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Hillary Clinton’s Russian Helpers
Durham uncovers evidence of Moscow’s attempts to influence the Steele dossier.
www.wsj.com
Special counsel John Durham’s indictments have turned any number of narratives on their heads, including the question of which 2016 presidential campaign was in bed with Russians. It wasn’t Donald Trump’s .
For five years, that’s been the story line. The original claim was that Russians had “cultivated” Mr. Trump as an asset and held blackmail evidence over his head. When those over-the-top accusations fell apart, Democrats shifted to arguing that Mr. Trump and his associates had secretly colluded with the Kremlin to win the election. The press strove mightily to unearth nefarious Trump campaign contacts with Russians, though it came up with little of substance.
Contrast this to the many Russians routinely interacting with Hillary Clinton campaign contractors and surrogates, as documented by Mr. Durham’s latest indictment. Only one of them is the defendant, Igor Danchenko, the Russian national who turns out to have been the primary source for the Steele dossier, and whom Mr. Durham now charges with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Think on that: The Clinton campaign ultimately paid a Russian to gin up the core allegations against Mr. Trump. The means by which that money flowed are convoluted, though the indictment makes the connections. It notes the Clinton campaign paid its law firm, which paid the opposition-research firm Fusion GPS, which paid Christopher Steele, who “retained Danchenko as a contractor.” Whether or not Mrs. Clinton was aware of any of this, there is no question her campaign got a Russian assist.
Mr. Danchenko, meanwhile, got a lot of his information from other Russians, including a Russian “sub-source” who the indictment notes was a supporter of Mrs. Clinton. This subsource at one point asks a Clinton surrogate to “[T]ell her please she [Clinton] has a big fan in [Country-1]” (bracketed text in original), and in an email to a Russian associate lays out her hopes for a job in a Clinton administration State Department. Again, more Russians providing information that fueled an FBI investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s opponent.
Mr. Danchenko also obtained dossier dirt from a Clinton surrogate, public-relations executive Charles Dolan. The indictment delves into Mr. Dolan’s own deep and extensive ties with the Russian government. It notes he “spent much of his career” with a focus on Russia. That included helping handle from 2006 to 2014 “global public relations for the Russian government.” (cut)
Durham uncovers evidence of Moscow’s attempts to influence the Steele dossier.
Opinion | Hillary Clinton’s Russian Helpers
Durham uncovers evidence of Moscow’s attempts to influence the Steele dossier.
www.wsj.com
Special counsel John Durham’s indictments have turned any number of narratives on their heads, including the question of which 2016 presidential campaign was in bed with Russians. It wasn’t Donald Trump’s .
For five years, that’s been the story line. The original claim was that Russians had “cultivated” Mr. Trump as an asset and held blackmail evidence over his head. When those over-the-top accusations fell apart, Democrats shifted to arguing that Mr. Trump and his associates had secretly colluded with the Kremlin to win the election. The press strove mightily to unearth nefarious Trump campaign contacts with Russians, though it came up with little of substance.
Contrast this to the many Russians routinely interacting with Hillary Clinton campaign contractors and surrogates, as documented by Mr. Durham’s latest indictment. Only one of them is the defendant, Igor Danchenko, the Russian national who turns out to have been the primary source for the Steele dossier, and whom Mr. Durham now charges with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Think on that: The Clinton campaign ultimately paid a Russian to gin up the core allegations against Mr. Trump. The means by which that money flowed are convoluted, though the indictment makes the connections. It notes the Clinton campaign paid its law firm, which paid the opposition-research firm Fusion GPS, which paid Christopher Steele, who “retained Danchenko as a contractor.” Whether or not Mrs. Clinton was aware of any of this, there is no question her campaign got a Russian assist.
Mr. Danchenko, meanwhile, got a lot of his information from other Russians, including a Russian “sub-source” who the indictment notes was a supporter of Mrs. Clinton. This subsource at one point asks a Clinton surrogate to “[T]ell her please she [Clinton] has a big fan in [Country-1]” (bracketed text in original), and in an email to a Russian associate lays out her hopes for a job in a Clinton administration State Department. Again, more Russians providing information that fueled an FBI investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s opponent.
Mr. Danchenko also obtained dossier dirt from a Clinton surrogate, public-relations executive Charles Dolan. The indictment delves into Mr. Dolan’s own deep and extensive ties with the Russian government. It notes he “spent much of his career” with a focus on Russia. That included helping handle from 2006 to 2014 “global public relations for the Russian government.” (cut)
