Former FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith is expected to plead guilty to altering Carter Page evidence to support the FISA warrant used to illegally spy on the Donald Trump campaign in 2016.
Clinesmith, in order to save himself, implicated others on Crossfire Hurricane.
Via Techno_Fog:
NYT –
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith expected to plead guilty to altering Carter Page evidence to support FISA warrant.
Story broke by @adamgoldmanNYT pic.twitter.com/YoMjGzM9xr
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 14, 2020
38-year-old Clinemsith altered an email from CIA investigators used to request a FISA warrant and renewals on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.
Carter Page previously worked as a source for the CIA, however Clinesmith falsely said Page was “never” a CIA source.
According to Durham’s charging document (and also in IG Horowitz’s report), “certain individuals” on the Crossfire Hurricane were told in an August 2016 memorandum that Page was a CIA asset — so who else knew?
Despite members of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team knowing Carter Page was a CIA asset, that information was omitted from the first three FISA warrants on Page.
“Mr. Clinesmith had provided the unchanged C.I.A. email to Crossfire Hurricane agents and the Justice Department lawyer drafting the original [October 2016] wiretap application,” Techno Fog posted from the New York Times report.
So who else knew about the lies?
It appears that Clinesmith–in order to save himself–has implicated others on Crossfire Hurricane. So who, ultimately, hid the exculpatory information from the FISA court? https://t.co/BGqjHfeulS
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) August 14, 2020
More from The Daily Beast:
Kevin Clinesmith, a 38-year-old lawyer assigned to the FBI probe into foreign election interference, is expected to plead guilty to altering an email from the CIA that investigators used to seek a wiretap on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2017. Investigators relied on that document to seek extended court permission for the secret wiretap on Page, who had previously provided information to the U.S. spy agency.
The anticipated guilty plea is part of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation of the original 2016 probe. The lookback at the previous probe has been orchestrated by Attorney General William Barr, with plenty of prodding from Trump.
According to the Associated Press, Clinesmith will be charged in a DC court with one count of making a false statement.
