Former FBI lawyer set to plead guilty to altering email during Russia investigation
By Katelyn Polantz and David Shortell, CNN
Updated 4:16 PM ET, Fri August 14, 2020
CNN)An FBI lawyer who worked on the surveillance warrant of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page plans to plead guilty Friday to making a false statement in an email as part of an investigation into the Russia investigation.
Kevin Clinesmith plans to admit to one charge of altering an email to another official in 2017 that said Page wasn't a previous government source, when he had been one.
Clinesmith had also been critical of President Donald Trump when he worked for the FBI.
Trump goes after FBI director Wray, whom he appointed, and issues warning to Barr
Friday's charge represents the first public production from the highly anticipated Durham investigation and will likely provide political fodder for Trump amid a storm of negative headlines regarding his management of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email," Clinesmith's lawyer, Justin Shur, said in a statement Friday. "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."
Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court in Washington, who also is the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that approved the Page warrants, was assigned to handle Clinesmith's criminal case on Friday, according to the court record.
Trump kicked off his Friday afternoon briefing with a brief reference to Clinesmith.
"That's just the beginning... what happened should never happen again. He is pleading guilty, terrible thing, terrible thing. The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught and you'll be hearing more," Trump said.
However, the court documents laying out the single charge against Clinesmith don't make any broader allegation of a conspiracy by FBI investigators against Trump, an accusation Trump has frequently made. Instead it shows another FBI official who signed the fourth FISA warrant raising a concern about whether Page was a CIA source and seeking email proof when Clinesmith downplayed the CIA relationship with Page.
By Katelyn Polantz and David Shortell, CNN
Updated 4:16 PM ET, Fri August 14, 2020
CNN)An FBI lawyer who worked on the surveillance warrant of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page plans to plead guilty Friday to making a false statement in an email as part of an investigation into the Russia investigation.
Kevin Clinesmith plans to admit to one charge of altering an email to another official in 2017 that said Page wasn't a previous government source, when he had been one.
Clinesmith had also been critical of President Donald Trump when he worked for the FBI.
Trump goes after FBI director Wray, whom he appointed, and issues warning to Barr
Friday's charge represents the first public production from the highly anticipated Durham investigation and will likely provide political fodder for Trump amid a storm of negative headlines regarding his management of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email," Clinesmith's lawyer, Justin Shur, said in a statement Friday. "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."
Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court in Washington, who also is the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that approved the Page warrants, was assigned to handle Clinesmith's criminal case on Friday, according to the court record.
Trump kicked off his Friday afternoon briefing with a brief reference to Clinesmith.
"That's just the beginning... what happened should never happen again. He is pleading guilty, terrible thing, terrible thing. The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught and you'll be hearing more," Trump said.
However, the court documents laying out the single charge against Clinesmith don't make any broader allegation of a conspiracy by FBI investigators against Trump, an accusation Trump has frequently made. Instead it shows another FBI official who signed the fourth FISA warrant raising a concern about whether Page was a CIA source and seeking email proof when Clinesmith downplayed the CIA relationship with Page.
