ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The FBI offered British ex-spy Christopher Steele an “incentive” of up to $1 million if he could prove the allegations in his since-discredited anti-Trump dossier, but the former MI6 agent was unable to back up his claims, according to new court testimony.

The bombshell revelation came during special counsel John Durham‘s false statements trial against Steele’s main dossier source, Russian-born lawyer Igor Danchenko, who has been charged with repeatedly lying to the bureau about his sourcing for information he provided for the dossier in 2016. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty.

FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten, who interviewed Danchenko in January 2017 as part of the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane team, was also among the FBI employees who interviewed Steele in early October 2016 as the FBI sought more details on the dossier. Auten revealed the lucrative reward the bureau had dangled.

DURHAM’S HIGH-STAKES TRIAL OF INFAMOUS ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER SOURCES GETS UNDERWAY

Durham himself questioned Auten, who was the special counsel team’s first witness in the trial that began with jury selection and opening arguments in a federal courtroom on Tuesday, and he pressed the FBI analyst on whether the FBI offered to provide Steele with any incentives in exchange for information corroborating his dossier’s allegations. Danchenko’s lawyers unsuccessfully objected to the question, overruled by the judge.

“Yes, it did,” Auten said from the witness stand. “Mr. Steele was offered anywhere up to a million dollars” for information “which could help prove the allegations.”

But Auten said “no” when asked if Steele ever provided evidence backing up his dossier claims. The FBI analyst also testified Danchenko never provided corroboration for the dossier’s allegations either.

Auten circulated a February 2017 intelligence memo to top FBI officials about the Danchenko interview, but DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said it “did not describe the inconsistencies” from the FBI interview in January 2017. The memo was sent to since-fired FBI Director James Comey and since-fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe in March 2017.

The FBI soon made Danchenko a paid confidential human source starting in March 2017 through October 2020, Durham’s team has stated in court filings.

Auten had also played a role in the bureau’s efforts to obtain flawed surveillance against Trump 2016 campaign associate Carter Page.

Horowitz’s December 2019 report undermined the dossier’s Trump-Russia collusion claims, and the watchdog criticized DOJ and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA warrants against Page and for the bureau’s reliance on Steele’s dossier. Horowitz said FBI interviews with Danchenko “raised significant questions about the reliability of the Steele election reporting.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Auten had been referred by FBI Director Christopher Wray to the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action following the release of Horowitz’s 2019 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse report, though Wray said those proceedings were slowed down to cooperate with Durham’s criminal investigation. The disciplinary referral came shortly before Auten’s assessment tied to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, the next year.

In 2020, Auten separately “opened an assessment which was used by an FBI headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” according to whistleblower allegations made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who claimed one of the allegations shows “verified and verifiable derogatory information on Hunter Biden was falsely labeled as disinformation.”

Original Location: Durham witness: FBI offered Steele $1M for proof of dossier claims, but he had none

Washington Examiner Videos