FBI agent, analyst: Mueller never interviewed key witness and Democrat operative Charles Dolan

A FBI agent and a former FBI analyst each said Friday in Special Counsel John Durham's trial for Russian information specialist Igor Danchenko that bureau agents in the so-called Russia collusion probe named Crossfire Hurricane, then the Mueller team that took over the investigation never interviewed a Democrat operative central to the Danchenko case. 

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in 2017 to look into possible collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, a probe that started as the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane. 

The two FBI employees, ex-analyst Brittany Hertzog and agent Amy Anderson, also said at the trial, in federal court in northern Virginia, each wanted to interview the operative, Charles Dolan, but never got the opportunity.

Danchenko was initially indicted on five charges of lying the FBI about two sources – Dolan and U.S.-Belarus businessman Sergei Millian. He allegedly used both in connection with the so-called Steele dossier, which essentially amounted to opposition research on then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and which has since been largely discredited. 

Danchenko contributed about 80% of the content to the dossier.

Hertzog testified Friday that she uploaded three case files on Dolan so that the Justice Department inspector general's office, the FBI's Washington field office and the FBI headquarters could clearly see that Dolan had not been interviewed and possibly take action.

Later in Friday's proceedings, FBI special agent Amy Anderson, who was a supervisory agent on Crossfire Hurricane and Mueller teams, said she also wanted to look into Dolan, and that Hertzog and FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten also were interested in Dolan.

Anderson also said that in August 2017, she, Auten, and another FBI agent who spoke Russian went to Cyprus to interview Russian national Olga Galkina, a friend of Danchenko's whom he had introduced to Dolan.

Danchenko made arrangements for the meeting and Galkina was a dossier sub-source, Anderson also testified. 

She said Galkina was hesitant to talk about Dolan but eventually said Dolan was a dossier source.

However, the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, later on Friday dismissed the count alleging Danchenko had material conversations about the dossier with Dolan, after the defense team argued prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence. 

Danchenko has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Both will present closing arguments Monday.

The biggest bombshell in the case so far has been testimony from Auten that former British spy Christopher Steele was offered as much as $1 million to corroborate information in his dossier, which he could not do. 

Central to the case in whether Danchenko was truthful to the FBI about two sources – Dolan and U.S.-Belarus businessman Sergei Millian – on such matters as whether he told agents about the conversations, what was discussed and whether he even talked to Millian.

Dolan was the trial's second witness. He told the court he passed along information to Danchenko but not under the terms of being a source or the dossier and that his information was also published in news reports.

The proceedings are expected to conclude Monday.

Durham was appointed in 2020 by then-Attorney General William Barr to look into the FBI's actions in the so-called Russia collusion probe.