Trump WH aide says Durham indictment puts 'deep state' plot squarely on Hillary Clinton's doorstep

Daniel Chaitin
Washington Examiner
Fri, 05 Nov 2021 14:34 UTC

© MSNBC

Former top White House Official Stephen Miller

A top aide in the Trump White House says special counsel John Durham should interview Hillary Clinton.

Stephen Miller, who was the senior adviser to the president for four years, told Fox News on Thursday a fresh indictment against a Russian analyst who contributed to the infamous anti-Trump dossier brings a "deep state" plot to overthrow the government "right to the doorstep" of Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic Party.

"I hope that Durham will investigate those links, and I hope he will take Hillary Clinton for hours of questioning. And I hope that when Republicans, if they do take back the majority, will call Hillary and her senior aides up to Capitol Hill to decode this because this was a theft from the American people," Miller said.

"They elected their president. His time, his energy, and that of his staffers, were stolen," he added.

"Thousands upon thousands of hours were stolen by rogue bureaucrats working in our intelligence services, in the FBI, and across the government to impose their will over the will of the American people. I am enraged, and I hope all decent Americans are enraged at these discoveries."

Igor Danchenko is charged with making false statements to the FBI about his sources of information, including a longtime Democratic operative who volunteered for the Clinton campaign. The individual was not named in court documents, but his lawyer identified him as Charles Dolan Jr., a former executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, according to the Associated Press.

A prior indictment accuses Michael Sussmann , a former attorney at Perkins Coie, of lying to the FBI when he told the bureau's top lawyer he was not representing any clients when acting on behalf of a technology executive and Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. During the meeting in question in September 2016, he shared information on possible links between former President Donald Trump and Russia. Sussmann has pleaded not guilty to a charge of lying to the FBI. His lawyers insist he never said he didn't have clients and was representing only the technology executive.

The now-discredited dossier, which contains allegations of Russia colluding with Trump and having compromising information on him, was compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele at the behest of Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm funded by Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm.

Neither Clinton nor anyone in her 2016 campaign has been charged with any wrongdoing in Durham's inquiry, which is examining the origins and conduct of the Russia investigation.

Miller argued the real collusion took place between the "deep state," the DNC, and Russia to overthrow the Trump presidency.

"And yet, because of our unconstitutional civil service laws, you can't even fire these people. It is a threat to American democracy. If this was happening in a foreign country, the State Department would say it was a failed state," he added.

Daniel Chaitin is the Deputy News Editor for the Washington Examiner

Comment: RT's Nebojsa Malic discusses the implications:

The so-called "Steele dossier," authored by former British spy and FBI informant Christopher Steele, was used by the FBI to secure warrants to spy on Trump via campaign aide Carter Page, well into his presidency. It was also chiefly based on information passed on by Danchenko, as it later emerged.

The indictment itself is not evidence, and Danchenko is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The claims in the document, however, have been described as "bombshell stuff" by multiple analysts.

In addition to alleged lies about meeting or talking with people, the indictment also says Danchenko lied about staying at a Moscow hotel in June 2016. This stay is when he supposedly spoke to staff and fed Steele rumors that served as the basis of the dossier's claim Trump had paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on him in the same bed where former President Barack Obama once slept. Steele claimed that Russian spies had the video of the alleged encounter, which made for "kompromat" they could use to control Trump.

There was never any actual evidence for any of this, but with the federal prosecutors now saying Danchenko didn't make it to the said hotel until October 2016, the speculation he fed Steele is even more suspect.

Multiple false statement charges deal with Danchenko's claims to have spoken with Millian, who allegedly told him about Trump-Russia ties. Millian has insisted that this never happened, and proclaimed his vindication on Thursday, citing the indictment.

Another charge is related to an unnamed PR executive close to the Democrats. Though he is mentioned only as "PR-Executive-1," investigative journalists have worked out a match with Charles H. Dolan of Ketchum Public Relations.

One of them arrived at that conclusion by cross-referencing the deposition of Olga Galkina, Danchenko's school friend who was identified as one of his sub-sources last year.

Later in the day, an attorney representing Dolan confirmed he was indeed "PR-Executive-1." His involvement sets up a chain of dominoes in 'Russiagate': Democrats fed information to Danchenko, who fed it to Steele, who sold it to Fusion GPS, which leaked it to the corporate media, who in turn accused Trump of "collusion" with the Kremlin.

The indictment also confirms the 2020 revelation that the FBI was aware of Danchenko's false statements in early 2017, but continued to use the Steele Dossier as grounds for spying on the Trump presidency. The dossier was the basis of the original FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign via former aide Carter Page, starting during the 2016 election and continuing after Trump was sworn in.

Danchenko is the third person to get caught up in the Durham probe. The first, FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, pleaded guilty to making false statements early on in the investigation. He admitted to altering evidence to make it seem Page was a foreign agent, thereby enabling the FISA application. He was sentenced to probation in January, after Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

Michael Sussman, a partner at law firm Perkins Coie - which has long represented the Democratic National Committee - was charged in mid-September, also with lying to the FBI. Sussmann allegedly pretended he wasn't telling the FBI about the "Alfa Bank" conspiracy theory on behalf of the party or the Clinton campaign, even though he allegedly was.

Washington legal expert Jonathan Turley weighs in:

Danchenko is widely referenced as the sub-source for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele for his controversial dossier. That dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign, served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Danchenko told the FBI that the dossier was "unsubstantiated" and said that Steele asked him to look for any "compromising" information on Trump. Mr. Danchenko worked for the Brookings Institution, a liberal Washington think-tank that often produced reports critical of Trump.

Danchenko is not someone who immediately comes across as an apex defendant — the highest target in an investigation. He was a key source used by others to advance false or unsubstantiated claims against Trump. He is the type of defendant that prosecutors pressure to flip against those who retained him or used him in this effort. In other words, he strikes me as someone who can be used as a building block to apex defendants.

Potential apex targets above him in the investigation range from Steele himself to Clinton general counsel Marc Elias to Clinton campaign officials.

The indictment circles around an unnamed figure called PR-Executive-1 who was a close Clinton adviser who held high positions in the Democratic party and prior Clinton campaigns. Most embarrassing are references to the Clinton adviser meeting with possible Russian intelligence figures and other Russian sources, including this line:

PR Executive-1 gifted to Russian Sub-Source-1 an autobiography of Hillary Clinton, which he signed and inscribed with the handwritten message, "To my good friend [first name of Russian Sub-Source-1], A Great Democrat."

That is one book I think Hillary Clinton would like back.

The indictment describes the individual in this way:

"PR Executive-1 had served as (1) chairman of a national Democratic political organization, (2) state chairman of former President Clinton's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, and (3) an advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign. Moreover, beginning in or about 1997, President Clinton appointed PR Executive-! to two four-year terms on an advisory commission at the U.S. State Department. With respect to the 2016 Clinton Campaign, PR Executive-! actively campaigned and participated in calls and events as a volunteer on behalf of Hillary Clinton."

There is no indication if Durham has possible evidence of criminal acts by those figures but there is every indication that he is not done by a long shot with this investigation.

Here is the indictment: Danchenko indictment

Exciting stuff. But why is it coming to light at all? Does Killary have a target on her back? A distraction from Biden's and the Dems dismal performances lately, though that may not be the chief goal. Durham's investigation has been going nigh on two years now. As always, qui bono?