The FBI first interviewed him in late January 2017 after he was identified as Steele’s subsource. Regardless, when he started providing the same information to the news media, the State Department and Department of Justice officials, he violated the terms of his agreement with the FBI and quickly became none of the above.ĭanchenko was another matter. He likewise probably was still considered an informant when he started providing his “dossier” information to the FBI in 2016, because again, he was being paid he referred to himself in this matter as a contractor. Since we think he was paid for his work, and the FBI had multiple other streams of evidence, he probably was an informant. This includes the level of confidentiality they can expect to maintain in the future.Ī former British spy, Steele first became affiliated with the FBI during the criminal investigation into corruption at FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. There are policies regarding the use of different categories of confidential sources, based on how and what they report on. Since these cases usually are classified and rarely involve an asset’s testifying, his or her identity almost always is considered literally “secret.” After 9/11, the FBI looked toward becoming an intelligence-driven agency and started referring to all categories of sources as confidential human sources, or CHS, in a nod to the lingo used in the intelligence community.
The FBI endeavors to keep a CW’s identity secret until he or she must testify, but it’s not a promise.Īssets are the third category of sources, always associated with national security cases such as international terrorism or counterintelligence.
#STEEL DOSSIER TRIAL#
They typically are not paid, since that would be a relevant factor that would come up during trial and could make it appear they made things up for money. For example, if an informant agrees to wear a wire, they acknowledge they might have to testify. The main characteristic of a CW is confirmation by both parties that the CW might someday have to testify. The next category of informants is cooperating witnesses, or “CWs.” Typically, but not always, they are jammed up themselves and agree to cooperate in exchange for either not being prosecuted, or having their cooperation made known to the court for consideration toward eventual punishment. Attorney if they cannot make the case without burning the informant. Typically, the bureau does not bring a case to the U.S.
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Most CIs are promised up front that, as long as they live up to their end of the bargain - such as not lying or being involved in criminal activity themselves - the FBI will try to ensure their identity will not be revealed. Armed with “lead” information from the source, the bureau would attempt to develop independent evidence of the informant’s reporting in order to prosecute crimes by mafia members. Think of a well-placed mafia member who is secretly reporting to the FBI, usually for money, about the inner workings of a crime family. Criminal informants comprise a majority of them - the classic criminal informants, or “CIs,” whose identity the FBI would move heaven and earth to protect. Historically, the FBI has had three categories of sources.
So who does the FBI consider to be a source, and what does that actually mean? Danchenko said he provided Steele with information from his own network of sources about then-candidate Donald Trump’s alleged contact with Russians in the run-up to the 2016 election.ĭanchenko claims the FBI violated a confidentiality agreement with him and that information released in a previously-classified, 57-page FBI report contributed to his identification. On July 25, the New York Times reported, based on information from his attorney, that Russia-trained attorney Igor Danchenko was this source for Steele. The news that Christopher Steele’s primary subsource of information for the Steele dossier has been identified shed new light on the role of sources in high-profile FBI investigations and what confidentiality means to them.
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