Andrew Weissmann, who served as a top prosecutor for former special counsel Robert Mueller, criticized the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to bring a case against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith as part of an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
Weissmann weighed in following reports Friday that Clinesmith intends to plead guilty to falsifying a document that was part of the FBI’s justification for wiretapping former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as part of the 2016 investigation into Russian election interference.
“Question for [U.S. Attorney General William Barr]: how are [former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s] confessed lies to the FBI (repeated to the VP) not a crime, but Clinesmith changing an email (the full version of which he also sent to DOJ) is?” Weissmann tweeted, referencing the Justice Department’s controversial move to withdraw its case against Flynn, who had already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
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Questions judge should ask before accepting Clinesmith guilty plea:
What precisely is the falsity of the statement that Clinesmith made?
What investigation was it material to?
He gave DOJ accurate information for the Page FISA?
How does the Barr materiality std for Flynn apply?— Andrew Weissmann (@AWeissmann_) August 14, 2020
The charge against Clinesmith marks the first criminal case arising from the probe led by U.S. Attorney John Durham. The Justice Department alleges that the former FBI attorney altered an email to say that Page was not a source for the CIA, even though Page had had a relationship with the agency.
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