Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who is expected to plead guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the investigation into links between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, was not “a low-level guy,” contrary to claims made by the left-wing media, Dan Bongino, a Fox News contributor, said Monday.
“Please don’t fall for the left-wing media talking point that this lawyer was a low-level guy,” Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, told “Fox & Friends” on Monday. “He was not.”
“He was the main lawyer working on the case the FBI had to spy on Trump,” Bongino continued, urging people to “look at the FBI’s own work chart.”
“Don’t listen to the media that’s obsessed with lying to you about this outside of this network,” Bongino said.
Clinesmith was referred for potential prosecution by the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation.
Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though 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 he was a source for the CIA. The DOJ relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Host Brian Kilmeade noted that the investigation would have been stopped “right there.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
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