The former FBI lawyer admitted that he doctored an email to which other officials relied upon to justify secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, with no time behind bars.
Kevin Clinesmith, 38, pleaded guilty last summer to altering an email. He prepared a false application to monitor former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page, during the bureau’s 2016 investigation of Russia’s election interference.
Clinesmith’s lawyers have argued his altering the email was a mistake meant to save his time and personal embarrassment. While the former president Donald Trump and his political allies have highlighted the case. They mentioned that the bureau was biased and seeking to undermine Trump.
The case was ultimately taken over by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.