Final trial set to start based on Trump-era special counsel John Durham's probe

The last trial brought out of special counsel John Durham's investigation will focus on the infamous Steele dossier probing Donald Trump's ties to Russia.

Igor Danchenko, a Russian-born foreign policy analyst, is accused of lying to FBI agents who were working to confirm elements of the dossier compiled by British spy Christopher Steele, and the William Barr-appointed Durham and his prosecutors have used his case to discredit allegations of collusion between the former president's campaign and Russian nationals, reported CNN.

Durham's investigation has shaken loose one guilty plea by an FBI lawyer, and his only other case, against a campaign attorney for Hillary Clinton, ended with an acquittal, and he's expected to submit his final report to attorney general Merrick Garland in the coming months.

Danchenko, who has been charged with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI, allegedly lied about speaking to Democratic operative Charles Dolan in 2016 about topics covered in the dossier and falsely telling investigators that he believed he had received a phone call that same year from Belarusian-American businessman Sergei Millian, who has denied communicating with him.

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The Justice Department watchdog report on the dossier extensively referenced Danchenko as a "primary sub-source" for Steele, and online sleuths uncovered his identity after Trump's congressional allies pressured Barr to release redacted versions of his interviews with the FBI.

Durham charged him a year later, in November 2021, and Trump alleges that Danchenko played a key role in a "deep state" plot against him.