The FBI's Russian Collusion Hoax

 The Federalist Wire:

...

Washington, D.C.’s entrenched elite have long operated in shadows, shielding their misdeeds while weaponizing federal power against political outsiders. At the heart of this cesspool lies the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation—a sham probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion that reeks of corruption and abuse. Newly declassified documents expose Kevin Clinesmith, a disgraced FBI lawyer, as a central figure in this scandal, with his actions protected by a complicit judiciary led by Judge James Boasberg. This isn’t just a story of one rogue lawyer; it’s a damning indictment of a system rotten to its core, hell-bent on undermining a duly elected president.

Clinesmith, a key player in both the FBI’s Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation, pleaded guilty in 2020 to falsifying a document critical to the FBI’s efforts to renew a FISA warrant targeting Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser in 2016. His crime wasn’t a mere clerical error—it was a deliberate act to deceive the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) into believing Page was not a CIA source, despite the agency repeatedly confirming otherwise. This lie fueled a baseless surveillance operation, yet Clinesmith walked away with a wrist-slap: a year of probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine. The swamp protects its own.

Declassified records paint a far uglier picture of Clinesmith’s role than previously admitted. He wasn’t a peripheral figure but a linchpin in the FBI’s anti-Trump crusade. Clinesmith collaborated closely with disgraced FBI operatives Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, whose infamous text messages revealed their seething bias against Trump. He was instrumental in securing the FISA warrant against Carter Page, relying heavily on the discredited Steele dossier—a collection of unverified gossip funded by the Clinton campaign. Clinesmith’s fingerprints are all over the FBI’s efforts to target not just Page, but also Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and even security expert Walid Phares, codenamed “Cross Wind,” who faced scrutiny without ever being charged.

Clinesmith’s deception extended to approving a document that justified a pretextual FBI briefing of then-candidate Trump in 2016. This wasn’t a routine intelligence update—it was a fishing expedition to gather dirt on Trump and Flynn. The FBI’s own records, drafted by agent Joseph Pientka and approved by Clinesmith and Strzok, confirm this briefing was a sham, designed to advance the Crossfire Hurricane agenda. The bureau’s willingness to exploit its authority to spy on a political campaign exposes the depths of its politicization.

Judge Boasberg, now a vocal opponent of Trump’s deportation policies, emerges as another swamp creature in this saga. As head of the FISA Court, Boasberg downplayed Clinesmith’s crimes, claiming, “Mr. Clinesmith likely believed that what he said was true,” and suggesting the falsified FISA warrant might have been approved anyway. This astonishing defense of a confessed liar undermines the integrity of the judicial system. Boasberg’s leniency—refusing the Justice Department’s request for jail time—sent a clear message: accountability is optional for the D.C. elite.

Boasberg’s rulings didn’t stop there. He appointed officials who defended the FBI’s Russiagate misconduct and renewed the bureau’s FISA powers despite its documented abuses. His recent clash with the Trump Justice Department over deportation flights further reveals his bias. When the Supreme Court ruled that Boasberg’s court lacked jurisdiction in the case, he doubled down, insisting “probable cause exists” to hold Trump officials in contempt. This is a judge more concerned with protecting the swamp’s agenda than upholding justice.

The Durham investigation, led by Special Counsel John Durham, laid bare the damage caused by Clinesmith’s actions. Durham argued that Clinesmith’s “deceptive conduct” eroded public trust in the FBI and the FISA process, tainting every application he touched. Prosecutor Anthony Scarpelli added that “the defendant’s criminal conduct tarnished the integrity of the FISA program” and caused “immeasurable” harm. Yet Boasberg brushed this aside, lamenting that Clinesmith had been “abused” and “vilified” on a “national scale.” The judge’s sympathy for a convicted liar over the public’s trust speaks volumes.

Clinesmith’s own words betray his lack of genuine remorse. While claiming, “I am deeply remorseful for any effect my actions may have had,” he maintained, “I never intended to mislead my colleagues about the status of Dr. Page.” This half-hearted apology rings hollow against the backdrop of his deliberate manipulation of a CIA email to mislead the FISA Court. His actions weren’t a mistake—they were a calculated betrayal of his oath.

The FBI’s reliance on the Steele dossier, a document riddled with “word of mouth and hearsay” and uncorroborated claims, further exposes the agency’s desperation to smear Trump. Clinesmith circulated this dossier among law enforcement, despite FBI interviews with Steele’s source, Igor Danchenko, revealing its flimsiness. Danchenko admitted much of the dossier stemmed from casual barroom chatter, with some allegations made “in jest.” The Durham report confirmed that “at no time before, during, or after Crossfire Hurricane were investigators able to corroborate a single substantive allegation in the Steele dossier reporting.”
...

The allegations against Trump in the Russian Collusion Hoax never made any sense to me.  Trump was a real estate developer who began his operations in New York and later developed real estate projects in other cities.  I am not aware of any projects in Russia, but if they were, they would have been buildings.

As a lawyer, I worked on the financing of real estate deals mainly in Texas, but never with Trump, but I was aware of his projects and thought they were always first-rate.

We have since learned that the Russian Collusion hoax was a desperate attempt by the Hillary Clinton campaign to win an election, and that there was literally no evidence of Trump doing anything of significance with Russia.  Those at the FBI who went along with the hoax should be held accountable.

See also:

FBI lawyer implicated in felonious crimes against President Trump in new declassified docs