A former FBI lawyer plans to plead guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from an inquiry into the investigation of ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, his lawyer said Friday.
Kevin Clinesmith is accused of altering a government email about a former Trump campaign adviser who was a target of secret FBI surveillance, according to documents filed in Washington’s federal court. His lawyer, Justin Shur, told the Associated Press that Clinesmith intends to plead guilty to the single false statement count and that he regrets his actions.
The case against Clinesmith was cheered by Donald Trump and his supporters as they look to the investigation, led by the US attorney John Durham, to lift Trump’s re-election prospects and to expose what they see as wrongdoing as the FBI opened the Russia investigation.
“The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, while his campaign…
