On Friday, a US federal judge dropped one of five counts against Danchenko, who in November pleaded "not guilty" to the charges of lying to the FBI about his role in the discredited "Steele dossier," which alleged collusion between former US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin during the 2016 US presidential election.
The Tuesday courtroom decision served as yet another blow to special counsel John Durham, who represented the prosecution in the case. The acquittal marks the second case tied to Durham's nearly 3.5-year-long investigation in which he has lost.
Shortly after the decision was issued by jurors, Durham told reporters that although the prosecution was "disappointed" with the outcome, "we respect the jury's decision."
After the earlier acquittal of cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussman and now Danchenko, Durham's prosecution efforts tied to the Trump-Russia collusion probe are expected to come to an end. It's also anticipated that the special counsel will now be submitting a final report to the US Department of Justice summarizing its findings.
Taking the lead on the prosecution team, Durham alleged during the trial that Danchenko misled FBI agents when they inquired about the Russian analyst's sources in 2017 after it had been determined he was behind allegations made in the Steele Dossier. The since-discredited dossier had been used by the FBI to support its surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The jury ultimately deliberated for about nine hours before handing in their verdict.
Durham was appointed by outgoing US Attorney General William Barr in 2019 to review the FBI probe into Trump's presidential campaign in 2016.