Ex-FBI lawyer to plead guilty to making false statement in predicate to Trump-Russia probe

According to reports by The Associated Press, a former FBI lawyer plans to plead guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from U.S. attorney John Durham’s investigation into the probe of ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, his lawyer said Friday, Aug. 14.

Kevin Clinesmith is accused of altering a government email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page who was a target of secret FBI surveillance, according to documents filed in Washington’s federal court. His lawyer, Justin Shur, told The Associated Press that Clinesmith intends to plead guilty to the single false statement count and that he regrets his actions.

The case against Clinesmith was cheered by President Donald Trump and his supporters as they look to the Durham investigation to expose what they see as one of many improper actions to fraudulently create predicate by the White House and the FBI to open an investigation into whether the Trump campaign was coordinating with the Kremlin to sway the outcome of the 2016 election.

“The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught,” Trump told reporters at the White House Friday.

His political campaign issued a statement saying, “abuses of power” in the Russia investigation “represent the greatest political crime in American history” and everyone involved should be held accountable.

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” attorney general William Barr said of the Russia probe in 2019. “I think there were gross abuses... and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”

Attorney Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, who works to uncover FBI documents related to the investigation said, “Obamagate is now officially a crime. We had an FBI lawyer who was instrumental in the illicit spying on the president of the United States and his team, admit to committing a crime to get it done.”

The five-page charging document is limited and does not allege criminal wrongdoing by anyone other than Clinesmith. According to the document, the FBI relied on Clinesmith’s misrepresentations while renewing its surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

The Durham probe, which also examines the intelligence community’s assessment about Russian election interference, has caused concern among Democrats, who view it as a politically charged exercise meant to relitigate a closed investigation. They fear that charges or public reports issued so close to the 2020 election could affect the vote.

Durham’s inquiry proceeded alongside an effort by Senate Republicans to investigate whether there was a predicate to initiate an investigation or whether it was a political effort to discredit Trump. Barr escalated his own criticism of the FBI’s probe and whether documents released recently have called into question the validity of information the FBI relied on, particularly from the dossier of Democratic-funded research, when the agency applied for applications to surveil Page.

It remains unclear what additional charges, if any, Durham, a veteran prosecutor, might bring.

Justice Department policy directs prosecutors not to take investigative actions aimed at affecting an election or that could advantage or disadvantage a candidate. Barr said he does not feel constrained by that policy because the presumptive Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, is not a target of Durham’s investigation.

The inspector general’s office concluded in December that the Russia investigation was opened for a valid reason, but it also identified significant “errors and omissions” in surveillance applications filed in 2016 and 2017 that targeted Page.

Clinesmith is pleading guilty after Durham charged him with fraudulently altering his communication with the CIA. Clinesmith emailed the CIA asking if Carter Page was a CIA source. The CIA responded that Page was indeed a CIA source, and Clinesmith is accused of changing that email to read that Page is “not a source” for another government agency. Page also wrote a letter to FBI Director Comey that he was a CIA source. The fraudulent document was one of the documents which the investigation and accusations of the Russia-Trump probe was based upon. Clinesmith said that Page not being a CIA asset would need to be disclosed as the FBI applied to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew its surveillance of Page.

In June 2017, the documents showed Clinesmith was provided with information about Page’s relationship with the agency, which approved him as an “operational contact” between 2008 and 2013.

When an FBI colleague who was preparing the surveillance application followed up by instant message with Clinesmith on whether Page had ever been a government source, Clinesmith responded that Page had “never been a source,” according to court documents.

When asked if he had that information in writing, the documents alleged Clinesmith altered an email he had received from the other agency by adding the words “and not a source” and forwarded it to the FBI supervisory special agent.

The FBI relied on those misrepresentations in its final surveillance application and omitted that information about Page, prosecutors alleged, even though any relationship between Page and the government would have to be disclosed to the FISA court as it could explain interactions Page had with Russians.

“Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email,” Shur said in a statement. “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.”

Barr appointed Durham weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his nearly two-year investigation.

Mueller found significant contacts during the 2016 campaign between Russians and Trump associates but did not allege a criminal conspiracy between them. He also examined multiple episodes in which Trump allegedly sought to affect the Russia investigation, but he did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump had obstructed justice. Trump said from the beginning that it was a “witch hunt” that should never happen again to any president.

Barr signaled his skepticism, concluding that Trump had not obstructed justice even though Mueller had pointedly left that question unresolved.

Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo from The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Valley News Staff can be reached by email at [email protected].