<ul class="summary-list"><li>Special counsel <keyword id="12110944" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="john-durham" source="Orion">John Durham</keyword> filed a new indictment in his investigation into the FBI's Russia probe.</li><li>It raises more doubts about an unverified allegation involving a rumored Trump pee tape.</li></ul>The special counsel John Durham, who is investigating the origins of the FBI's Russia probe, dropped <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-analyst-igor-danchenko-steele-dossier-arrested-durham-probe-nyt-2021-11">a new indictment Thursday</a> that raises questions about the roots of the most salacious allegation in the so-called <keyword id="12335869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="steele-dossier" source="Orion">Steele dossier</keyword>.The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-steele-trump-pee-tape-probably-exists-2021-10">dossier</a> consists of a series of explosive, unverified memos alleging collusion between the Trump 2016 campaign and the Russian government. It was Democratically-funded and first circulated publicly in January 2017. According to the dossier, Russian intelligence officers captured visual evidence of <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword> watching Russian prostitutes perform sexual acts involving urination while he stayed at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow during a 2013 visit.The so-called "pee tape" has become a white whale for followers of the various investigations into Trump's connections with Russia. The dossier said the Russian government kept the tape in a file of "kompromat" detailing Trump's "unorthodox behavior" in Russia over the years, and that the Russians had "enough embarrassing material on Trump" to be able to "blackmail him if they so wished."Numerous investigations, including a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-takeaways-mueller-report-why-they-matter-2019-4#a-footnote-fuels-speculation-about-the-most-salacious-allegation-in-the-steele-dossier-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mueller investigation</a>, have not uncovered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steele-dossier-allegations-trump-russia-mueller-investigation-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evidence of such a recording</a>.Durham's investigation, first launched in 2019 under then-Attorney General William Barr, traced the origins of the allegation. Some of that is detailed in Thursday's indictment against <keyword id="12471401" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="igor-danchenko" source="Orion">Igor Danchenko</keyword>, a Russian national and one of former British spy <keyword id="12471402" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christopher-steele" source="Orion">Christopher Steele</keyword>'s main sources for the dossier.<h2>The dossier cited 3 sources connected to the pee tape rumor</h2>The dossier cited an anonymous "Source D" as saying that Trump rented out the presidential suite at the hotel to engage in salacious activity with the prostitutes, and that the hotel was known to be under surveillance by the FSB, Russia's principal internal security agency.The dossier said that "Source E," described as a "senior (western) member of staff at the hotel," confirmed the episode and said "s/he and several of the staff were aware of it at the time and subsequently." Source F, described as "a female staffer at the hotel when TRUMP had stayed there," also confirmed the story, the dossier said.<div type="image" title="Trump" height="1000" width="2000" msid="87529902" hostid="261"></div>Last year, it surfaced that Igor Danchenko, a Russian national who currently resides in the US, was the main source of the allegation involving the pee tape.He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The New York Times</a> in an October 2020 interview that two sources told him of rumors about a possible Trump sex tape and that two Ritz-Carlton employees later provided him with more nebulous information that he believed corroborated the rumors.<h2>The new indictment casts doubt on Danchenko's reliability</h2>On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Danchenko as part of Durham's investigation and charged him with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI.It also raised questions about the veracity of Danchenko's allegations of a Trump pee tape. The indictment cites two sources, PR Executive-1 and Organizer-1, who were knowledgeable about Trump's visit to the Moscow hotel and who themselves visited the venue in June 2016.While they were at the hotel, the indictment says, the two individuals took a tour of the presidential suite and met with the general manager and other staff members, and they also met with Danchenko. A staff member told participants on the tour that Trump had stayed in the presidential suite, the indictment says.However, "according to both Organizer-1 and PR Executive-1, the staff member did not mention any sexual or salacious activity," it added.The indictment alleges that Danchenko lied about his communications with those sources in interviews with the FBI, which made it difficult for the FBI to independently examine those claims. It also says Danchenko lied about other details, like the dates of his visits to the hotel.<div type="image" title="christopher steele" height="1249" width="2500" msid="87529905" hostid="261"></div>Durham's charges against Danchenko follow another <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-indicts-perkins-coie-lawyer-false-statements-fbi-2021-9">charge of lying to the FBI</a> filed against <keyword id="12225225" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-sussman" source="Orion">Michael Sussman</keyword>, a prominent cybersecurity lawyer with connections to the Democratic National Committee.Sussman has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-indictment-sussman-argues-fbi-lying-accusation-too-vague-2021-10">denied wrongdoing and has argued</a> that the convoluted nature of the indictment makes it too hard to defend against the charges.Danchenko appeared to backtrack on the pee tape story in interviews with the FBI, the indictment says."DANCHENKO further claimed that he characterized Trump's alleged activity to U.K. Person-1 as 'rumor and speculation,' and that DANCHENKO had been unable to confirm the veracity of the story," the indictment says. UK Person-1 appears to be Steele.Danchenko also previously acknowledged to The Times that the pee-tape allegation was thin at best and that even he was skeptical of whether it was true. But he added that his job was just to collect "raw intelligence" and he wasn't responsible for how Steele, who was his employer at the time, portrayed it.Trump dismissed the memos as a "pile of garbage," and he and his Republican allies accused the FBI of fabricating the information to oust Trump from office. In October, Trump without prompting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gop-fraud-claims/2021/10/14/f37887fe-2cfc-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html">told</a> donors, "I'm not into golden showers."

John Durham's latest indictment casts doubt on the origins of the Trump pee tape rumor

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The FBI offered a British ex-spy up to $1m to prove Trump's ties to Russia, per The Times of London.</li><li>A senior FBI analyst revealed this during the trial of the Steele dossier's primary source — Igor Danchenko.</li></ul>The FBI offered former British spy Christopher Steele up to $1 million to verify allegations in his dossier about former President Donald Trump's ties to Russia, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spy-was-offered-1m-to-prove-trump-russia-link-rnz32vn7d">The Times of London reported.</a>The money was not paid out because Steele, once the head of MI6's Russia desk, did not provide sufficient evidence to substantiate claims made in the now-infamous "Steele dossier," including that there exists a so-called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-steele-trump-pee-tape-probably-exists-2021-10">pee tape</a> of obscene material involving Trump in Russia before his political career, The Times said.The revelation that Steele was offered a substantial incentive to verify his facts emerged in the trial of Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the dossier, The Times said.Danchenko, a Russian citizen, was sent by Steele to search for material on Trump, The Times said. He has pleaded not guilty to five charges of lying to the FBI. The fifth charge was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/14/politics/john-durham-trial-igor-danchenko/index.html">dropped</a> by a federal judge on Friday.On Tuesday, during Danchenko's trial in Alexandria, Virginia, senior FBI analyst Brian Auten was asked if the $1 million offer was made by the FBI during an overseas meeting in October 2016 between Steele and other FBI officials. "Yes, it did," Auten said, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-fbi-offer-foreign-spy-1m-donald-trump-information-1751114">per Newsweek.</a> "Mr. Steele was offered anywhere up to a million dollars."Republicans responded to the revelation in outrage. Sen. Chuck Grassley <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/republicans-react-report-fbi-offered-steele-1m-proof-dossier-claims">told the Washington Examiner:</a> "The lengths the FBI was willing to go at taxpayer expense to justify their investigation into the Trump campaign is just astounding and downright scary."Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, described it in a tweet as a "disgrace."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1580167769340796928">October 12, 2022</a></blockquote>The Steele dossier, a piece of political opposition research written in 2016, contained allegations — some of which are now debunked — of criminal cooperation between Trump and the Russian government. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-washington-post-steele-dossier/2021/11/12/f7c9b770-43d5-11ec-a88e-2aa4632af69b_story.html">The Washington Post</a> describes it as "a collection of largely unverified reports."The FBI reportedly investigated the contents of the dossier line-by-line, per <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/us/politics/steele-dossier-mueller-report.html">The New York Times,</a> but it did not directly trigger the agency's s Operation Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Russian interference.The Mueller report contained passing references to some of the allegations in the dossier.

FBI offered former British spy behind the discredited 'pee tape' dossier up to $1m to prove Trump-Russia links, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A group of Trump lawyers was fined over a failed case alleging a vast pro-Clinton conspiracy. </li><li>The judge called it a "deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda."</li></ul>A group of former President Donald Trump's lawyers were pilloried by a judge and slapped with fines over a failed lawsuit that accused Hillary Clinton and dozens of others of a vast anti-Trump conspiracy.In a searing sanctions order, lawyers Alina Habba, Michael Madaio, Peter Ticktin and Jamie Alan Sasson, and their respective law firms, were fined $50,000 each, plus some legal fees, on Friday. Their lawsuit, <a href="https://lawandcrime.com/trump/judge-throws-out-trumps-rico-lawsuit-against-hillary-clinton-length-hyperbole-and-the-settling-of-scores-and-grievances-have-no-legal-merit/">which was tossed out in September</a>, had accused the defendants of concocting an "unthinkable plot" to connect Trump's 2016 election campaign to Russian influence, all on behalf of Clinton. On Friday, Judge Donald Middlebrooks slammed the failed case, describing it as "a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda."The case was riddled with basic falsehoods, showing a "cavalier attitude" towards the facts, Middlebrooks said. Ticktin said in a statement to Insider that the lawyers are "disappointed" and will appeal. "We attempted to right a wrong, and our reward is a kick in the teeth," he said.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/judge-trump-clinton.html">The New York Times</a> also reported Habba as planning to appeal. One of the defendants, Charles Dolan, was initially identified in the case as a former top DNC chairman and close advisor to Clinton, as well as a close associate of Igor Danchenko, the Russia analyst who contributed to the now widely discredited Steele dossier.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-analyst-igor-danchenko-steele-dossier-arrested-durham-probe-nyt-2021-11">Danchenko was indicted in John Durham's investigation</a> of the Russia probe, but was cleared in October.In particular, Trump's lawyers accused Dolan of being the source of the dossier's infamous claims of an encounter between Trump and prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. But the case failed to establish this, and made several basic errors in the process, Middlebrook said. He noted that the case misidentified Dolan as living in New York, when he actually lives in Virginia. Dolan's lawyers challenged the initial claims, saying that Clinton had never met him and that his work for her campaign had amounted to door-knocking. His only connection to Danchenko was via business interests and a conference in Moscow, they said.Nonetheless, when an amended complaint was filed it remained substantially unchanged, merely watering down Dolan's claimed association with Clinton. It also argued that most of the evidence for the claims was contained in Durham's investigation of the Russia probe.The judge rejected this, saying they had "cherry-picked" its contents and ignored anything that contradicted their theory. "Plaintiff's use of the indictment is nothing short of a deliberate disregard of the truth or falsity of their claims," he wrote, calling it a "textbook" example of actions deserving of sanctions. Despite warnings from the judge, Habba continued to push her claims on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Middlebrook said. He wrote: "Every claim was frivolous, most barred by settled, well-established existing law. These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims."This cannot be attributed to incompetent lawyering. It was a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda," he added.

Judge fined a group of Trump lawyers $50k each for filing meritless and mistake-strewn lawsuit against Hillary Clinton

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword> expert who was one of the main sources for the <keyword id="12335869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="steele-dossier" source="Orion">Steele dossier</keyword> was arrested Thursday.</li><li>Igor Danchenko was charged with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI.</li></ul>A Russia expert who contributed to the so-called Steele dossier was arrested on Thursday as part of the special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia probe, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times reported</a>, citing people familiar with the matter.Igor Danchenko, a Russian national who currently resides in the US, was charged with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI, according to a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1446386/download?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdeliveryvery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newly unsealed indictment</a>.The indictment accuses Danchenko of lying to federal agents in multiple interviews conducted from January to November 2017, while the FBI was working to corroborate allegations in the Steele dossier, which is an explosive collection of memos alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It was compiled by the former MI6 officer Christopher Steele.Danchenko was the source of perhaps the dossier's most infamous claim: that Trump in 2013 rented out the presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, where he hired Russian prostitutes to perform sexual acts in front of him which involved urination. Steele's dossier claimed that Russian intelligence services had video evidence of the encounter and kept it as kompromat on Trump.Danchenko elaborated on how he came to learn that information in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October 2020 interview with The Times</a>, saying two sources told him of rumors about a possible Trump sex tape and that two Ritz-Carlton employees later provided him with more nebulous information that he believed corroborated the rumors.However, Danchenko himself acknowledged that the claim was thin at best and that even he was skeptical of whether it was true. But he added that his job was just to collect "raw intelligence" and he wasn't responsible for how Steele, who was his employer at the time, portrayed it."Even raw intelligence from credible sources, I take it with a grain of salt," Danchenko told The Times. "Who knows, what if it's not particularly accurate? Is it just a rumor or is there more to it?"Many of the dossier's claims are unverified and have not been proven. The public release of the Steele dossier in January 2017 ignited a firestorm that loomed over most of Trump's presidency. It later surfaced that the document was Democratically-funded for opposition research during the 2016 campaign.Trump dismissed the memos as a "pile of garbage," and he and his Republican allies accused the FBI of fabricating the information to oust Trump from office.The FBI cited some of its claims when seeking a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on the former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.The Justice Department inspector general later <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-inspector-general-report-russia-probe-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faulted</a> the FBI for the way it went about seeking the warrants, saying there were "significant inaccuracies and omissions" in the application, and that agents "failed to meet the basic obligation" to make sure the applications were "scrupulously accurate."Steele, for his part, defended his part in producing the dossier in <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/shadows-christopher-steele-defiant-dossier-trump-potential-threat/story?id=80522891" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent interview with ABC News</a>, telling the outlet, "I stand by the work we did, the sources we had, and the professionalism which we applied to it." He also underscored that although the dossier was funded by Democrats, his work was apolitical, and that he believes Trump is still a threat to US national security.This story is developing. Check back for updates.

Russia expert who contributed to the Steele dossier charged with 5 counts of making false statements as part of John Durham's probe

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer <keyword id="13181703" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-sussmann" source="Orion">Michael Sussmann</keyword> was found not guilty of lying to the FBI.</li><li>The verdict is a major blow to the <keyword id="12110944" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="john-durham" source="Orion">John Durham</keyword>'s three-year investigation.</li></ul>Attorney Michael Sussmann, a onetime lawyer for the Hillary Clinton campaign, was acquitted on Tuesday of lying to the FBI, delivering a blow to special counsel John Durham's investigation.The <keyword id="11932021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="washington-dc" source="Orion">Washington DC</keyword> jury deliberated for six hours to reach the verdict. Durham is investigating the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation. Prosecutors accused Sussmann of lying to the FBI during a meeting with the federal agency about former President Donald Trump's connection to Russia during the 2016 presidential elections, but legal observers have observed the evidence against Sussmann was "quite weak."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1530315203929419776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote>Durham said in a statement that he was disappointed with the verdict but added that "we respect the jury's decision and thank them for their service.""I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking the truth and justice in this case," Durham said.Trump and his allies have tried to use the Sussmann case to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-says-media-may-have-misinterpreted-previous-filing-2022-2">falsely claim</a> that Trump was illegally surveilled and a link to Russian contacts was fabricated. But as Insider's C. Ryan Barber <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-says-media-may-have-misinterpreted-previous-filing-2022-2">has reported</a>, legal experts called the evidence against Sussmann thin, with one saying it would be "remarkably difficult" for prosecutors to prove their case. Legal experts have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-special-counsel-john-durham-michael-sussmann-trial-clinton-lawyer-2022-5">also speculated</a> in the past that an acquittal could prompt more questions about the cost and purpose of Durham's probe.Following the verdict, Sussmann told reporters that he was falsely accused. "I told the truth to the FBI, and the Jury clearly recognized this in their unanimous verdict today," he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-sussmann-not-guilty-special-prosecutor-john-durham">said</a>. "I'm grateful to the members of the jury for their careful thoughtful service. Despite being falsely accused I believe that Justice ultimately prevailed in my case. As you can imagine this has been a difficult year for my family and me. But right now we are grateful for the love and support of so many during this ordeal."Sussmann's case is the latest outcome of Durham's three-year investigation. Early on in the investigation, Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI agent, pleaded guilty in 2020 to falsifying an email used to support surveillancing Trump's former campaign aide Carter Page. In another case, Durham's team charged Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst with making false statements to the FBI about the information he provided to Christoper Steele, the former British intelligence officer who authored a dossier acussing Trump of colluding with Russia on the 2016 presidential elections.

Former Clinton campaign lawyer acquitted in 1st defeat for Trump-era special counsel

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The first <keyword id="11899412" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trial" source="Orion">trial</keyword> from <keyword id="12110944" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="john-durham" source="Orion">John Durham</keyword>'s special counsel inquiry kicked off with opening arguments.</li><li>A prosecutor said lawyer <keyword id="13181703" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-sussmann" source="Orion">Michael Sussmann</keyword> lied to the FBI to "inject" it into the 2016 election.</li></ul>Donald Trump spent his final months in the White House seeking vindication, predicting that a special counsel would prove ahead of the 2020 election that the Russia investigation was rooted in a "deep state" conspiracy.But no such word ever came from John Durham, the special counsel examining the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry. In March 2021, two months after leaving office, Trump was apparently still smarting over the silence when he released a statement asking, "Where's Durham? Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report?"More than a year after Trump's sarcastic statement, Durham has provided proof of life, emerging this week to sit in on the first trial stemming from his special counsel office's three-year investigation.A jury in Washington, DC, heard opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of Michael Sussmann, a onetime lawyer for the Hillary Clinton campaign, who stands charged with lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting about possible links between Trump and Russia. The opening arguments painted dueling portraits of Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and onetime partner at the law firm Perkins Coie with contacts at the highest levels of the law enforcement and intelligence communities.In a 20-minute opening argument, a prosecutor from Durham's office said Sussmann falsely told the FBI's general counsel at the time, James Baker, that he was not acting on behalf of any client when he presented odd internet data showing communications between servers connected to the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, a Kremlin-linked financial institution. The prosecutor, Brittain Shaw, said Sussmann was actually working on behalf of the Clinton campaign but concealed that client relationship to give his tip more credibility, in hopes of kicking off an investigation that would "inject the FBI into a presidential election."Sussmann lied, she said, to "direct the power and resources of the FBI to his own ends, to serve the agendas of his clients."A defense lawyer for Sussman, Michael Bosworth, told jurors flatly that Durham's theory for the case "doesn't make sense." At the time of the 2016 meeting, he said, the Clinton campaign wanted media coverage of the internet research showing a possible communications backchannel between the Trump Organization and the Russian bank. But the FBI looked into the supposed link and determined it was unsubstantiated.Sussmann, he said, met with Baker so the FBI would not be caught flat-footed by a story the New York Times was preparing to publish. "He went to the FBI to help the FBI," Bosworth said."This meeting was the opposite of what they wanted," he added, referring to the Clinton campaign. The trial is expected to feature testimony from FBI agents, Baker and prominent Democratic figures, including former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and the campaign's general counsel, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-elias-lawyer-democrats-perkins-coie-donald-trump-voting-rights-2021-9">Marc Elias</a>, a former Perkins Coie partner and leading voting rights advocate.For Durham's office, the trial comes with high stakes. An acquittal would fuel questions about the cost and purpose of the inquiry, which commenced in the spring of 2019. (In October 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr conferred special counsel status on Durham, a move that has preserved the investigation into the Biden administration.)A guilty verdict would almost surely galvanize Trump and his supporters, who have long looked to Durham to uncover evidence of bias and a "deep-state" plot against the former president. But, in the Sussmann case, Durham's office has presented the FBI as the victim — "used and manipulated," as Shaw put it Tuesday, to deliver an "October surprise" that would harm Trump."We are here because the FBI is our institution. It should not be used as a political tool for anyone — not Republicans, not Democrats, not anyone," she said.An earlier prosecution resulted in Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer, pleading guilty in 2020 to altering an email that federal authorities relied on to renew court-authorized surveillance of former Trump advisor Carter Paige. Clinesmith was sentenced in January 2021 to 12 months of probation.In another case, Durham's office charged Russia analyst Igor Danchenko with lying to the FBI. Danchenko was a source for the so-called Steele dossier — a since-discredited compilation of opposition research about purported links between Trump and Russia — and he is set to stand trial later this year.In Sussmann's case, Durham is expected to call Baker, the former FBI general counsel, as a star witness. But in the opening argument, Bosworth highlighted past testimony from Baker in which he could not recall portions of the 2016 meeting with Sussmann."You will see Mr. Baker's memory is [as] clear as mud," Bosworth said.Sussmann has not just denied lying to the FBI. His defense team has raised a legal argument that, even if he did lie, the false statement made no difference because the FBI was well aware that he represented the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and Rodney Joffe, a tech executive involved in the internet research.Ahead of the trial, Sussmann's defense team and legal experts noted the extensive detail of court filings from the Durham team. Conservative <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> outlets have picked up on the filings as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/us/politics/durham-sussmann-trump-russia.html">evidence</a> of nefarious conduct by the Clinton campaign, but the narratives have often been inaccurate.In the detail of the charging papers against Sussmann, some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-special-counsel-prosecution-challenges-ahead-clinton-campaign-lawyer-democratic-2021-9">legal experts saw</a> a so-called "speaking indictment" intended to tell a broader story rather than lay out a single false statement offense.Bosworth, in his final words to jurors Tuesday, described the prosecution as an "injustice.""As jurors, you have the extra responsibility to do justice in this case. And as jurors, you have the extra responsibility to prevent injustice. This case is an injustice," he said. "And I expect when all of the evidence is in, you will agree."

Trump-era special counsel John Durham appeared in person in court as the first trial from his 3-year investigation kicked off

The timeline of Trump's ties with Russia lines up with allegations of conspiracy and misconduct

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Former President <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword> hired a low-profile lawyer to represent some of his most personal cases.</li><li><keyword id="13206028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="alina-habba" source="Orion">Alina Habba</keyword> is defending him in sexual assault cases and suing the NY AG leading the Trump Org. probe.</li></ul>On Thursday, Donald Trump had an important court hearing. <keyword id="12266439" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york-attorney-general" source="Orion">New York Attorney General</keyword> <keyword id="12338139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="letitia-james" source="Orion">Letitia James</keyword> subpoenaed the former president for her civil <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-attorney-general-trump-lawsuit-attempt-to-block-subpoena-deposition-2022-1">investigation of the Trump Organization's finances</a>. Trump didn't want to sit for a deposition and asked his lawyers to fight it.New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron brought all the parties together in a Zoom conference to hear everyone's positions. In his corner, Trump had someone who was far from the national radar: a 36-year-old lawyer named Alina Habba.At times, Habba treated the court hearing like a Fox <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> appearance, inquiring why the New York state Attorney General's office would not <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-lawyer-alina-habba-ny-attorney-general-investigate-hillary-clinton-2022-2">investigate Hillary Clinton instead of Trump</a>. Engoron's law clerk <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alina-habba-kept-interrupting-judge-tish-james-trump-organization-hearing-2022-2">told her several times</a> to stop interrupting him.In the end, Engoron ordered Trump, Donald Trump Jr, and Ivanka Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deposition-judge-order-new-york-ag-james-probe-2022-2">to sit for depositions within 21 days</a>. Habba's arguments didn't work.Since first hiring Habba in September, Trump has sicced her on his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-2022-lawsuit-court-case-timeline-2022-1">most personal court cases</a>, ones like the initial showdown she just lost. In addition to defending her against two sexual assault lawsuits, she also filed a lawsuit against the New York Times and the ex-president's niece, <keyword id="11968390" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mary-trump" source="Orion">Mary Trump</keyword>, over leaking his tax documents.She's also handling Trump's most audacious lawsuit yet: an attempt to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-attorney-general-trump-lawsuit-attempt-to-block-subpoena-deposition-2022-1">stop Tish's investigation outright</a>. That case is a long shot, experts told Insider. It also comes with the devil's bargain job of being Trump's latest go-to lawyer, a position that has led some of her predecessors into situations that could be almost impossible to navigate ethically. Consider, for example, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcgahn-testimony-frustrated-perturbed-trapped-trump-asked-help-fire-mueller-2021-6">when Trump tried without success to get his Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller</a> and the White House counsel then ended up becoming a star witness in the special counsel's final report. "The easiest way to get a high profile is to represent Donald Trump," said Randy Zelin, a New York-based criminal attorney and Cornell Law School professor. "Now, is it worth it?"Take it from someone who knows. For years, Michael Cohen served as an executive for the Trump Organization and personal attorney for Trump, acting as his go-to fixer for legal problems. In 2016, his work on behalf of Trump — paying a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels — led to a criminal conviction and disbarment."For Donald, the only option is victory at any cost," Cohen told Insider. "This even includes having counsel act in ways detrimental to their reputation and career.""If she falls down the garbage chute I did," he said. "I predict a very bad ending."Habba did not respond to requests for comment for this story.<h2>Habba represented another businessman suing media companies before Trump hired her</h2>Habba attended Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Delaware between 2007 and 2011 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alina-habba-esq-836126b/">according to her LinkedIn profile</a>. McGahn, the former Trump White House counsel, graduated from the same law school in the 1990s, as did former associate White House counsel Jim Schultz. Then-Sen. Joe Biden also <a href="https://www.widener.edu/news/news-archive/he-was-mr-president-he-was-professor-biden-his-widener-law-students">taught at the institution's sister law school</a>, Widener University Delaware Law School, from 1991 until 2008, overlapping with Habba's attendance.After graduating from law school, according to her LinkedIn profile, Habba spent several years at small law firms before founding her own, Habba Madaio &amp; Associates LLP, in 2020. With her partner Michael Madaio, the firm focuses mostly on helping businesses with miscellaneous legal issues. She had also, at one point, been the general counsel of a parking garage company, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-lawsuit-new-york-times-alina-habba/2021/09/22/8acaf1c2-1bce-11ec-a99a-5fea2b2da34b_story.html">according to the Washington Post</a>.Before representing Trump, Habba's biggest brush with fame was in July,<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-lawyer-suing-nyt-mary-trump-represented-former-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-star-who-recently-claimed-facebook-disabled-account-for-wishing-melania-trump-a-happy-birthday/"> representing</a> "Real Housewives of New Jersey'' star Siggy Flicker. Flicker <a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-lawyer-suing-nyt-mary-trump-represented-former-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-star-who-recently-claimed-facebook-disabled-account-for-wishing-melania-trump-a-happy-birthday/">claimed she was banned</a> from Facebook after wishing Melania Trump a happy birthday. Habba wrote a letter to Facebook on her behalf, which the social media company appeared to ignore. Habba never actually filed a lawsuit over the scuffle, and it faded away.<div type="image" title="Alina Habba Marc Jacobs" height="2400" width="3199" msid="89675468" hostid="261"></div>Court records show that Habba has been involved in a handful of dramatic cases. Among the highlights is<a href="https://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-UB-for-15679452.php"> a class action lawsuit</a> representing several students at the University of Bridgeport, in Connecticut. The students, according to the lawsuit, were charged thousands of dollars in fees for on-campus services even as classes were held online because of the coronavirus pandemic. In another case, she's representing a New Jersey man who<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.456076/gov.uscourts.njd.456076.1.0.pdf"> sued a nursing home</a>, alleging it didn't properly care for his uncle as COVID-19 cases surged. Both cases remain pending.In July, Habba filed <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.478595/gov.uscourts.njd.478595.3.0.pdf">a lawsuit in federal court in New Jersey</a> on behalf of Caesar DePaco, a Portuguese businessman who runs a vitamin supplement company with a "thin blue line" flag on <a href="http://summitnutritionals.com/home/">its website</a>, against Cofina, a Portuguese media organization.The lawsuit says a magazine that Cofina owned defamed DePaco when it published a story alleging he is the "main financier" of Chega, a far-right political party in the country, and "engages in criminal activity and illegal forms of intimidation to collect debts" — all of which DePaco denies. Cofina<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21199614-cofina-media-motion-to-dismiss-lack-of-jurisdiction"> moved to dismiss the lawsuit</a>, telling the judge that DePaco didn't have the jurisdiction to sue the company because it is based in Portugal and not New Jersey.Despite Trump's frequent complaints about "fake news," he has sued media companies only three times during his presidency. In all of those cases, he was represented by Charles Harder, the defamation attorney famous for taking down Gawker in 2016.In September, Habba filed her first lawsuit on behalf of Trump. In New York state court, <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21067065/9-21-21-donald-trump-v-mary-trump-new-york-times-complaint.pdf">she sued the New York Times and Mary Trump</a>, his niece, who had leaked boxes of his tax documents to the publication. The lawsuit alleged Mary Trump violated a confidentiality agreement she signed in 2001 when she handed over those tax documents and claimed Times journalists "aided and abetted" that violation."The defendants engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records which they exploited for their own benefit and utilized as a means of falsely legitimizing their publicized works," Habba wrote in the lawsuit.Mary Trump, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in December, claiming the 2001 settlement was designed to swindle her out of money that was rightfully hers (she filed a separate lawsuit against Donald Trump in 2020).<h2>Habba helped wrap up one of Trump's longest-standing legal problems</h2>It's not clear how Habba and Trump first met.She has never donated to him or any other politicians, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Alina+Habba&amp;cycle=&amp;state=&amp;zip=&amp;employ=&amp;jurisdiction=&amp;cand=&amp;type=">according to a search of Federal Elections Commission records</a>. Her firm, however, is based just an eight-minute drive from the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump lived at the private club in the summer of 2021 and often golfed there during his presidency. <a href="https://www.axios.com/trumps-friends-alarmed-legal-pick-3e28ee26-3325-481d-9e08-245be18d56c9.html">According to Axios</a>, Habba "got to know" Trump by visiting the club.Habba publicly staked her claim in Trump's legal world on September 3. Court records show that, on that day, she swapped in for attorney Marc Kasowitz in a case filed by <keyword id="12243597" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="summer-zervos" source="Orion">Summer Zervos</keyword>. Kasowitz has been one of Trump's longest-serving lawyers, handling personal issues for him since before his presidency and working on politically charged cases for him in 2017.Zervos, in 2017, filed a defamation lawsuit against the then-president in New York state court, claiming he sexually assaulted her twice and then defamed her when he called her a liar.<div type="image" title="In this Dec. 5, 2017, file photo, Summer Zervos leaves Manhattan Supreme Court at the conclusion of a hearing in New York." height="2345" width="3127" msid="89675469" hostid="261"></div>Habba, in a hearing a month after she joined the case, was aggressive. She reiterated Trump's arguments that the case had no merit, and threatened to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyers-defamation-lawsuit-summer-zervos-sexual-assault-2021-10">file an anti-SLAPP motion</a>, which would allow him to potentially recoup legal costs if he won the case.Michael Rand, a law clerk overseeing the hearing, was unimpressed. He said that both Trump and Zervos <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deposition-summer-zervos-lawsuit-expected-before-christmas-2021-10">needed to sit for depositions by Christmas</a>.Just weeks later, on November 12, Zervos dropped the case. The court filing says that each party would "bear his or her own costs." <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-accuser-settles-defamation-case-without-compensation/">Zervos's attorneys said</a> she "accepted no compensation" and "stands by the allegations in her complaint."While Zervos was still free to continue publicly calling the former president a rapist, Habba still succeeded in cleaning up a legal headache. Her success may have given Trump a reason to assign her to another case: E. Jean Carroll.In 2019, the columnist publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s. Like Zervos, she sued him in September of 2020, after he called her a liar and insulted her appearance.Habba joined on November 22, also replacing Kasowitz. She once again went on the offense. In <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790.63.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a lengthy counterclaim filed on January 11</a>, she said Carroll lied about Trump in order to boost sales for her book released in 2019.<h2>She also threatened to sue the Pulitzer Board for prizes it didn't award</h2>In November, Habba <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21217871-alina-habba-demand-letter-to-pulitzer-board">threatened to file a lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board</a>. She demanded it retract <a href="https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staffs-new-york-times-and-washington-post">the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting</a> given to the Washington Post and New York Times for their stories about Russia's interference in the 2016 election and how Trump fired FBI director James Comey.The letter to the board came after Special Counsel John Durham accused <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html">Igor Danchenko, a Russian national</a>, of lying when he provided <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-indictment-casts-doubt-trump-pee-tape-steele-dossier-2021-11">information for what later became known as the Steele Dossier</a>. The document <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html">played a role</a> in a wiretap application for a foreign policy advisor for Trump's 2016 campaign who had ties to Russia as part of a larger FBI investigation into Russia's election interference.The New York Times didn't correct any of its stories in the wake of the admission, and there's no evidence any of its stories relied solely on Danchenko's claims. <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21217871-alina-habba-demand-letter-to-pulitzer-board">Habba's letter</a> does not identify any such stories.<div type="image" title="christopher steele" height="1477" width="1970" msid="89675470" hostid="261"></div>The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-washington-post-steele-dossier/2021/11/12/f7c9b770-43d5-11ec-a88e-2aa4632af69b_story.html">corrected two stories following Durham's indictment</a>. Neither of them are among <a href="https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staffs-new-york-times-and-washington-post">the articles that were awarded a Pulitzer Prize</a>. Habba's letter also refers to complaints about CNN's coverage of the Steele Dossier, which was not even a finalist for the prize.Bud Kliment, the administrator of the prizes, told Insider that the Pulitzer Board has a "standing process for reviewing questions about past awards." He did not respond to additional questions about whether Habba or another representative for Trump had triggered the process.Habba has not yet filed a lawsuit against the Pulitzer Board. Zelin told Insider that having "one client," as Habba does with Trump, can put an attorney in situations that risk their credibility."Your reputation, and as the old saying goes — it takes a lifetime to build a reputation in about 10 seconds to destroy it," Zelin said.<h2>Her biggest gamble yet is a challenge to New York Attorney General Letitia James</h2>To stop New York Attorney General Letitia James's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-produced-few-donald-trump-documents-new-york-ag-2022-1">subpoena of Trump</a>, Habba filed a lawsuit in federal court on December 20 <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.131151/gov.uscourts.nynd.131151.6.2_1.pdf">asking for an injunction that would freeze the investigation entirely</a>. She argued the investigation was an abuse of power, since James, as a candidate for attorney general and governor, had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/letitia-james-trump-organization-investigation-record-2021-11">bragged about suing Trump</a>.Habba also took her argument to right-wing media. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News in January, she said James was running a "fishing expedition" and that real estate valuations are "incredibly subjective."With Engoron's ruling on Thursday <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deposition-judge-order-new-york-ag-james-probe-2022-2">that Trump had to comply with the subpoena</a> by mid-March, it's unlikely the federal judge in Habba's case will issue a ruling in time. And Zelin said it had little merit in the first place."What Trump wants us to do is he wants us to talk about everything else but the 800-pound gorilla in the room," Zelin said. "Which is, did you lie about the value of properties? Did you deceive lenders? Did you deceive insurance companies? Did you deceive the IRS?"<div type="image" title="letitia james" height="1666" width="2222" msid="89675471" hostid="261"></div>If Habba chose to work for Trump in order to advance her reputation, Zelin said, then she is playing a dangerous game.She may be able to command higher fees in the future, he said. But while big legal names like Kasowitz, Harder, and Rudy Giuliani have established track records, Habba runs the risk of making it impossible to disconnect from the former president."You become radioactive. You become typecast," he said. "You just can never play any other role."One lawyer who faced off against Habba in a now-completed case, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it, said they found Habba to be "perfectly competent." But having a client like Trump presents risks, the lawyer said."In the legal profession, your reputation is everything, your credibility is everything," the lawyer said. "But once you go down the path of being so connected with one person, who may not want you to uphold those standards, you can end up in really difficult spots."The worst-case scenario may be if, one day, Habba has to stand up to Trump.Whether it's Michael Cohen, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, or former Vice President Michael Pence, Trump has sought to ruin the reputations of people who refused to do his bidding. "Hitching your wagon to Donald J. Trump is not a wise move for a young and aspiring attorney," Cohen said. "Unfortunately for Ms. Habba, the matters to which she is representing Donald on have highly skilled counsel that she will need to wrangle with.""I don't see her achieving success in these matters," he added.

Meet Alina Habba, the New Jersey parking garage lawyer now handling Donald Trump's most personal lawsuits

Welcome back to <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">10 Things in Politics</a>. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">Sign up here to receive this newsletter</a>. Plus, download Insider's app for news on the go - click <a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id554260576">here for iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.freerange360.mpp.businessinsider">here for Android</a>. Send tips to <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a>.Here's what we're talking about:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-guidance-trick-or-treat-celebrate-halloween-covid-coronavirus-mask-2021-10"></a><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/will-supply-chain-crisis-ruin-christmas-holiday-season-hiring-seasonal-2021-11">Forget the supply chain ruining Christmas. Companies are prepping for a blowout holiday season.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barstool-sports-dave-portnoy-sex-choking-violent-stoolies">'I was literally screaming in pain': Young women say they met Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy for sex and it turned violent and humiliating</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-vaccine-rule-takes-effect-on-january-4-white-house-2021-11">Biden's COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing mandate for millions of workers is set to take effect January 4</a></li></ul>Programming note: There will be no <keyword id="11894123" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="newsletter" source="Orion">newsletter</keyword> Monday. We'll be back in your inbox Tuesday morning.<hr />1. THE ECONOMY: The holiday season may be more normal than you think. Hiring data shows that companies are betting on a return to pre-pandemic shopping trends. Logistics experts also say the supply-chain crisis is starting to fade, casting some doubt on predictions of shipping bottlenecks bedeviling holiday plans.Here's where things stand:Not everything is merry and bright: Online out-of-stock warnings are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/holiday-shopping-out-of-stock-warnings-supply-shortages-adobe-spending-2021-10">nearly triple precrisis levels</a>, and prices continue to climb at their fastest pace in more than a decade. And the coronavirus pandemic has widened inequality, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/post-pandemic-economic-recovery-metrics-forecasts-inequality-growth-experts-2021-11">hitting vulnerable workers hard while making the rich richer</a>.<ul><li>Experts are wary of looking only at overall growth to assess the recovery: "There are a lot of people that are slipping through the cracks, that are being kicked out of their homes and their apartments that never did have much spending. Those people are not doing well and their children are not doing well, and that isn't being reported on very much," Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist who is a cochair of the University of California at Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, told Insider.</li></ul>But there are some good signs: US retailers, warehousing businesses, and transportation companies plan to hire 939,300 seasonal workers to handle holiday demand, the outplacement and business-coaching firm Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas said in a report. That would be a record.<ul><li>And the supply-chain crisis may be easing: Jefferies economists led by Aneta Markowska said in a note published October 15 that the US was most likely "past the peak pinch," while one of the world's major warehousing CEOs just called a peak this week.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/will-supply-chain-crisis-ruin-christmas-holiday-season-hiring-seasonal-2021-11">Read more about what you can expect to see this holiday season.</a><hr />2. House plans a marathon day of votes on Biden's agenda: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed votes on the two biggest pieces of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda to today after long-simmering disputes threatened to once again derail final passage, Politico reports. Lawmakers are now expected to vote on both the nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $1.75 trillion social-spending plan later today. Pelosi and her leadership team spent the day pushing Democrats to support both pieces of legislation and trying to resolve concerns about the spending plan's drug pricing and immigration provisions as well as concerns about the lack of independent budget analysis. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/04/pelosi-domestic-agenda-519503">Here's where things stand at the start of a pivotal day for Biden's presidency</a>.<hr /><div type="image" title="NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 14: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy visits SiriusXM Studios on November 14, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)" height="2095" width="3000" msid="87537654" hostid="261"></div>3. Young women say sex with Dave Portnoy turned violent and humiliating: In a new Insider investigation, one woman described sex with the Barstool Sports founder as "traumatic," and two said he filmed and choked them without permission. More than two dozen people with direct experience with Portnoy and Barstool spoke with Insider. Three women - who had no professional connection to Portnoy - said that they had sex with him and that the encounters had taken a toll on their mental health. Portnoy, in two videos posted after the story was published, said he had never done "anything remotely nonconsensual" and described the deeply reported story as "the next iteration" of cancel culture. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barstool-sports-dave-portnoy-sex-choking-violent-stoolies?_ga=2.202744983.722147671.1635703888-1311350499.1611066322">Read more from Insider's investigation</a>.<hr />4. Biden's COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing mandate is set to take effect January 4: The White House said the president's previously announced requirements for people working at companies with 100 or more employees would take effect after the new year. There's also a separate mandate - without an exception for testing - for healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. The rules for private businesses are expected to cover 84 million Americans, which combined with the healthcare-worker mandate would cover roughly two-thirds of the US workforce. In response, Republican attorneys general have threatened legal action. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-vaccine-rule-takes-effect-on-january-4-white-house-2021-11">Here's everything you need to know about the coming mandates</a>.<hr />5. Prosecutors say a source for the Steele dossier lied to the FBI: A Russia expert who contributed to the so-called Steele dossier was arrested as part of the special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia inquiry, The New York Times reports. Igor Danchenko, a Russian national who lives in the US, was charged with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/durham-indictment-casts-doubt-trump-pee-tape-steele-dossier-2021-11">This latest indictment also casts doubt on the origins of the Trump pee-tape rumor</a>.<hr />6. Veteran Democrat warns of a midterm bloodbath: Former Rep. Jim Moran was with Terry McAuliffe on the disappointing election night for the former Virginia governor. Moran told Insider that McAuliffe "was more surprised than he should have been" and that "some of the people that have been advising him were kind of deluding him." Moran, who is now a senior policy advisor and lobbyist at the firm Nelson Mullins Riley &amp; Scarborough LLP, warned of a coming "bloody" midterm election if Democrats failed to resolve their differences on Capitol Hill and Biden didn't return the party's focus to more centrist economic issues. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-worried-2022-midterms-virginia-terry-mcauliffe-biden-2021-11">More on the Virginia politician who is worried about 2022</a>.<hr /><div type="image" title="New York City mayoral candidate Eric Adams points his right finger in the air outside of his Brooklyn campaign office in Prospect Lefferts Gardens." height="1488" width="2500" msid="87537655" hostid="261"></div>7. Mayor-elect Eric Adams wants to be paid in bitcoin: Adams has been vocal about wanting to transform New York City into a bitcoin hub to compete with Miami for the status of the epicenter of the US crypto community. He said his first three paychecks would come via bitcoin. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-bitcoin-paycheck-three-months-crypto-2021-11">More on how politicians are jockeying over the future of crypto</a>.<hr />8. WHO warns of major COVID-19 surge in Europe: The World Health Organization's European head, Hans Kluge, warned the continent could see 500,000 more deaths by February amid slowing vaccination rates and a relaxation of coronavirus-prevention measures, the BBC reports. Among the worrying numbers, Germany hit a record rise in its daily case count of more than 37,000, just 32% of Russians were fully vaccinated by the end of October, and Romania recorded its highest daily death toll, 591, this week. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59160525">More on why health officials are worried about the months ahead</a>.<hr />9. The most powerful New Jersey state senator lost to a Republican truck driver: Edward Durr, a truck driver for a local furniture chain, is now projected to have pulled off a monumental upset by dethroning Sen. Steve Sweeney, the New Jersey Senate president, The Times reports. Sweeney's loss drives home Democrats' struggles in 2021 elections, which nearly claimed Gov. Phil Murphy as well. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/nyregion/stephen-sweeney-durr-nj-election.html">The upset will leave a major hole in New Jersey politics</a>.<hr />10. The Rock says his production company won't use real guns on sets: Dwayne Johnson told Variety his production company, Seven Bucks Productions, would no longer use real guns in its productions in response to the fatal shooting of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust." Johnson added that his productions would switch to "rubber guns" and simulate gunfire in postproduction. <a href="https://www.insider.com/dwayne-johnson-production-company-bans-real-guns-rust-alec-baldwin-2021-11">"We're not going to worry about the dollars - we won't worry about what it costs," he said</a>.<hr />Today's trivia question: Which president's son was nearby when three presidential assassinations took place? Email your answer and a suggested question to me at <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a>.<ul><li>Yesterday's answer: William Henry Harrison was <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/capturing-history">the first sitting US president to pose for a picture</a>. He posed for a daguerreotype portrait on the day of his inauguration before his death just 31 days later.</li></ul>

You Searched For "igor danchenko" and got 9 results

John Durham's latest indictment casts doubt on the origins of the Trump pee tape rumor

Sonam Sheth,Jacob Shamsian

FBI offered former British spy behind the discredited 'pee tape' dossier up to $1m to prove Trump-Russia links, report says

Joshua Zitser

Judge fined a group of Trump lawyers $50k each for filing meritless and mistake-strewn lawsuit against Hillary Clinton

Mia Jankowicz

Russia expert who contributed to the Steele dossier charged with 5 counts of making false statements as part of John Durham's probe

Sonam Sheth

Former Clinton campaign lawyer acquitted in 1st defeat for Trump-era special counsel

Camila DeChalus

Trump-era special counsel John Durham appeared in person in court as the first trial from his 3-year investigation kicked off

C. Ryan Barber

The timeline of Trump's ties with Russia lines up with allegations of conspiracy and misconduct

Natasha Bertrand

Meet Alina Habba, the New Jersey parking garage lawyer now handling Donald Trump's most personal lawsuits

Jacob Shamsian

10 Things in Politics: Supply-chain disarray won't ruin the holidays

Brent D. Griffiths