'Trump collusion with Russia' case: Former FBI agent falsified documents
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith admitted Wednesday to falsifying documents in a case against associates of Donald Trump, Fox News reported.
The verdict will be announced on December 10.
The Justice Department's inspector general accused Clinesmith of falsifying an email related to former Trump campaign member Carter Page. Clinesmith claimed that Page had not worked with the country's secret services, when in fact he had previously provided information to the CIA. Based on this claim, the Justice Department approved a secret court order to monitor Page.
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| President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin at the US-Russia summit in Helsinki, Finland in July 2018. Photo courtesy of Reuters |
Mr. Trump called the surveillance of Page during the campaign a "witch hunt" and a political scandal that he said was the fault of the administration of former President Barack Obama.
The Clinesmith case is the first criminal case since the Inspector General's report criticized the FBI for its methods in conducting the "Russia-related investigation."
The investigation lasted two years.
Senate Republicans are investigating the surveillance of Page and other former Trump campaign staff as part of an investigation into rumors of Trump’s “Russian connections,” the existence of which has been denied by the White House and Kremlin and not confirmed by special counsel Robert Mueller after a two-year investigation.
Mr Mueller has filed criminal charges against several former associates and friends of Mr Trump, but these charges are unrelated to the “Russia collusion” theory. None of the charges were against Page.
