Durham objects to source of anti-Trump dossier wanting classified info for upcoming trial

Special Counsel John Durham has filed a motion to block Igor Danchenko — a key source of the Trump opposition research document known as the Steele dossier — from using classified information as part of his defense at his upcoming criminal trial.

Durham's team filed the objection Wednesday under seal ahead of their case against Danchenko, which is set to start in October, according to the Washington Times.

Durham was picked in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to investigate allegations of misconduct by the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies looking into allegations of collusion between former President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.

A one-page document accompanying the Durham motion states the government objects to the "use, relevance and admissibility" of the classified information. This follows Danchenko recently filing a sealed motion signaling he intends to use classified information in his defense. 

The government has already provided Danchenko's attorneys with 5,000 classified documents and 61,000 unclassified documents, the Times reports, based on a court filing this spring.

Danchenko was charged last year with repeatedly lying to the FBI about how he compiled information for British ex-spy Christopher Steele's now-discredited dossier about Trump's connection to Russia.

He is accused of intentionally misleading the FBI when he denied in a 2017 interview that his primary source for part of the dossier was a former aide to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.