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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) A jury on Tuesday acquitted a think tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump.

The case against Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John Durham as part of his probe into how the FBI conducted its own investigation into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Thefirst two cases ended in an acquittal and a guilty pleawith a sentence of probation.

Danchenko betrayed no emotion as the verdict was read. His wife wiped away tears after the clerk read the final not guilty to the four counts he faced.

WATCH: Brooks and Capehart on the Jan. 6 subpoena of Trump and whats at stake in the midterms

Danchenko didnt comment after the hearing, but his lawyer, Stuart Sears, spoke briefly to reporters, saying, Weve known all along that Mr. Danchenko is innocent. Were happy now that the American public knows that as well.

The jury reached its verdict after roughly nine hours of deliberations over two days. One juror, Joel Greene of Vienna, Virginia, said there were no real disputes among the jury and that jurors just wanted to be thorough in reviewing the four counts.

The acquittal marked a significant setback for Durham. Despite hopes by Trump supporters that the prosecutor would uncover a sweeping conspiracy within the FBI and other agencies to derail his candidacy, the three-year investigation failed to produce evidence that met those expectations. The sole conviction an FBI lawyer admitted altering an email related to the surveillance of a former Trump aide was for conduct uncovered not by Durham but by the Justice Departments inspector general, and the two cases that Durham took to trials ended in full acquittals.

Durham declined comment after the hearing, but he said in a statement issued through the Justice Department: While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jurys decision and thank them for their service. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.

He issued an identical statement after the first trial ended in acquittal.

The Danchenko case was the first of the three to delve deeply into the origins of the Steele dossier, a compendium of allegations that Trumps 2016 presidential campaign was colluding with the Kremlin.

WATCH: Jan. 6 committee votes unanimously to subpoena Trump

Most famously, it alleged that the Russians could have blackmail material on Trump for his supposed interactions with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Trump derided the dossier as fake news and a political witch hunt when it became public in 2017.

Danchenko, by his own admission, was responsible for 80 percent of the raw intelligence in the dossier and half of the accompanying analysis, though trial testimony indicated that Danchenko was shocked and dismayed about how Steele presented the material and portrayed it as factual when Danchenko considered it more to be rumor and speculation.

Prosecutors said that if Danchenko had been more honest about his sources, the FBI might not have treated the dossier so credulously. As it turned out, the FBI used material from the dossier to support applications for warrantless surveillance of a Trump campaign official, Carter Page, even though the FBI never was able to corroborate a single allegation in the dossier.

Prosecutors said Danchenko lied about the identity of his own sources for the material he gave to Steele. The specific charges against Danchenko allege that he essentially fabricated one of his sources when the FBI interviewed him to determine how he derived the material he provided for the dossier.

Danchenko told the FBI that some of the material came when he received an anonymous call from a man he believed to be Sergei Millian, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Prosecutors said Danchenkos story made no sense. They said that phone records show no evidence of a call, and that Danchenko had no reason to believe Millian, a Trump supporter hed never met, was suddenly going to be willing to provide disparaging information about Trump to a stranger.

WATCH: How the anti-Trump dossier came to be

Danchenkos lawyers, as a starting point, maintain that Danchenko never said he talked with Millian. He only guessed that Millian might have been the caller when the FBI asked him to speculate. And they said he shouldnt be convicted of a crime for making a guess at the FBIs invitation.

That said, Danchenkos lawyers say, he had good reason to believe the caller may well have been Millian. The call came just a few days after Danchenko had reached out to Millian over email after a mutual acquaintance brokered a connection over email.

And Danchenkos lawyers say its irrelevant that his phone records dont show a call because Danchenko told the FBI from the start that the call might have taken place over a secure mobile app for which he had no records.

The jury began deliberations Monday afternoon after hearing closing arguments on four counts. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trengathrew out a fifth count, saying prosecutors had failed to prove it as a matter of law.

Trenga nearly threw out all of the charges before the trial began, citing the legal strength of Danchenkos defense, but allowed the case to proceed in what he described as an extremely close call.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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Think tank analyst acquitted in trial over discredited Donald Trump dossier - PBS NewsHour

Supreme Court lawyers often build their arguments around points to which they think the justices will be most receptive. If a lawyer thinks that the justices will be friendly to their caseif they represent, say, a religious person with a Free Exercise Clause claim or a state trying to carry out an executionthen they may be more inclined to swing for the fences. If, on the other hand, they think that the Supreme Court might be divided on the issue based on past rulings or on intuitive understandings of each justice, they might make a narrower argument that could appeal to more skeptical members of the court.

Trumps lawyers, for reasons known only to them, made claims that most of the justices could not stomach. One of them, Jay Sekulow, argued in Vance that any criminal process that touched the president was unconstitutional, a point that even the Justice Department arguing on behalf of the Trump administration did not make. That argument was resoundingly rejected by all nine justices, including the two justices who dissented from the courts decision in Vances favor on narrower grounds. Trump did score a partial victory in the Mazars case, where the justices laid out a balancing test for congressional subpoenas of a presidents personal information, but he only succeeded in running out the clock until his term ended.

On policy issues, the Supreme Court also rejected some of the Trump administrations major initiatives when the process that led to them was sloppy or deceptive. Some of these defeats were narrower than others. The court rejected the Trump administrations bid to place a citizenship question on the 2020 census only when Chief Justice John Roberts broke ranks with his fellow conservatives, citing evidence that the Justice Departments stated rationale for adding the question was a lie. Roberts also joined with the courts four liberals at the time to defeat Trumps bid to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program because the administration had not properly followed the Administrative Procedures Act.

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Donald Trump Keeps Getting Rejected by the Supreme Court - The New Republic

No president has done more for Israel than I have, Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US. Trump also claimed that he was so popular he could be elected prime minister of Israel and said, US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel Before it is too late!

Once pictures of Trumps post were shared on more popular social media platforms such as Twitter it went viral. His words were condemned by prominent American Jewish groups, including those that regularly assert that anti-Zionism (which Trump appeared to be at least gesturing at) and anti-Semitism are one and the same. Many of these establishment, mainstream Jewish organisations were criticised during Trumps presidency by those who felt that they supported his administration in an attempt to bolster their own ties with Israel and appear bipartisan rather than calling out anti-Semitism and defending human rights.

We dont need the former president, who curries favour with extremists and anti-Semites, to lecture us about the US-Israel relationship. It is not about a quid pro quo; it rests on shared values and security interests. This Jewsplaining is insulting and disgusting, tweeted Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish NGO dedicated to stopping defamation of the Jewish people and one of the groups that was criticised during Trumps presidency.

Support for the Jewish state never gives one license to lecture American Jews, nor does it ever give the right to draw baseless judgements about the ties between US Jews and Israel. And to be clear, those ties are strong and enduring, read a tweet from the American Jewish Committee, a prominent advocacy group that was similarly criticised.

Though Trumps post drew a lot of anger, it is hardly the first time hes said something like this. In an interview with the news website Axios last year he said roughly the same thing. People in this country that are Jewish no longer love Israel, he said. Ill tell you, the evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country The Jewish people in the United States either dont like Israel or dont care about Israel When you look at the New York Times, the New York Times hates Israel, hates them, and theyre Jewish people that run the New York Times I mean the Sulzberger family.

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He also made similar comments in 2019 while still in office. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said: In my opinion, if you vote for a Democrat, youre being very disloyal to Jewish people and youre being very disloyal to Israel. And only weak people would say anything other than that. The day before he had said: I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.

[Podcast: What does it mean to be a Bad Jew? With Emily Tamkin]

Most American Jews do indeed vote for Democrats and most are not voting based on a candidates given position on Israel. In fact a 2020 poll by the Ruderman Foundation found that only 4 per cent of American Jews believe that Israel is the most important issue. Most American Jews do indeed profess an attachment to Israel: six in ten say they are very or somewhat emotionally attached, though less than half have actually been there, according to a 2020 study by the Pew Research Centre. But according to the same study, younger American Jews both feel less attached to and are more critical of the country. These are facts of American life. It is not up to the former president or anyone else to say that that makes American Jews disloyal, or to demand our political support.

Another fact of American political life is that many Republican candidates traffic in anti-Semitic tropes and then defend themselves against charges of bigotry by touting their support for Israel. And another fact of American life is that Republicans often do this with cover from like-minded Jewish people: Trump is set to receive an honour from the right-wing Zionist Organization of America next month for such achievements as moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and cutting funding to Palestinians.

All of this is to say that one of our two major political parties regularly treats Israel and American Jews as though they should be interchangeable, and Trump regularly chastises us for the fact that we dont see things the same way. All of this is happening at a time when most American Jews feel that anti-Semitism on the rise. This is the state of American Jewish politics and Trump is but one of the loudest voices sharing the Republican Party line.

[See also: Everything you should know about the 2022 US midterm elections]

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Donald Trump is hardly the only Republican chastising American Jews - The New Statesman

Highlights: Wisconsin Senate debate between Ron Johnson, Mandela Barnes

The second debate between Mandela Barnes and Ron Johnson was at Marquette University's Varsity Theater Thursday. Video courtesy of WTMJ TV.

Lou Saldivar, Wochit

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson's campaign has retained the Cross Plains-based lawfirm thatrepresented former President Donald Trump in the failed effort to throw out hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots in Wisconsin and reverse the results of the 2020 election.

The firm is headed byattorneyJames Troupis, who wasallegedly at the center of the plot to recognize so-called fake electors in what was the last-ditch pushby the former president and his allies to stymie President Joe Biden's election on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

The Johnson campaign made about $20,000 in payments to the Troupis firm since July.

NBC News was the first to report the payments.

A spokeswoman for Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes criticized the payments on Monday. Barnes, a Democrat, is challenging Johnson, a second-term Republican, next month.

"Ron Johnson is hell-bent on holding onto power through any means possible so that he can continue delivering tax breaks to his wealthiest donors, follow through on his plan to put Social Security on the chopping block, and rip away womens reproductive rights," spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said.

But Ben Voelkel, a top aide to Johnson, said there was nothing unusual about the payments.

"As anyone who works on campaigns in this state knows, close elections in Wisconsin are the rule, not the exception," Voelkel said. "It would be reckless to be unprepared for any possible circumstance and this campaign has been preparing for months for just that.

Troupis did not respond immediately to an email or call.

More: Wisconsin U.S. Senate election updates: Diane Hendricks gives $9.4 million to pro-Johnson Super PAC

More: The debates are done. Here's what to expect in the final weeks of the Mandela Barnes-Ron Johnson Wisconsin U.S. Senate race

According to filings, the first $13,287 to Troupis' firm was for "legal consulting" on July 15. Johnson's campaign then paid Troupis' office $7,000 on Aug. 18 for "recount: legal consulting."

Troupis once gave $1,000 to Johnson's campaign more than a decade ago.

Troupis, a former Dane County Circuit Judge, unsuccessfully sought to throw out hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots in 2020 when he was hired by Trump to oversee recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties following Trumps defeat in Wisconsin.

Since then, investigations by a U.S. House committee convened to probe the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol have revealed Troupis was at the center of a plot to put in place Republican electors in states Trump was trying to overturn election results and was the first in the state to receive a memo pushing the idea from Boston-area attorney Kenneth Chesebro.

Johnson also acknowledged this summer that on Jan. 6, 2021, hours before the attack, he coordinated with Troupis to get to then-Vice President Mike Pence a document Troupis described as regarding Wisconsin electors.

Earlier this month, Johnson downplayed his role in the incident.

"The entire episode lasted about an hour," Johnson said on Oct. 4 in Milwaukee. "I got a text from the president's lawyer (Troupis) who asked me if we could deliver something through the vice president and if I could I have a staff member handle it."

Johnson said he did not know what information was being handed over.

"I had no idea that there were even an alternate slate of electors," he said. "I had no knowledge of it, no involvement in it. And you can't even call it participation. I wrote a couple of texts. I was involved for a few seconds. There's nothing to this story."

As Trumps attorney during the 2020 recounts, Troupis and his brother ChrisTroupis, sought to throw out all in-person absentee ballots, all mailed-in absentee ballots if applications for them could not be tracked down, all absentee ballots submitted by those who claimed to be indefinitely confined, and all ballots where clerks filled in missing address information for witnesses to absentee ballots.

Federal Election Commission records show Troupis' firm was paid $471,994from Trump's campaign and the Make America Great Again PAC in late 2020 and early 2021 for the firm'swork on the recount.

The effort laid the groundwork for unsuccessful lawsuits Trump and his allies filed ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to overturn the results of Wisconsins election, and for successful litigation since. Clerks are no longer allowed to fill in missing witness address information on absentee ballot envelopes.

Over the years, Troupis has been a regular donor to Republican and conservativecandidates and causes in Wisconsin, having given nearly $30,000 to them over the past 30 years.

Johnson officials noted that all major campaigns hire law firms. They noted that Barnes' campaign has paid out$88,964to the Elias Law Group since December. Marc Elias, the head of the firm, has been involved in a number of recounts for Democratic campaigns over the years.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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Ron Johnson campaign hires Troupis law firm that represented Donald Trump in attempt to throw out 2020 ballots in Wisconsin - Milwaukee Journal...

Written By D.L. Chandler, Senior Editor

D.L. Chandler is a veteran of the Washington D.C. metro writing scene, working as a journalist, reporter, and culture critic. Initially freelancing at iOne Digital in 2010, he officially joined the iOne team in 2017 where he currently works as a Senior Editor for Cassius Life and Hip-Hop Wired. D.L. covers a variety of topics including breaking news, politics, Hip-Hop music and culture, fashion, and Black history. He currently heads the SPIRIT.ED column for Cassius Life, which focuses on adult beverages and their history. D.L. has worked in the past for MTV News, Billboard, and several other publications. His first big break in journalism came with the now-defunct Politically Black in 1999, the nation's first Black political news portal. D.L. is a native Washingtonian and resides in the Greater Washington area.

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Donald Trump still has sway over the Republican Party and his brand of so-called MAGA politics has a wide share of supporters, including one Kanye West aka Ye. However, the former president believes that Yes recent outbursts against what the Chicago superstar is framing as a shadowy network of Jewish individuals controlling all of the major media outlets are, quote, crazy.

Rolling Stone exclusively reports that their pair of sources reveal that Donald Trump thinks that Ye should seek outside help for his repeated media outbursts of late and framed Ye as crazy according to the outlets account.

Many are defecting from the camp of Kanye in the wake of what many are calling an antisemitic crusade along with his attacking some of his past colleagues and business partners. The Trump news is especially shocking considering the moguls penchant for promoting free speech and his own set of controversial utterances before and during his presidency.

Trump is said to still be eyeing a 2024 presidential run despite him enduring an ongoing investigation from the Justice Department regarding sensitive documents taken from the White House to Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence.

Photo: Getty

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Even Donald Trump Thinks Ye Is "Crazy" & Needs "Help" - HipHopWired