https://saraacarter.com/durham..._campaign=social-pug

Sarah Carter reporting:

Justice Department prosecutor U.S. Attorney John Durham is questioning personnel connected to the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, which awarded multiple contracts to FBI informant Stephan Halper. Halper, who was informing the bureau on Trump campaign advisors, is a central figure in the FBI’s original investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign


Multiple sources confirmed to this news site that Durham has spoken extensively with sources working in the Office of Net Assessment, as well as outside contractors, that were paid through Pentagon office.

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Besides the almost for certain spying on the Trump campaign by Stefan Halper, lawyer Sidney Powell postulated that ONA's James Baker leaked the Michael Flynn phone to the Russian ambassador.

Fusion GPS Founders Say A ‘Handful’ Of Dossier Allegations Are ‘Doubtful’

https://dailycaller.com/2019/1...ps-dossier-doubtful/

The founders of Fusion GPS acknowledged in a book to be released Nov. 26 that a “handful” of allegations in the infamous Steele dossier “now appear to be doubtful,” according to a review of the book.

Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch are still largely defensive of the dossier, according to The Atlantic, which obtained an advance copy of “Crime In Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump.”

“After three years of investigations, a fair assessment of the memos would conclude that many of the allegations in the dossier have been borne out,” they wrote in the book, adding that some of dossier author Christopher Steele’s allegations have “proved remarkably prescient.”

But other details of the dossier “remain stubbornly unconfirmed, while a handful now appear to be doubtful, though not yet disproven,” they wrote.

The admission is significant because Simpson and Fritsch have not previously acknowledged flaws in the dossier, which was written by former British spy Christopher Steele and funded by Democrats.

The special counsel’s report undermined several of the dossier’s bombshell claims about Trump and members of his campaign. Steele said the Trump campaign took part in a “well-developed conspiracy of coordination” with the Kremlin. The special counsel’s report said there was no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy.

Steele also said former Trump attorney Michael Cohen visited Prague in August 2016 to meet with Russians regarding paying off hackers.

Cohen has vehemently denied the allegation, even after he flipped on Trump. The special counsel’s report quoted Cohen’s denial about the Prague visit, suggesting investigators were not disputing his denials.

The dossier’s most salacious allegation also remains unproved. In the first memo from the dossier, dated June 20, 2016, Steele said the Kremlin had blackmail material on Trump in the form of a video tape from 2013 of the real estate mogul in a Moscow hotel room with prostitutes.

The alleged video has been dubbed the “pee tape” or “golden showers tape” because Steele said it showed Trump watching as the prostitutes urinated on each other. Trump has vehemently denied the allegation. Steele himself has reportedly said he was “fifty-fifty” on whether the tape existed.

Simpson and Fritsch also reveal details about their interactions during the 2016 campaign with journalists. According to The Atlantic, they describe their offices in Washington, D.C., as “something of a public reading room” for reporters who investigated the Trump campaign.

Simpson and Fritsch also met with New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet during the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.

Simpson arranged meetings for Steele and reporters from The NYT, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, The New Yorker, ABC News, and Mother Jones.

Fusion GPS’s work will come under additional scrutiny just weeks after the Simpson/Fritsch book comes out.

Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general, is set to release a report Dec. 9 on the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser named in the dossier. The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s reporting in applications to spy on Page.

This is a CNN report. by Evan Perez

Perez is directly tied to Fusion GPS. A couple years ago there was a Facebook page showing pictures of Perez vacationing w the senior people of Fusion GPS

So it is likely this story was planted for a reason

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21...stigation/index.html

Former FBI lawyer under investigation after allegedly altering document in 2016 Russia probe

A former FBI lawyer is under criminal investigation after allegedly altering a document related to 2016 surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser, several people briefed on the matter told CNN.

The possibility of a substantive change to an investigative document is likely to fuel accusations from President Donald Trump and his allies that the FBI committed wrongdoing in its investigation of connections between Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign.


this is funny. "fuel accusations" We know the FBI lied in these warrants. Every one of the Carter Page warrants had lies in them

The finding is expected to be part of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's review of the FBI's effort to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide. Horowitz will release the report next month.

Horowitz turned over evidence on the allegedly altered document to John Durham, the federal prosecutor appointed early this year by Attorney General William Barr to conduct a broad investigation of intelligence gathered for the Russia probe by the CIA and other agencies, including the FBI. The altered document is also at least one focus of Durham's criminal probe

It's unknown how significant a role the altered document played in the FBI's investigation of Page and whether the FISA warrant would have been approved without the document. The alterations were significant enough to have shifted the document's meaning and came up during a part of Horowitz's FISA review where details were classified, according to the sources.

The lawyer, who was a line attorney, is no longer working at the bureau, said a person familiar with the matter. A line attorney is a lower level lawyer within the FBI.
No charges that could reflect the situation have been filed publicly in court.

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at the link there is a video where Perez says that Horowitz confronted the FBI employee about the altered document and the employee confessed

Sidney Powell will certainly be interested in this (lawyer for Michael Flynn)

^^^ Some more here,

https://www.foxnews.com/politi...ussia-probe-document

Horowitz reportedly finds FBI lawyer falsified FISA data; WaPo stealth-deletes Strzok connection

Published 3 hours ago Last Update 15 mins ago
By Gregg Re | Fox News


Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.

The show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.

The new evidence concerning the altered document, which was related to the FBI's FISA court warrant application to surveil Page, is expected to be outlined in Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.

The Post, hours after publishing its story, conspicuously removed the portion of its reporting that the FBI employee involved was underneath Peter Strzok, the FBI's since-fired head of counterintelligence. The Post did not offer an explanation for the change, which occurred shortly after midnight. Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by Strzok when he was leading the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the probe into the Trump campaign.

Horowitz reportedly found that the FBI employee who modified the FISA document falsely stated that he had "documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis" for the FISA warrant application, the Post reported. Then, the FBI employee allegedly "altered an email" to substantiate his inaccurate version of events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau.

Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry.

Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically motivated. In recent months, a slew of unearthed documents have strengthened those claims.

Just nine days before the FBI applied for its FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns" about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application, according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.

The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."

Fox News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented – and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the FBI assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that other sources independently corroborated Steele's claims but did not clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing despite more than a year of federal surveillance, and he has since sued numerous actors -- including the Democratic National Committee (DNC) -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.

"OI [Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now, other than Stu's continued concerns."

It's unclear whether the confidential source in question was Steele or another individual. "Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.

Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.

Newly released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called "302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”

Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.

The "lengthy" draft report "concerns sensitive national security and law enforcement matters," Horowitz wrote in the letter, adding that he anticipated "the final report will be released publicly with few redactions."

Horowitz noted that he did not anticipate a need to prepare or issue "separate classified and public versions of the report."

"After we receive the final classification markings from the Department and the FBI, we will then proceed with our usual process for preparing a final report, including ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for accuracy and comment purposes," Horowitz wrote in the letter. "Once begun, we do not anticipate the time for that review to be lengthy."

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Charles Crietz contributed to this report.

related to above 2 posts:

CTH has a post up that the line level lawyer is likely to be Kevin Clinesmith

https://theconservativetreehou...sa-docs/#more-176704

Kevin Clinesmith was one of the key FBI small group members on the original Clinton investigation known as the “mid-year exam”, or in text messages the “MYE”.

Within the MYE Clinesmith was one of the key legal staff working with Peter Strzok.

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There is a lot I would like to write up but I am really busy right now.

Here is my thinking about the FISA "verification" process. IT IS ALL BULLSHIT

The FBI plants a story in the news. The FBI cites the planted story as "verification" and includes the related claim in the FISA application.

The FISA judge accepts the "verified" info from the FBI and then grants the warrant.

If the FBI doesn't plant the story, Fusion GPS can make something up and send it to multiple "reporters" who are part of their network. A network that penetrates the major media of our entire country.

Bottom line the FISA warrants really aren't verified at all. Comey made a grandstand play where he talked about FISA warrant applications being an inch thick so "certainly" they are all fully vetted and supported. It is all a smokescreen.

If CTH is right, and Kevin Clinesmith is "FBI Attorney 2" in the Horowitz report on the Clinton email investigation, here are snips from that Horowitz report:


9 Nov 2016 day after election








FBI Lawyer 2 “was assigned to the Midyear investigation, the Russia investigation, and the Special Counsel investigation

Clinesmith was assigned to the Mueller SC team. He was removed from the Mueller team when the IG report came out (because of his text messages)

Don't know why Mueller removed him, it sounds like he fit right in w the rest of the Mueller rabid dog Trump haters.

I fear nothing meaningful will come of all this, save for Mr. Trump winning the Presidency in spite of these GDCs.

Former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese: Spying On The Trump Campaign Is Obama’s Watergate

Former Attorney General Ed Meese, who served under President Ronald Reagan, compared spying on the Trump campaign to the Watergate scandal in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller.

Meese previewed the impending IG report on FISA abuse, which is expected to drop on Dec. 9. The report is expected to reach a conclusion as to whether intelligence agencies followed the correct processes when obtaining warrants to spy on members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. Meese debunked the idea that the IG report’s findings should be dismissed because the investigation occurred during the Trump administration, explaining that the IG’s investigations are independent.

Meese also reveals the significance of the Obama administration trying to undermine a political opponent using unjustified investigations by the intelligence community, comparing the tactics to those used by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

WATCH:



https://dailycaller.com/2019/1...ign-obama-watergate/

All these reports always seems To refer to “processes” vs laws. What good is the IG if he only looks at processes. Instead, they should just call him quality Control.

Just venting a bit. Sorry.

I want to see these traitors hang!

Mueller lawyer with anti-Trump bias is ex-FBI official facing FISA criminal investigation

https://www.washingtonexaminer...iminal-investigation

The FBI lawyer who is under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying a document related to the surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser expressed negative opinions of President Trump in messages to colleagues.

Kevin Clinesmith, who once was part of special counsel Robert Mueller's team, has been identified as the attorney who faces a potential criminal charge as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham's expansive criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia inquiry, according to the New York Times.

As part of the Justice Department watchdog's now-completed investigation into alleged surveillance abuses, Clinesmith was found to have altered an email that was used by officials as they prepared an application renewal to present before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant to electronically surveil Carter Page, a onetime foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign.

Clinesmith was an attorney with the FBI’s National Security and Cyber Law Branch and worked under FBI General Counsel James Baker and Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson. He resigned two months ago after being interviewed by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's team, who sent a referral to Durham, the prosecutor from Connecticut tasked with reviewing the Russia case by Attorney General William Barr.

Eagerly anticipated by Trump's allies, Howoritz's report is expected to be released to the public on Dec. 9, the inspector general announced this week. They believe it will reveal an effort to undermine Trump's 2016 campaign in which the FBI misled the FISA court in its reliance on an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, whose research about Trump and his associates was partially funded by Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm.

Democrats, as well as current and former FBI officials, have dismissed allegations of wrongdoing and have raised concerns that information about U.S. intelligence-gathering could be leveraged to discredit former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Horowitz previously identified Clinesmith as one of the FBI officials who conveyed a bias against Trump in instant messages, after which he was kicked out of Mueller's Russia investigation team in February 2018. Two other FBI officials who were forced out of Mueller's team for similar anti-Trump messages were Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, both of whom have also left the bureau.

In a lengthy instant message exchange between Clinesmith and another FBI employee on Nov. 9, 2016 — the day after Trump’s presidential victory — he lamented Trump’s win and worried about the role he’d played in the investigation into Trump and his campaign.

“My god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff,” Clinesmith said, adding, “So, who knows if that breaks to him what he is going to do.”

A couple weeks later, on Nov. 22, 2016, he said, “Hell no” when asked by another FBI attorney if he was “rethink[ing] [his] commitment to the Trump administration.”

“Viva la resistance,” Clinesmith added.

In a scathing July 2018 report by Horowitz, Clinesmith was identified as "F.B.I. Attorney 2." He defended himself, claiming his messages only reflected his personal views. He asserted his opinions did not affect his work.

The initial FISA application and three renewals targeting Page required the approval of top members of the FBI, the DOJ, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but they were also handled by lower-level officials. The initial warrant application was approved in October 2016, and the final renewal came in June 2017.

Under suspicion of being a Russian agent, Page became a subject of interest in the FBI's counterintelligence investigation, called Crossfire Hurricane, which began in July 2016 and was later wrapped into Mueller's inquiry. Page was never charged with a crime as part of Mueller's investigation, which failed to establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and denied being an agent for Russia.

Last summer, the Justice Department took the unprecedented step of releasing more than 400 redacted pages of top-secret documents on the FISA warrant obtained to wiretap Page after Trump declassified their existence.

Kevin Clinesmith. There's you're fall guy. Never heard of him until now. Sounds like he should be easy enough to squeeze according to his instant messages with the FBI employee he was concerned about his name being all over investigation documents.

He's concerned about it because he's concerned about the consequences. See where it goes. I'm placing much more hope and confidence in what comes from Durham than I am Horowitz.

This Clinesmith revelation isn't exactly blowing my skirt up, especially since it's predicated on the point that the FISA warrant would've been issued anyway even without the edited email (or so we've been told). This was probably leaked in order to soften the blow to the dems from what's coming, cause right now I have faith that there will be much more.

Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch - what a pair of liars. Leaders of Fusion GPS. Still taking $ to continue investigating. From Diane Feinstein's former staffer

at link is an interview w Chuck Todd

They say Christopher Steele is an expert in Russian disinformation

well he did publish a lot of Russian disinformation

https://theconservativetreehou...itskaya/#more-176885

Simpson & Fritsch - two of the slimiest pieces of scum you will ever hear

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comment from Chuck Ross:

The @chucktodd interview with Fusion GPS founders was the joke I figured it would be. No questions about Mueller undercutting the dossier's main premise of a Trump-Russia conspiracy. Nothing on the pee tape, or Cohen-Prague.

FBI Lawyer Referred for Criminal Prosecution by Horowitz Was Primary FBI Attorney on Trump-Russia Case
Kevin Clinesmith sent multiple text messages showing strong bias against Trump, including “Viva le resistance”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...ia-case_3155584.html

A former FBI attorney reportedly referred for criminal prosecution by Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz—for allegedly altering an email connected to the surveillance warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page—was assigned in early 2017 as “the primary FBI attorney assigned” to the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into alleged Russian election interference.

The lawyer, who has been identified as Kevin Clinesmith in media reports, had been incorrectly portrayed by many members of the media as a “low-level” or junior member of the FBI’s legal team.

Text messages obtained by Horowitz, covered in a June 2018 report, showed that Clinesmith had a strong bias against Trump, texting “Viva le resistance” following Trump’s election as well as: “my god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff.”

Clinesmith worked on both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the Trump-Russia investigation. He would also later become a member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and was one of the FBI officials—along with FBI Agent Peter Strzok—who was removed by Mueller after IG Horowitz discovered FBI text messages expressing political bias against Trump.

The New York Times reported on Nov. 22, that Clinesmith was removed from the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation in February 2018 and resigned from the FBI “about two months ago.”

Clinesmith has reportedly been referred for criminal prosecution by Horowitz for altering “an email that officials used to prepare to seek court approval to renew the wiretap”—also known as the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) renewal—on former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, the New York Times reported.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained an initial FISA warrant on Carter Page on Oct. 21, 2016, along with three subsequent renewals, with the final FISA warrant expiring in September 2017.

According to the NYT article, the “paperwork associated with the renewal applications contained information that should have been left out, and vice versa.” Clinesmith reportedly altered an email that “was a factor during the wiretap renewal process.”

Clinesmith allegedly “took an email from an official at another federal agency that contained several factual assertions, then added material to the bottom that looked like another assertion from the email’s author, when it was instead his own understanding.”

This altered email was then included in a package that was prepared for another FBI official to read in “preparation for signing an affidavit,” that was to be submitted to the FISA Court “attesting to the facts and analysis” in the application.

The IG’s findings regarding Clinesmith’s email alteration have reportedly been sent to John H. Durham, the prosecutor assigned by Attorney General William Barr to examine the origins of the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation. The finding may have formed a partial basis for the elevation of Durham’s investigation from an administrative review to a criminal investigation.

The NYT noted that the specific “details of the email are apparently classified” and may not be made public even when the Inspector General releases his report on Dec. 9, 2019.
Clinesmith’s Politically Driven Messages

Clinesmith was described as “FBI Attorney 2” in the June 2018 IG report titled: “A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election.”

According to the report, which reviewed the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation, Clinesmith was assigned to the investigation, codenamed “Midyear Exam,” in early 2016. The IG Report notes that Clinesmith “was not the lead FBI attorney assigned to Midyear and he told us he provided support to the investigation as needed.”

But Clinesmith played a far more critical role in the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign. Clinesmith was cited in the IG Report as being “the primary FBI attorney assigned to that investigation beginning in early 2017.” As noted previously, Clinesmith then transitioned to the Special Counsel investigation until his removal by Mueller upon the discovery of certain instant messages by Horowitz.

Clinesmith was cited in the 2018 IG Report for sending politically driven messages and had an entire section, named FBI Attorney 2 Instant Messages, devoted to his actions and text messages.

One example of Clinesmith’s messages showing bias was sent on Oct.28, 2016, immediately following a letter sent by then-FBI Director James Comey to Congress in which he notified them of the re-opening of the agency’s investigation into the Clinton Midyear Exam:

“I mean, I never really liked the Republic anyway,” Clinesmith wrote.

He also wrote the following:

“I just can’t imagine the systematic disassembly of the progress we made over the last 8 years. ACA is gone. Who knows if the rhetoric about deporting people, walls, and crap is true. I honestly feel like there is going to be a lot more gun issues, too, the crazies won finally. This is the tea party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years. We have to fight this again. Also Pence is stupid.”

On Nov. 9, 2016, the day after the election, and following Hillary Clinton’s unexpected loss, Clinesmith sent an instant message to Sally Moyer, a unit chief at the Office of General Counsel, who was also known as Attorney 1 in the IG Report, that read. “I am so stressed about what I could have done differently.”
Clinesmith Investigated Trump’s Staff

Clinesmith messages cited in the 2018 IG report also included a notable concern and admission; “Plus, my god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff.”

The term, “his staff” appears to relate directly to the individuals employed by Trump.

On Nov. 22, 2016, Clinesmith sent another instant message to Moyer, “commenting on the amount of money the subject of an FBI investigation had been paid while working on the Trump campaign.” Moyer responded, “Is it making you rethink your commitment to the Trump administration?” Clinesmith replied, “Hell no.” and then added, “Viva le resistance.”
The Woods File

Besides attempting to portray Clinesmith as a low-level FBI employee who had little or no bearing on the actual decision-making process, there has also been speculation that Clinesmith’s document alterations may have been limited to underlying Woods Documents.

Woods files, which provide facts supporting allegations made in a FISA application, are attached to every application and are provided by the originating FBI agent in each case.

A FISA warrant allows for some of the most invasive methods of spying on an American citizen and must receive formal approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which requires that there be probable cause to believe the proposed target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power.

When asked by Congress in an Oct. 3, 2018, testimony about the FISA process, James Baker, who was the highest-ranking FBI lawyer at the time of the Carter Page application, described a FISA warrant as allowing for “a set of highly intrusive surveillance techniques” that are used “to provide the FBI with foreign intelligence information.”

During his testimony, Baker was asked about why the FBI failed to disclose the political motivations of Christopher Steele, who was paid, through Fusion GPS, by the Clinton campaign to produce a dossier on Trump. The dossier, which consists of a number of memos written by Steele, was extensively used by the FBI in the Carter Page FISA application.

Baker testified that this fact should have been vetted during lower levels of preparation.

“So the people filing the FISA application and the people who checked the Woods file to verify that the way this works is that they would not have had any information that was derogatory about Source #1 at the time that this was submitted,” Baker said.

“That there might exist in the files of the FBI or in somebody’s memory some interaction that might be derogatory and that it didn’t make it into the files I don’t know that that happened or didn’t happen. That kind of thing in theory, in theory could happen. So, but the people responsible for this FISA should have believed that that was accurate at the time and should have had documentation to support that assertion.”

However, as previously reported in an earlier Epoch Times article, Sally Moyer (listed as Attorney 1 in the IG Report) told lawmakers that only the originating agent and the supervisory special agent in the field actually look at the Woods file during the preparation of a FISA application:

Somers: “So you don’t — do you review the Woods’ file?”

Moyer: “No.”

Somers: “Did you review the Woods’ file in the Carter Page application?”

Moyer: “No.”

Moyer told investigators that “the person that’s signing the application is relying on the individuals who have signed the Woods form that they have the Woods file.” These individuals would be the Case Agent and the Supervisory Special Agent in the field.

Somers: “Okay. So beyond the case agent, who looks at a Woods’ file?”

Moyer: “The supervisory special agent in the field.”

Somers: “In the field. But no one else out of the field of that chain looks at a Woods’ file in general?”

Moyer: “That is correct, except both of those individuals sign the Woods’ form indicating that the facts are true and accurate and that they have documents to support those facts.”

Moyer stipulated that in some cases, the supervisory special agent at FBI headquarters who is signing off on an application might choose to review the Woods file, but that it was not done for the Page FISA.

Somers: “Do you know if that happened in the case of the Carter Page?”

Moyer: “I don’t think it did in this case.”

In other words, Moyer’s testimony shows that besides the case agent and the field agent, no-one—including Clinesmith—even looked at the Woods files. Furthermore, the change to the email by Clinesmith was reported to be of significance to the FISA renewal.

As stated above, the “email Mr. Clinesmith handled was a factor during the wiretap renewal process,” The New York Times reported.

It is not yet known which FISA renewal was impacted by the email alteration of Clinesmith, or if he did so at anyone’s direction. The Inspector General’s report of FISA abuse, currently scheduled to be released on Dec. 9, is expected to shed more light on this matter.

Kevin Clinesmith: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

https://heavy.com/news/2018/06/kevin-clinesmith-e/

Kevin Clinesmith is a former FBI lawyer expected to be cited for wrongdoing in an upcoming report by the Justice Department’s inspector general. The New York Times reported Friday that the inspector general’s report is expected to accuse Clinesmith of altering an email that officials used when preparing to seek court approval for the renewal of a wiretap of former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

Clinesmith may be referred for criminal charges as a result, The Times is reporting.

Clinesmith’s name surfaced previously. In 2018, GOP Congressman Mark Meadows publicly accused Clinesmith of possibly being the FBI lawyer described in the inspector general’s report as writing anti-Trump messages, including one that declared “viva le resistance.” The Times is now reporting that Clinesmith is that lawyer, known as FBI lawyer 2 in the IG’s earlier report into the Clinton email investigation.

Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina, released the identities of Clinesmith and Sally Moyer during a hearing on the Inspector General’s report into the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. According to The New York Post, Meadows did so at the time over the objections of the FBI, and the Inspector General and FBI have not confirmed the identities. The lawyer mentioned in the IG report, Clinesmith, worked on both the Clinton and Russian investigations but left the latter after the IG shared his instant messages with the special counsel. However, The New York Post later revealed that Moyer was not the lawyer that Meadows had implied.

“In a dramatic moment, Meadows then directly asked (Inspector General) Horowitz whether two anonymous FBI employees identified as making anti-Trump statements in the IG’s report were named Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer,” Fox News reported. However, the Inspector General refused to answer the question. Heavy left messages for Clinesmith via email and phone seeking comment.

Here’s what you need to know:
1. Clinesmith Is Accused of Being the Attorney Who Wrote ‘Viva Le Resistance,’ Was Devastated by Trump’s Victory & Described Mike Pence as ‘Stupid’

The Congressman dropped the names of Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer into the public record and domain, initially making it clear that he suspects Clinesmith was “FBI Attorney 2” and Moyer was “Agent 5” as described in the IG’s report. IG Michael Horowitz has said that the FBI was not going to release the employees’ names because they work in counterintelligence.

According to The New York Post, however, Moyer’s lawyer “insists she is not one of the biased five and ‘has not been referred for investigation.'” The newspaper added, “Clinesmith is “’FBI Attorney 2’ in the report, while Moyer is, in fact, ‘FBI Attorney 1,’ which is not listed as one of the agents or lawyers cited for bias or referred for investigation.” The Post noted that Meadows now says “he didn’t mean to imply that both FBI investigators he unmasked by name in a congressional hearing were among five unidentified agents cited for pro-Clinton, anti-Trump bias.”

In the hearing, Meadows disputed the reason for withholding the names. “They don’t work in counterintelligence,” Meadows said, according to Fox News. “If that’s the reason the FBI is giving, they’re giving you false information, because they work for the [FBI] general counsel.”

The messages in the case of “FBI Attorney 2” (Clinesmith) were described as instant messages. “We found the conduct of these five FBI employees brought discredit to themselves, sowed doubt about the FBI’s handling of the Midyear investigation, and impacted the reputation of the FBI,” the IG report stated of the five FBI employees. Only two, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, were named in the report. The report describes FBI Attorney 2 as a “more junior attorney” than another lawyer on the Clinton email investigation.

“That these employees used an FBI system or device to express political views about individuals affected by ongoing investigations for which they were responsible was particularly disappointing,” the report said.

The IG found that “most of these exchanges appeared to be jokes or attempts at humor, often involving Trump.” FBI Attorney 2 said he “regretted his use of instant messaging in this matter,” said he didn’t do it routinely and that it was “commentary” on recent political events and not connect to his decisions in the investigations. He repeatedly denied to IG investigators that his political beliefs had any bearing on his professional work.

“I, like most people, have particular views on, on politics. I’m a bit of a news junkie when it comes to government. It’s one of the main reasons I, I joined the federal workforce is because I’ve always found it so fascinating and interesting. But when it came to doing my work, I never injected this, this type of color commentary or this type of water cooler type talk into that. I, I maintained impartiality and just tried to work through the issues individually as they came through,” FBI Attorney 2 told the IG.

After former FBI Director James Comey sent his letter to Congress about reopening the Clinton investigation right before the election, the lawyer sent four similar messages to different employees, including:

“I mean, I never really liked the Republic anyway.”

“As I have initiated the destruction of the republic… would you be so kind as to have a coffee with me this afternoon?”

“I’m clinging to small pockets of happiness in the dark time of the Republic’s destruction.”

He explained the messages “as reflecting his surprise and frustration that the FBI ‘was essentially walking into a landmine in terms of injecting itself (into the election) at that late in the process,'” said the report.

He explained “…the Russia investigation was ongoing as well. And that information was obviously kept close hold and was not released until March. So, you know, it, it was just kind of frustration that we weren’t handling both of them the same way with, with that level I guess.”

He described the “destruction” language as “hyperbolic” and “off-the-cuff commentary to friends.”

The second exchange took place November 9, 2016, the day after the presidential election, in which Attorney 2 wrote to another employee, including the following:

Attorney 2: “I am numb.”

Other employee not involved in midyear investigation: “I can’t stop crying.”

Attorney 2: “That makes me even more sad.”

Employee “Like, what happened? You promised me this wouldn’t happen. YOU PROMISED…”

Attorney 2: “I am so stressed about what I could have done differently.”

Employee: “Don’t stress. None of that mattered. The FBI’s influence.”

Attorney 2: “I don’t know. We broke the momentum.”

Employee: “That is not so….”

Attorney 2: “I’m just devastated. I can’t wait until I can leave today and just shut off the world for the next four days…I just can’t imagine the systematic disassembly of the progress we made over the last 8 years. ACA is gone. Who knows if the rhetoric about deporting people, walls and crap is true. I honestly feel like there is going to be a lot more gun issues too, the crazies won finally. This is the tea party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years. We have to fight this again. Also Pence is stupid.”

Attorney 2: “And it’s just hard not to feel like the FBI caused some of this. It was razor thin in some states. Plus my god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff. So who knows if that breaks to him, what he is going to do.”

He told the IG that “we tend to exaggerate some statements back and forth to one another” of his exchanges with the unnamed employee.

In a third exchange on November 22, 2016, he sent an instant message to FBI Attorney 1 commenting on the amount of money the subject of an FBI investigation had been paid while working on the Trump campaign. FBI attorney 1 responded, “Is it making you rethink your commitment to the Trump administration?” FBI attorney 2 replied, “Hell, no,” and then added “Viva le resistance.” They then talked about federal pension issues.

He later explained to the IG: “It’s just the lines bled through here just in terms of, of my personal, political views in terms of, or what particular preference I have. But, but that doesn’t have any leaning on the way that I, I maintain myself as a professional in the FBI.”

Asked if Viva le resistance signaled he was going to fight back against President Trump, he responded “That’s not what I was doing… I just, again, like that, that’s just like the entire, it’s just my political view in terms of, of my preference. It wasn’t something along the lines of, you know, we’re taking certain actions in order to, you know, combat that or, or do anything like that.”

He and attorney 1 were assigned to the Russia investigation at that time. She said she thought it was a “joke obviously.”

2. Clinesmith Is a Michigan Native Who Previously Worked for the Department of Energy

Clinesmith provided some biographical information when he ran as a candidate for an Advisory Neighborhood Commission in the Washington D.C. area in 2012.

“I was born and raised in a small farming town in rural Michigan, and have degrees from Saginaw Valley State University, Michigan State University College of Law, and the Georgetown University Law Center,” he told the website New Columbia Heights.

“I came to the DC area in 2008 to work for the U.S. Department of Energy, where I have worked in various areas for almost five years. Previously, I worked in state government in Michigan, primarily in the Governor’s office and Attorney General’s office.”

According to the Michigan Bar Association lawyer’s directory, Kevin E. Clinesmith is still licensed to practice law in Michigan and has a Washington D.C. address. There is only one Kevin Clinesmith licensed to practice law in Washington D.C. The D.C. website says Kevin Clinesmith, the lawyer, uses the same email address as the man who ran for the advisory commission.
3. Clinesmith Is a Marathon Runner & Dragoncon Fan
The New Columbia Heights website article further quoted Kevin Clinesmith as describing himself as “an avid college sports fan and marathon runner—in fact, if you see a tall guy with glasses running around the neighborhood in MSU gear, feel free to stop me and say hello or just yell ‘Go Green!'”

On Twitter, a friend tagged Kevin Clinesmith in a post with this photo, writing, “We should do a game night folks.” The date was October 17, 2016.

Posts from friends on Facebook shows that he’s very active in D.C., doing things like playing Bocce ball and attending Dragoncon 2012. Dragoncon is a science fiction and gaming convention. Online records show that Clinesmith is 36-years-old. He has lived in Michigan, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

4. Clinesmith Was Married & Loved the Diversity of His Virginia Neighborhood

Clinesmith told New Columbia Heights that he had lived in Arlington, Virginia since 2008. “I finally became a true Washingtonian and moved to Columbia Heights (Park Triangle Apartments, 1375 Kenyon St NW) in November 2011 and could not be happier with my neighborhood choice. Everything from our local farmer’s markets to our culture and diverse options in local businesses creates a small community feeling within our large metropolitan region and has made me feel incredibly welcome,” he told the site in an interview.

There is little on his public Facebook page. He appears to have a Twitter page but the tweets are privatized. Photos on Facebook indicate he was married, as friends posted multiple pictures showing his wedding. It’s not clear whether he is still married.

Numerous alumni newsletters for Michigan State College of Law list Kevin E. Clinesmith as graduating from the school in 2007. His name comes up as attending alumni events for Michigan State, and he’s been photographed wearing the college’s athletic gear.

5. Clinesmith Was the Attorney Who Was Removed From the Mueller Investigation

Meadows argues that Clinesmith is possibly the attorney who was also assigned to, and then removed from, the Russia probe. That’s now been confirmed to be true.

FBI Attorney 2 “was assigned to the Midyear investigation, the Russia investigation, and the Special Counsel investigation. We found messages in which FBI Attorney 2 discussed political issues, including three instant message exchanges that raised concerns of potential bias,” the IG report says. The Midyear investigation is the Clinton email investigation.

Attorney 2 was assigned to the Clinton investigation early in 2015 and was not the lead FBI attorney assigned. He provided support as needed.

FBI Attorney 2 was also assigned to the investigation into Russian election interference and “was the primary FBI attorney assigned to that investigation beginning in early 2017,” the report says.

He was assigned to the Special Counsel investigation once it began. He returned to the FBI in late February 2018 “shortly after the OIG provided the Special Counsel with some of the instant messages,” said the IG report.

Robert Mueller was investigating whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Trump has described the investigation as a political witch hunt. However, the earlier IG report only dealt with the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, and it found that, although FBI director James Comey acted out of protocol, there was not proof that the FBI made decisions due to political motivation.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:

...A former FBI attorney reportedly referred for criminal prosecution by Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz—for allegedly altering an email connected to the surveillance warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page—was assigned in early 2017 as “the primary FBI attorney assigned” to the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into alleged Russian election interference.

The lawyer, who has been identified as Kevin Clinesmith in media reports, had been incorrectly portrayed by many members of the media as a “low-level” or junior member of the FBI’s legal team...

WHAAAT? The mainstream media lied to us??? Say it ain't so!

First, they should start talking about life in prison to Clinesmith to get him to start rolling over.

Second, Moyer is not clean either. The fact that Clinesmith was comfortable saying "Viva la resitance" to Moyer tells me they were complicit through their action or inaction on what they knew.

It's ridiculous how these rabid anti Trumper's say the things they do privately in text messages and emails and other forms of social media about Trump and then try to claim it has no affect on their professional duties. That's humanly impossible imo. You cannot hold strong personal feeling like that then work directly against them on a daily basis. Human nature does not allow such a thing.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
It's ridiculous how these rabid anti Trumper's say the things they do privately in text messages and emails and other forms of social media about Trump and then try to claim it has no affect on their professional duties. That's humanly impossible imo. You cannot hold strong personal feeling like that then work directly against them on a daily basis. Human nature does not allow such a thing.

And it is equally doubtful these same people just accidentally fell into anti Trump investigations.