Russian analyst who compiled dossier linking Trump’s election to Russia arrested

A Russian analyst who compiled a dossier that linked Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign with Russia was arrested in the United States.

The Department of Justice indicted Igor Danchenko, 43, on Thursday for making false statements to the FBI relating to sources for the material he gave to a former British spy, Chirstopher Steele, to prepare what became known as the ‘Steele dossier’.

In the dossier, he made unsubstantiated claims that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

The document was used by Democrats to paint Trump as a Russian puppet, a narrative amplified by most US media during the president’s four years in office.

A lawyer for the Russian analyst did not immediately respond to requests for comment, news agency Reuters has reported.

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Published by Buzzfeed 10 days before Trump took office, the ‘Steele Dossier’ made a number of explosive claims linking Trump to the Kremlin —including that Russia had compromising material on the Republican candidate. Trump had always dismissed the allegations.

Steele is a former British intelligence officer who prepared the dossier for Fusion GPS, which was working for a law firm that represented the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

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In July 2016, US investigators began to examine whether there were any links between Trump and the Kremlin. This led the following year to a major investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller.

In 2019, the Mueller investigation concluded that it could not determine any criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Following this, the Trump administration announced an investigation into the origins of the inquiry into Russian interference.

(With inputs from agencies)