'Large volumes' of classified materials to be produced by Special Counsel Durham

Photo Credit: By United States Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

There is a "large volume" of classified documents set to be produced by the Justice Department this week pertaining to Christopher Steele's dossier on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Known as the Trump-Russia dossier, the Steele dossier alleged Donald Trump colluded with Russian intelligence officials to win the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton.

John Durham, the special counsel in the Eastern District of Virginia, has asked the judge for an extension to produce the classified discovery, citing the Secret Information Procedures Act, which protects classified information in criminal cases.

Durham asked for an extension until May 13, 2022, from the original deadline of March 29, 2022.

Over 60,000 documents have been unclassified discovered by the government to date. Several of the documents originally marked as classified have been declassified by declassification authorities and will soon be made available in their unclassified format," Durham said in the filing to federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The recent events in Ukraine have delayed production of the classified discovery. The FBI and intelligence agencies are heavily involved in Ukraine matters when preparing and reviewing documents. Durham said that the government will publish a large volume of classified discovery this week and that it would continue to do so in accordance with the proposed deadlines below.

Igor Danchenko, a Eurasia political risk, defense, and economics analyst, was identified in July 2020 as the primary source for the Steele dossier.

23 March 2022