The sentencing hearing featured a passionate speech by Page, in which the energy industry analyst complained that his life was turned upside down by the media storm following the public disclosure of the fact that he was the focus of the investigation. of the FBI about the potential Russian influence in the Trump Campaign.
Clinesmith pleaded guilty last August to a false declaration charge in a plea bargain with John Durham, then attorney general William Barr called in 2019 to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. Barr formally appointed Durham as a special attorney last fall, in an apparent attempt to complicate any attempt by a new government to end the Durham investigation.
Prosecutors argued that Clinesmith’s misconduct was so serious that he deserved between three and six months in prison. Clinesmith’s lawyers asked that he be spared jail time. The maximum penalty for a false declaration charge is five years in prison, although judges generally convict under federal guidelines that required Clinesmith to serve between zero and six months in prison.
Clinesmith became a sort of poster boy for Republicans who criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and the FBI investigation that preceded it. In fact, many critics of Mueller – including Trump – have suggested that Clinesmith was only the first of many government officials likely to be charged with crimes related to the launch or conduct of the investigation.
At a news conference last year, Trump called Clinesmith “a corrupt FBI lawyer” and predicted further prosecutions.
“So this is just the beginning, I imagine, because what happened should never happen again,” said Trump.
Texts and other messages that Clinesmith sent in 2016 contributed to the suspicion that his actions were part of a deliberate effort to defame Page and direct the Trump campaign.
Among the messages discovered in a report by the inspector general was one sent one day after Trump’s election in 2016:
“Who knows if the rhetoric about deporting people, walls and crap is true. Honestly, I feel like there are going to be a lot more problems with guns too, the freaks finally won, ”wrote Clinesmith. “This is the steroid tea party. And the GOP will be lost, they have to deal with a holder in 4 years. We have to fight it again. Besides, Pence is stupid. “
Two weeks later, when a colleague asked Clinesmith if he was rethinking his commitment to serve in the Trump administration, Clinesmith replied “Of course not” and added “Viva le resistance”.
Prosecutors said in a written sentence presentation that political prejudice may have led to Clinesmith’s misconduct.
“It is plausible that his strong political views and / or personal dislike for the current president would make him more willing to engage in the fraudulent and unethical conduct of which he pleaded guilty,” wrote prosecutors. “While it is impossible to know with certainty how these views may have affected his offensive conduct, the defendant clearly demonstrated that he did not fulfill his important responsibilities in the FBI with the professionalism, integrity and objectivity required by such a delicate position. “
However, the FBI attorney could not have done much on his own to affect or fuel the Trump-Russia investigation, as he played a relatively minor role in the investigation. In addition, his email change came in June 2017, at the end of the FBI’s surveillance of Page.
In fact, when Boasberg granted Page permission to speak at Friday’s hearing, the judge told Page to limit himself to comments on the impact of the June 2017 FBI surveillance application and not the previous three surveillance orders that the FBI won to spy on Page.