Obama-Biden Spygate scandal receives judicial absolution

The Obama-Biden administration's spying on American citizen Carter Page and Donald Trump's campaign and transition committees in 2016 and 2017 (Spygate)--appears to have received judicial absolution following an amazing decision by the current head of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act Court (Court)--Judge James Boasberg. The highly-secretive Court had issued a warrant on October 26,  2016--on the application of the FBI - to surveill Carter Page--a former member of the Trump campaign committee. The warrant was issued on the basis of reporting on Donald Trump prepared by former British secret service agent Christopher Steele using highly-questionable Russian sub-sources providing false information (Steele Dossier). The FBI did not disclose to the Court that the Steele Dossier was paid for by Trump's political opponents--the Hillary Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The warrant was renewed in January 2017--when the Trump transition team was preparing to enter the White House and again in April 2017 and July 2017 after Trump assumed the Presidency on January 20,  2017.

A review of these four FISA applications by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Justice in December 2019 determined that the FBI first received "Steele's election reporting" on September 19, 2016 and that it "played a central and essential role in the FBI's and Department's decision to seek the FISA order." This political weaponization of the Steele Dossier by the Obama-Biden administration was given only a gentle rap on the knuckles when Judge Boasberg this week sentenced former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith to a sentence of 12 months' probation and 400 hours community service.  Clinesmith admitted that in June 2017 he sent an altered email to an FBI agent indicating that Carter Page, was "not a source" for the Central Intelligence Agency--when in fact he was. The statement was passed to the FBI when applying for the July 2017 extension of the FISA warrant to surveill Page - making Page's actions seem more suspicious by downplaying his past cooperation with the CIA. Clinesmith insisted that he thought the statement was true at the time and only altered the e mail to save himself the trouble of procuring another email from its sender.  Amazingly Boasberg accepted Clinesmith's evidence.

"My view of the evidence is that Mr. Clinesmith likely believed that what he said about Mr. Page was true. By altering the email, he was saving himself some work and taking an inappropriate shortcut."

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Boasberg would be well aware that the first FISA Application to spy on Carter Page was only lodged after:

• Page's status had first been determined by the Department of State in or about October 2016 and then supplied to the FBI (Paragraph 2)
• Certification by an authorized signatory designated by President Obama (Paragraph 6)
• Approval by the Attorney General
• Approval by the Department of Justice

The Application asserted that Page was "a former policy advisor" to Trump. Targeting Page gave the FBI access to all his emails sent and received whilst a member of the Trump campaign committee and perhaps even after he ceased to be a member until his removal from the circular chain of communications to members of the campaign committee. Carter Page was never charged with any offense. Seems as though a lot of people in authority in the Obama-Biden administration--besides Clinesmith - could have taken an "inappropriate shortcut". Those in the Obama-Biden White House, Department of State, FBI, Attorney General's Office and Department of Justice involved in the worst political scandal since Watergate - may not be as lucky as Clinesmith — when Special Counsel--John Durham--releases his report.

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