By The American Tribune | Created at 2025-04-01 10:10:58 | Updated at 2025-04-02 17:43:24
1 day ago
Revelations surrounding anti-Trump US District Court Judge James E. Boasberg continue rolling in as the pro-Trump right delves into his past with increasingly intense scrutiny, finding such scandals as his connection to Hillary Clinton emails and his wife’s involvement with donating to leftists, with another revelation hammering him for his connection to the Russia Hoax FISA court scandal.
The issue at hand is that Judge Boasberg was the convicting and sentencing judge in the prosecution of Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who was convicted of falsifying a claim that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court used to sustain government surveillance on Carter Page, a Trump ally who was unfairly smeared as part of Crossfire Hurricane and the Russia Hoax. Boasberg gave Clinesmith a mere slap on the wrist, which has led to outcry online, given his current attempts to again block the Trump Administration. Adding to the scandal is that Boasberg also served as the warrant-providing judge for the FISA court.
The Department of Justice, reporting on what Clinesmtih did to unjustly target and smear Mr. Page at the time Clinesmith pleaded guilty in 2020, said, “According to court documents and statements made in court, between July 2015 and September 2019, Clinesmith was employed with the FBI as an Assistant General Counsel in the National Security and Cyber Law Branch of the FBI’s Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C. On July 31, 2016, the FBI opened a Foreign Agents Registration Act investigation, known as “Crossfire Hurricane,” into whether individuals associated with the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign were coordinating activities with the Russian government. By August 16, 2016, the FBI had opened cases under the Crossfire Hurricane umbrella on four individuals, including an individual identified in this case as [Carter Page].”
Continuing, the DOJ noted that Clinesmith had worked with the FBI as part of Crossfire Hurricane to target Page and justify surveilling him by lying to FISA courts, saying, “Clinesmith was assigned to provide legal support to FBI personnel working on Crossfire Hurricane, and he assisted FBI personnel with applications prepared by the FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division to conduct surveillance under the FISA. During the investigation, there were a total of four court-approved FISA applications targeting [Carter Page]. Each of the FISA applications alleged there was probable cause that [Carter Page] was a knowing agent of a foreign power, specifically Russia.”
The DOJ further noted that Clinesmith did so despite knowing Carter Page was working with the CIA, and not a Russian agent, then provided, “Clinesmith pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. Judge Boasberg scheduled sentencing for December 10, 2020.”
Page commented on what Clinesmith’s lies had done to him and his family, noted that they had ruined his life and devastated his family. As NBC News reported at the time of Clinesmith’s sentencing, he said “This manufactured scandal and associated lies caused me to adopt the lifestyle of an international fugitive for years.” Page added, “I often have felt as if I had been left with no life at all. Each member of my family was severely impacted.”
Despite that, Judge Boasberg gave Clinesmith a mere slap on the wrist, sentencing him to mere probation despite the pain caused by his lies. NBC News said, reporting on the jaw-dropping ruling, “Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg said that while Clinesmith’s actions were serious, the warrant application probably would have been approved anyway without his misstatement.”
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In the wake of Boasberg’s anti-Trump ruling, commenters on X have sounded off on Boasberg’s connection to Clinesmith’s nearly nonexistent punishment for lying about Page. One such commenter, for example, said, “Boasberg gave Clinesmith a slap on the wrist. For a felony. 12 months probation. Clinesmith was then reinstated by the DC bar. I’m at 30 months suspended without pay. For making protected disclosures to Congress. Clinesmith is walking free. Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Another such poster wrote much the same thing, saying, “This is the same Judge Boasberg who sat as presiding judge on the FISA court. The same Judge Boasberg who gave FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith a slap on the wrist for manufacturing evidence used in the Carter Page FISA application that defrauded the court.”
Watch Karoline Leavitt obliterate Judge Boasberg here:
Featured image credit: By United States District Court for the District of Columbia – http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/content/district-judge-james-e-boasberg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59245238
