by Daveda Gruber
U.S. Attorney John Durham has made progress in his investigation. Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith will plead guilty to making a false statement.
Referred for potential prosecution by the Justice inspector general’s office, Clinesmith was accused, although not by name, of altering an email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to say that he was “not a source” for another government agency.
Page has said that he was a source for the CIA which led to the DOJ relying on that contention as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page.
The renewal application to spy or eavesdrop, whichever way you see it, was made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Clinesmith’s attorney, Justin Shur, told The Associated Press that Clinesmith is being charged in federal court in Washington and is expected to plead guilty to one count of making a false statement.
Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General Bill Barr, to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe. He was appointed shortly after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller completed his years long investigation into whether his campaign colluded with the Russians (Russia Hoax) to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Durham was focused on the timeline starting July 2016, when the FBI’s original Russia probe began and it continued through the appointment of Mueller in May 2017.
Barr said on FOX’s “Hannity” that “There are two different things going on. I said the American people need to know what actually happened, we need to get the story of what happened in 2016 and ’17 out. That will be done.”
Barr went on to say that “if people crossed the line, if people involved in that activity violated criminal law, they will be charged.”
He also said Durham as an “independent” and “highly experienced” man, and said that his investigation is “pursuing apace,” in spite of delays that he blamed partially on the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of us saw that the Mueller investigation came up with no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election. That point was made as clear as possible considering where it came from.
Mueller’s report did, however, leave open whether Trump obstructed justice.
You’d think after years of investigating, they could have closed that up with substantial evidence to back it up.
