According to a highly-detailed report from the Washington Post, the mysterious "PR Executive-1" named in the indictment of Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst tied to the Steele dossier, is a well-known "spin doctor" with ties to both Democratic Party and the Kremlin.
The Post is reporting that the attorney for Charles Dolan Jr. confirmed his client is named in the indictment and now questions are being raised over his part in both providing disparaging information about Donald Trump for the dossier and then turning around and telling a colleague he hoped it would be "exposed as fake news."
According to the WaPo's Issac Stanley-Becker, "... a grand jury is alleging that Dolan, 71, was behind at least some of the claims included in the dossier, according to a 39-page indictment obtained by John Durham, the special counsel probing the Justice Department's Russia investigation. The indictment also suggests that Dolan, who worked on both Bill and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns and on a State Department advisory board during the Clinton administration, was so partisan that any information he provided would be suspect."
Yet, as Stanley-Becker reports, in 2017 Dolan offered up himself to Fox News host Tucker Carlson to go on the air to question information included in the dossier.
While noting that the dossier was only "tangential" to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into links between the Kremlin and the now-one-term president's 2016 campaign, it has been a center of controversy for those who believe the Russia investigation was a "witch hunt" as Trump has insisted.
"While the indictment argues that Dolan's political loyalties [to the Democratic Party] made his information unreliable, it leaves unaddressed the question of motivations for his alleged actions," the report states. "Dolan gave no indication that he was sufficiently committed to any candidate to turn his professional assets toward partisan ends, former colleagues and other associates said Val Gurvits, an attorney for Gubarev in the BuzzFeed case, and said he found him to be highly professional."
According to the report, "Among the information purportedly provided by Dolan that later made it into the dossier were rumors about Paul Manafort's dismissal as Trump's campaign chairman, according to the indictment. In the summer of 2016, Dolan relayed information, from a 'GOP friend,' as he told Danchenko that Manafort had been damaged by revelations about his work in Ukraine. Two days later, the indictment alleges, that information appeared in one of Steele's reports."
As for Dolan's connections with Russia, former colleagues pointed out that he was well-acquainted with Kremlin officials through his efforts working with the Democrats.
"Dolan was well-known among Russia experts, and, according to the indictment and the recollections of former colleagues, well-connected in Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. He 'frequently interacted with senior Russian Federation leadership,' the indictment states," The Wapo is reporting with one colleague adding, "He did bring a level of interest and expertise beyond the normal influencer-for-hire. He was very trusted by Putin's people."
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