Ex-FBI lawyer charged with felony, to plead guilty to altering evidence in Russia probe
Kevin Clinesmith will admit he altered a document involving Carter Page’s ties to the CIA.
By
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was charged Friday with a felony and has agreed to plead guilty to altering a document in the Russia collusion probe, the first criminal case to be brought in the investigation of U.S. Attorney John Durham, according to officials and a court document.
Ahead of his plea, Clinesmith was charged in federal court in Washington D.C. with one count of making a false statement for altering information he had received from the CIA in June 2017 to hide the fact that Trump campaign official Carter Page was a source for the Agency.
U.S. Attorney John Durham
The alteration caused the Justice Department to make a false representation to the FISA Court that approved surveillance of Page for nearly a year, the criminal information filed by Durham states.
Clinesmith “did willfully and knowingly make and use a false writing and document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and entry in a matter before the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch,” the court filing said.
You can read the charging document here:
President Trump, who long has argued he and his campaign were the victim of FBI misconduct, immediately weighed in. He called Clinesmith “a corrupt FBI lawyer” and predicted more shoes will drop in Durham’s probe.
“That’s just the beginning, I would imagine,” Trump told a White House briefing Friday afternoon. “…You’ll be hearing more.”
Clinesmith (pictured below) was expected to plead guilty to the charge as early as Friday afternoon, officials said.
Clinesmith’s lawyer issued a statement to The Washington Post apologizing for his conduct.
“Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email. It was never his intent to mislead the court or his colleagues as he believed the information he relayed was accurate. But Kevin understands what he did was wrong and accepts responsibility,” the lawyer told the Post.
Clinesmith’s misconduct was first revealed last December in a Justice Department inspector general report that widely criticized the FBI’s conduct in the Russia collusion probe against President Trump. The report said he worked in the FBI general counsel’s office and altered an email to hide the fact that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was a source for the CIA.
The FBI never revealed to the FISA court that authorized surveillance of Page assisted the agency.
_________
RELATED ARTICLE
In bringing first Russiagate charge, Durham hints at other crimes
*********
(TLB) published this article with permission of John Solomon at Just the News
Some emphasis and pictorial content added by (TLB)
Click Here to read about the staff at Just the News
••••
••••
Stay tuned to …
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply