Michael Keilty (Credit: LinkedIn)
“We have the transcripts from day 1 of the Igor Danchenko trial. Pretrial matters and jury selection took up all of yesterday morning; openings and the prosecution’s case-in-chief, led by Special Counsel Durham, started in the afternoon.
Let’s dig in and start with the opening statements.
Special Counsel Prosecutor Michael Keilty opened with explanations of Danchenko’s lies to the FBI and discussed some FBI misconduct:
(…) Auten was also present for the FBI’s interview of Steele in October 2016, just weeks before the first FISA application was submitted.’
Q: When you and Mr. Varacalli, and Mr. Gaeta, and Mr. Guessford met with Christopher Steele in early October of 2016, did Christopher Steele provide any corroborative information for the information that was contained in his reports, in the dossier reports?
A: Not for the allegations, no.
( ) …Durham asked about the FBI offer to pay Steele to corroborate his information – what we might call the “million dollar” question. Here is Auten’s testimony on that matter:
As to Steele’s sources, Auten admitted Steele didn’t provide the FBI with the names of any sources back in October 2016.
Q: So you talked to Mr. Steele about sourcing. Do you recall whether or not Mr. Steele, in early October of 2016 provided you or your colleagues with the names of any of the sources?
A: Sources, no.
(…) Durham also asked Auten about Sergei Millian, whose name had been discussed in the October 2016 Steele interview. Auten stated that Millian had previously been a confidential human source (CHS) for the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.
Q: And what was that relationship?
A: Mr. Millian, at one time, had been a source.
Q: When you say “source,” that’s the same thing as confidential human source, correct?A: That is correct.
Q: In common parlance, might be known as an informant?
A: In common parlance, yes.
Q: And do you remember for how long Mr. Millian had been a confidential human source for the FBI?
A: I don’t recall that.
Q: Do you recall or do you know in German what the nature of the assistance was that Millian provided?
A: I know where he had provided the assistance. I don’t know exactly what type of assistance it had been.
Q: Okay. So you know that he has helped as a CHS?
A: Correct.
Q: For a period of time?
A: Correct.
Q: And you said you knew where he was providing that information?
A: Correct.
Q: And where was that?
A: I believe it was the Atlanta — the Atlanta field office.
Q: Okay. Do you know, again, personal knowledge, do you know whether or not at some point in time Millian’s status as a CHS ended, he was closed?
A: Yes.
Q: And why was it closed, if you know?
A: I believe it was closed because he moved out of the area of responsibility for the Atlanta field office.
Q: Now, with respect to Mr. Millian, you heard about Millian from Steele, you knew he had a relationship with the bureau, correct?
A: Correct.
As an aside, let’s briefly discuss the importance of Millian’s prior relationship with the FBI. Most significantly, it put the FBI on notice that Millian would be willing to corroborate any Steele/Danchenko allegations. The FBI never took advantage of that prior relationship. Again, here we have the FBI failing to follow-up on leads because it knew such steps would blow-up its investigation.
Back to the transcript. Auten said the FBI opened an investigation on Millian after the October 2016 interview of Christopher Steele. He admitted the FBI found no evidence Millian had “assisted in the interference” of the 2016 presidential election.
Q: Would you tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury whether or not — again, to your personal knowledge – whether or not the bureau opened some file on Mr. Millian?
A: Yes.
Q: And was that a matter investigated by the Bureau?
A: Yes.
Q: And to your personal knowledge, was it at some point closed?
A: Yes.
Q: Were any charges brought against Millian?
A: No.
Q: Was there any wrongdoing in terms of him assisting in the interference in some way with the 2016 presidential election?
A: No.
However, the Millian allegations – which arose from Danchenko’s claims to Steele – were still included in original FISA application and all subsequent renewals:
(Read more: Techno Fog/The Reactionary, 10/12/2022) (Archive)