Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith is expected to plead guilty as part of the investigation led by John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, into the origins of the FBI’s investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the election of 2016, according to a source close to the case. This is the first criminal case to emerge from the Durham probe. Court documents released Friday show Clinesmith has one count of “false statements.”
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz found in his December 2019 report that Clinesmith had changed a CIA email, cited in the fourth application to the FISA court to investigate former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2017.
To help prepare the application, Clinesmith was asked by a special FBI agent if Page was once a source for government agencies, as Page had publicly claimed.
Clinesmith edited an e-mail stating that Page was a “source” of the government, “adding words to make it appear that the government bureau, later disclosed to the CIA, said that page” was not a source “, according to information from the Justice Department the case.
He later told the FBI agent in an instant message that Page was “a ‘subsource’ and ‘never a source.'” Asked if this information was in writing, Clinesmith sent the modified email.
The government information indicates that any FISA application “claimed that there was a probable cause that Individual # 1 (page) was a knowing agent” from Russia.
That Page had a prior relationship with the CIA that provided information because an operational contact over Russia would be relevant to the surveillance application, and Page claimed that it went a long way in explaining his contacts with Russians.
The Mueller report ultimately found that the government inquiry “did not set the page with the Russian government” in its attempts to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.
Clinesmith’s lawyer said in a statement, “Kevin deeply regrets that he changed the email. It was never his intention to mislead the court or his colleagues because he believed the information he passed on was right. But Kevin understands what he did wrong and accepts responsibility. “
The source said Clinesmith’s lawyer approached Durham’s office over a deal after FBI records were declassified by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence last month after Clinesmith was part of a team that used a 2016 defensive briefing around Russia questions from Flynn and then-candidate to follow Trump. The source said it is expected that Clinesmith will collaborate with Durham’s investigation, which is typical in plea bargains. He is expected to be questioned, regarding both the 2016 defensive briefing and the amended CIA email, whether he acted independently as in the direction of, or with the approval of, his FBI leadership.
Clinesmith was previously convicted of sending unusual texts, including “viva la resistance”, a few weeks after the 2016 election.
An FBI spokesman said in a statement: “Under the direction of Director Wray, the FBI has been, and will continue to be, fully cooperating with Mr. Durham’s review. help. ”
Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday night there will soon be developments in the Durham probe, including one on Friday. Barr said it would not be an “earthquake,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview Thursday, but he also added that the timeline of the investigation would not be “dictated” by the upcoming November election.
“I have said that there will be developments, important developments, before the elections. But we are not doing this on the election program. We are aware of the elections. We will not do anything unsatisfactory before the elections,” Barr said. “But we are not determined by this scheme. What the timing dictates here are developments in the case.”
He cited the ‘development in the case’ to be made public on Friday as’ an indication that things are moving at the right pace, as well as thickness by the facts in this investigation. ‘
In May 2019, Barr asked Durham to further investigate the government’s Russian probe, after former special counsel Robert Mueller released his report. The attorney general had previously expressed concerns about possible “invalid oversight” of the Trump campaign.
The review released by Horowitz in December found several procedural errors, but generally no “political bias” by the agency.
Durham, however, questioned the conclusions of Horowitz’s report at the time.
“Based on the evidence gathered so far, and although our investigation continues, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some conclusions of the report on prediction and how the FBI case was opened. , “Durham said in December.
Andres Triay contributed to this report.
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