Former President Donald Trump lashed out at a group of Northern Virginia jurors who earlier this week acquitted Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the so-called Steele dossier, on four counts of lying to the FBI about how he gathered information for the dossier.
In a statement posted on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump also gave a pass to special counsel John Durham, who brought the case against Mr. Danchenko. Since the acquittal — the second in as many trials for Mr. Durham — the special counsel has faced intense criticism and been accused of bringing flimsy cases.
“The disgraceful judiciary system was on full display yet again with the Danchenko Verdict. Durham could not get a fair shake in the Swamp of biased and partisan juries, where you are told that no Republican based or supported case can be won no matter how it is & judges that are so biased, unfair, and angry that it is literally dangerous to be in court!” Mr. Trump wrote late Thursday.
“I was told by many that Mr. Durham’s case was a great one, but he has ZERO chance of winning in that COURT,” Mr. Trump wrote of the Alexandria, Virginia, federal court.
President Biden overwhelmingly carried the city of Alexandria in the 2020 presidential election, taking 80% of the vote, compared to just 17% for Mr. Trump.
Mr. Danchenko was charged with lying to the FBI about how he compiled information that ultimately ended in the Steele dossier, a collection of salacious and unverified rumors tying Mr. Trump to Russia.
Prosecutors say Mr. Dancehnko gathered some information from a Democratic operative with ties to Hillary Clinton’s campaign while other claims were completely made up and attributed to a phone call they say never happened.
Jurors didn’t buy Mr. Durham’s arguments and on Tuesday acquitted Mr. Danchenko on all charges after nine hours of deliberations over two days.
Joel Greene, a juror from Vienna, Virginia, told The Washington Times that the verdict was an easy call.
“We looked really closely, going through and examined it all, and the conclusion that we reached was a conclusion that all of us were able to reach,” he said. “It was pretty unanimous. Everyone had questions on different things that needed to be clarified, but no fight over ‘yes,’ ’no’ or whatever.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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