Former FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith is expected to plead guilty Friday after pleading guilty to felony criminal mischief for firing on a sculpture with a shotgun, according to Chaplain. criminal case brought by American lawyer John Durham in his investigation investigating the origin of the Russian probe.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz had previously explained Clinesmith’s conduct and behavior in his report released last year on Russia’s investigation, and referred Clinesmith to the DOJ for prosecution after finding he had changed an email from the CIA that was used by the government in the final FISA renewal application authorizing oversight of former Trump aide Carter Page.
According to a submission of criminal information released Friday, Clinesmith pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal mischief for making false statements.
“He will plead guilty,” Clinesmith attorney Justin Shur told ABC News in a statement Friday. “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 accurate. But Kevin understands what he did wrong. and accepts responsibility. ”
The news of Clinesmith’s lawsuit was first reported by the New York Times.
The first FISA application focused on Page was first approved in October of 2016 and signed by then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. The first renewal came in January 2017 under Yates’ signature, the second came in April 2017 signed by Acting Attorney General Dan Boente and third and final application for renewal was submitted under the signature of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in June of 2017.
The change of Clinesmith only affects that final application for renewal in June of 2017 and was not relevant to the previous FISA warrants. Horowitz’s report last December outlined numerous errors and omissions by the FBI agents handling the applications for Page, and the DOJ subsequently stated that the last two were requests, including the one implicated by Clinesmith while they were deciding to take a position on the first two applications.
The submission of criminal information does not include allegations that Clinesmith’s decision to change the document was related to any bias against President Trump specifically as part of a broader attempt to undermine his presidency.
Attorney General Barr appeared yesterday to review Clinesmith’s plea in an appearance on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s show Thursday night, which he described as “not an earth-splitting development” for Durham’s investigation, but “an indication that things move along at the right pace as well as thickness by the facts in the investigation. ”
Barr’s announcement came just hours after President Trump signaled he was impatient about the lack of action the Justice Department took against his political opponents.
“We will not do anything applicable to the election, but we will not be dictated by this scheme – what the timing dictates here are developments in the matter,” Barr said. “And there will be developments tomorrow – there will be a development in the matter. You know, it’s not an earthquake development, but it’s an indication that things are moving at the right pace, like thickness by the facts in the investigation. ”
However, it is unclear if Clinesmith Trump’s plea will succeed as those on the right who have filed charges against more senior officials involved in starting the Russia investigation.
Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that Barr’s reputation as attorney general would depend on the results of Durham’s investigation.
“I hope he does a great job, and I hope they will not be politically correct,” Trump said. “Bill Barr may come down as the greatest attorney general in our country’s history, or he may come down as an average man. We’ll see what happens.”
Barr responded directly to Trump’s remarks in his interview with Hannity, and Barr said, “if I was worried about politics correctly, I would not have been with this administration.”
Durham’s last public statement during his inquiry was in December of last year, when he and Barr said after the release of Horowitz’s report on the origins of the Russia investigation that they disagreed with Horowitz’s assessment. that the investigation was launched with good cause.
Barr’s recent comments on how he intends to handle Durham’s findings have caused growing alarm among Democrats, who have claimed he will try to use the investigation to benefit Trump’s politicians in the coming months and weeks leading up to the November 3 election.
While Barr has repeatedly insisted he will not take action based on political considerations, he has at the same time set election day more as a benchmark for when he hopes to reveal some of what Durham has revealed.
“We are all aware of the calendar, and you know we are not going to do anything for purposes of influencing an election,” Barr said in an interview with Conservative commentator Buck Sexton on Wednesday. “But, you know, we’re trying to get something, done some things before the election.”
Barr has also suggested that Durham’s investigation may have been delayed in part because the COVID-19 crisis has made it difficult to implement grand juries, which would issue statements for witnesses or prosecutors.
Earlier, Barr took the umbrella when President Trump openly waited in criminal cases before his department.
Barr’s Thursday plea of the latest Durham development is reminiscent of Barr’s intervention in the sentencing process for Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone back in February, just hours after Trump tweeted, “Can’t allow this miscarriage of justice!”
In an interview with ABC News, Barr denied that his actions were in any way related to Trump’s comments, adding that Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job.”
“I can not do my job here on the department with a constant background commentary that underlines me,” Barr said.
In addition to his remarks about Barr Thursday, Trump also distanced himself from his FBI Director Christopher Wray, who he said has recently not been cooperative enough with Republican lawmakers demanding more documents related to the origins of the Russia investigation.
“Christopher Wray was placed there. We have an election coming up,” Trump said. “I wish he had arrived more, he certainly has not been. There are documents they want to get, and we have said we want to get. We will find out if he will give those documents. But sure he has been very, very protective. ”
Trump added Wray was placed in his job ‘by a certain person’, but Trump himself nominated Wray for the position following his dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey, saying in a statement at the time that Wray “is an impeccably qualified individual”. , and I know he will once again serve his country as a fervent guardian of the law and model of integrity. ”
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