An FBI analyst revealed that the agency offered "up to $1 million" to retired British spy Christopher Steele to prove the allegations in his dossier about Donald Trump.
The offer was made during an overseas meeting in October 2016, shortly before the presidential election that Trump won, between Steele and several senior FBI officials who were attempting to corroborate Steele's claims that the Trump's election campaign was supported by Russia.
According to the statement from FBI supervisory analyst Brian Auten, Steele never received the money because he could not prove his accusation against the former president.
Auten's revelation exposed that the FBI did not have enough hard evidence to link the Trump campaign to Russia. In this way, the federal agency would have used uncorroborated information to advance its investigation.
Trial against Igor Danchenko
The offer was made known on Tuesday at the first session of the Igor Danchenko trial a senior source at the Steele Dossier. Danchenko is being prosecuted by special counsel John Durham and faces five counts of lying to the FBI.
During the trial, special counsel John Durham presented the FBI as a victim of Danchenko. Prosecutors portrayed the Russian analyst as a "critical source" who lied to agency officials. The Washington Times reports quoting prosecutor Michael Keilty's remarks to jurors in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Steele dossier caused the FBI to engage in troubling conduct. The defendant's lies played a role in that conduct.
Danchenko provided information that was included in the dossier of unverified allegations against Trump. The dossier was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
