenko was publicly identified as the former MI6 agent’s main source in the summer of 2016, Helton sought to reward Danchenko lucratively.
FBI WANTED TO SUSPEND ANALYST WHO INTERVIEWED STEELE SOURCE
The FBI agent made an October 2020 request to pay Danchenko a lump sum of $346,000; testimony revealed that would have brought the total amount the Russian lawyer and analyst had been paid by the bureau over a few years up to a total of $546,000. The lump-sum payment request was denied.
Claims in Steele’s dossier were undermined by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who, in a late 2019 report, criticized the DOJ and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA warrants against onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, and for the bureau’s “central and essential” reliance on Steele’s dossier.
Helson testified Thursday that he had written in 2020 that, from 2017 through that time, Danchenko had provided assistance in 25 ongoing FBI investigations and contributed to at least 40 intelligence reports. The FBI agent testified that these investigations and reports largely or entirely to combating Russian malign influence.
The FBI agent apparently wrote yearly reports on Danchenko, saying in December 2017 that the Russian provided “critical reporting” that aided in a top FBI investigation. He wrote, presumably in December 2018, that Danchenko had provided information on cyber actors allegedly targeting the 2016 election and stated in December 2019 that the FBI should increase Danchenko’s payments. Testimony showed an increase from $100,000 to $200,000 had already happened and that he was seeking to increase it to $300,000.
Helson said Danchenko came to trust him and that he came to trust Danchenko. He wrote that “patriotism to the United States” was a reason for Danchenko wanting to become a paid informant with the FBI.
A member of the FBI’s Human Intelligence Validation Unit suggested that Danchenko may have been part of Russian intelligence services, according to court testimony, and Durham highlighted on Thursday how Helson apparently did not do his due diligence in looking into the Russian analyst’s background before signing him up as a confidential human source.
Helson claimed that he became concerned in July 2020 when he learned then-Attorney General William Barr would be releasing a redacted version of Danchenko’s January 2017 interview. It was released to the Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the public. Danchenko was then identified as Steele’s main source, and Helson claimed the decision was soon made to close Danchenko as a source.
The FBI agent contended that Danchenko had done great work for the FBI. Helson said the FBI stood up a new squad as a result of what Danchenko told the bureau and argued that losing Danchenko as a confidential human source harmed U.S. national security. Helson claimed that another FBI agent asked Helson last month to ask Danchenko for insights into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Danchenko is standing trial after he was charged in November 2021 with five counts of making false statements to the bureau. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers claim the FBI will praise his work for the bureau.
Helson had declined to join Crossfire Hurricane and said, “I didn’t know that much about the dossier.” The FBI agent said Danchenko never provided any information corroborating the dossier’s claims. Helson said he believed 80% of the dossier’s contents came from Danchenko, adding that “it was a significant majority of the dossier.”
The FBI agent said dossier verification was a priority at first, but so were other Russia-related matters.
He said the Crossfire Hurricane team and the team working for special counsel Robert Mueller would pass questions to Helson about the dossier to pose to Danchenko. But Helson said the dossier “slowly drifted off and became less and less the topic of discussion,” “we had begun seeing a decrease in topics on the dossier,” and “initially there was stuff about the dossier, but eventually that dwindled down.”
Helson generated a report that said Danchenko “understands that his priority” is to find corroborative evidence of “collusion” between Trump and Russia but that the dossier source “continues to iterate” that he is not in possession of such material. Helson said Danchenko was upset with Steele’s embellishment of the dossier’s claims.
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Horowitz said Danchenko’s January 2017 interview with FBI officials “raised doubts about the reliability of Steele’s descriptions of information.” FBI notes showed Danchenko told the bureau he “did not know the origins” of some of Steele’s claims and that the most salacious allegations may have been made in “jest.”
“Over a fairly lengthy period of time, the FBI attempted to investigate, vet, and analyze the Steele Reports but ultimately was not able to confirm or corroborate most of their substantive allegations,” Durham wrote in court filings.
Durham concluded that “the defendant engaged in a concerted effort to deceive the FBI about the sourcing (or lack thereof) of the Steele Reports.”
