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Jurors Deliberate in Trial of Russian National Charged With Lying to FBI During Collusion Probe

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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Sputnik) - The jurors in the case of Russian national Igor Danchenko, who has been charged with lying to the FBI during the Trump-Russia collusion probe, retired to deliberate on the verdict, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the court.
At about 1:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT), the prosecution and defense in the Danchenko case finished presenting their closing statements and the 12 jurors retired to their room to consider the evidence and reach a verdict, the correspondent reported on Monday.
In their closing argument, the prosecution pointed to the fact that Danchenko worked for an extended period of time with British spy Christopher Steele on his dossier against then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Special counsel John Durham, who represents the prosecution, also drew the jury's attention to the fact that there was no evidence in the case to indicate Danchenko had told Steele the information on Trump he was passing was gossip or speculation.
The defense indicated in their closing remarks that the evidence present in the case is not sufficient to pass a guilty verdict against Danchenko.
According to the defense, Danchenko was Steele’s main source of information and risked his life while acting in the interests of US national security, which, in their opinion, proves his disinterest in lying to FBI agents.
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At approximately 5:30 p.m. (21:30 GMT), district judge Anthony Trenga announced that the jury had not reached a verdict and the court would adjourn until Tuesday morning, when the jury will meet again to continue deliberating on the verdict.
On Friday, a US federal judge dropped one of five counts against Danchenko, who in November pleaded not guilty to five counts of making false statements to the FBI about the alleged collusion between former US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin during the 2016 US presidential election.
The prosecution insists that Danchenko lied to the FBI about the sources of information given to Steele concerning alleged contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, including information that the Kremlin may have facilitated Trump's election. The indictment states that Danchenko did not receive such information from anyone and fabricated it. Danchenko provided the information to Steele, who used it to prepare the Trump dossier, which served as a guide for US authorities to investigate the alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. A subsequent Special Counsel investigation proved no collusion between Trump and Russia.
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