Igor Danchenko, the main source behind the Trump-Russia dossier, has been acquitted of lying to the FBI on four separate counts. 

The US Justice Department had earlier said that a Russian analyst, Danchenko, had been arrested as part of an ongoing special counsel investigation for providing part of the information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation. 

Danchenko, 43, was an associate of former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who was paid by Democrats to examine ties between Russia and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He was taken into custody in northern Virginia and is expected to make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon, special counsel John Durham’s spokesman said. He is the third person to face charges in the probe into the origins of the Russia investigation.

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The research Danchenko compiled was provided to the FBI and used by federal authorities as they applied for and received surveillance warrants targeting a former Trump campaign aide aide.

Who is Igor Danchenko? 

A Eurasia political risk, Igon Danchenko is best known for obtaining and analyzing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s university dissertation. He started with working at Lukoil subsidiary Permtex in Perm and at UralSubSoetStroy in Iran.

He worked as a facilitator for the Open World Russian Leadership Program, US Library of Congress and a leader for senior Russian federal and regional delegations to the US.

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He became the  President of Professionals in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Affairs (PREEA) in 2005. The 43-year-old was also made the Senior Research Analyst. He has worked in a number of analytical capacities over the years.

Danchenko co-wrote a research paper that suggested that parts of Vladimir Putin’s 1976 doctoral thesis had been plagiarized. Since 2010, he has been a consultant on political risk and business intelligence, managing projects on Russia and Eurasia. 

(With inputs from the Associated Press)