Special Counsel John Durham's final case goes to the jury after a series of prosecutorial setbacks

John Durham
(Image credit: Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)

Special Counsel John Durham made his closing arguments Monday in what's expected to be the swan song of his three-year-long investigation of the Justice Department's inquiry into ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In the case at hand, Durham charged Russian foreign policy researcher Igor Danchenko with five counts of lying to the FBI tied to his role as a sub-source for former British spy Christopher Steele's salacious, largely discredited Trump-Russia dossier.

Durham has faced several setbacks in the trial, including his own FBI witnesses appearing to bolster Danchenko's defense and U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga's decision Friday to throw out one of the five charges, ruling that Danchenko's statements to the FBI about minor source Charles Dolan were "literally true." The remaining charges involve Danchenko's statements about phone conversations he said he believed he had with Sergei Millan, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.