Here's my exclusive interview with Igor Danchenko, the #Russian analyst behind the Steele dossier. He says he "stands by" his work, including allegations that Trump was compromised in #Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel. "I got it right," he says theguardian.com/us-news/2020/o…
Last week Danchenko sent cease-and-desist letters to Trump's counsel and to Republican senator Lindsey Graham. Both have suggested he's a suspected #Russian spy who fed disinformation to Steele. The allegations - retweeted by Trump - are "completely false", his lawyer wrote
Danchenko was outed in July, after William Barr declassified his 2017 FBI interview. He says the "smear campaign" by Graham and other senior Congressional Republicans was done to distract from the damning Senate intelligence committee report into the #Trump campaign and #Russia
The Senate report corroborated many of the key dossier allegations, Danchenko points out. It said a Russian intelligence officer was permanently station at the #Moscow Ritz-Carlton and presided over a "network" of hidden cameras theguardian.com/us-news/2020/a…
I asked Danchenko about his FBI interview where he appears to downplay his sources. He said there were "nuances" of interpretation here and told me: "I didn't write the summary". More broadly, he says he stands by the "raw intelligence" he collected in spring-summer 2016
As @John_Sipher notes, the Steele dossier reported that Trump was happy to have #Russia as bogeyman to detract attention from his secret business dealings in #China. And now this from @nytimes: nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/…
Danchenko says the Republican campaign against him has left him afraid for his life and jobless. He tells me he's more scared of the pro-#Trump "radical right" taking matters into their own hands, than he is of #Kremlin operatives. And adds that he can no longer visit #Russia
A few links for anyone interested in the story of #Russia and dossier. My new book Shadow State below, published by @harperbooks in NYC. You can follow Igor Danchenko on Twitter. His new account is @IgorDanch
amazon.com/Shadow-State-M…
amazon.com/Shadow-State-M…
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