# Kevin Clinesmith **The FBI lawyer who altered an email used to renew the surveillance warrant on [[Carter Page]] — and the only person convicted out of [[John Durham]]'s four-year investigation into [[Crossfire Hurricane]].** In 2017 the CIA told the FBI that Page had been an operational contact of the agency. Clinesmith edited the email before passing it on so that it said Page was "not a source," and the altered version supported the fourth application to keep Page under surveillance under Title I of the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]]. The [[Inspector General]], [[Michael Horowitz]], flagged the alteration in his December 2019 report on the Page applications. Charged by Durham, Clinesmith pleaded guilty in 2020 to making a false statement. On January 29, 2021, U.S. District Judge [[James Boasberg]] sentenced him to probation and community service rather than prison, calling the conduct "the only stain on the defendant's character that I've been able to discern." Clinesmith said he was "truly ashamed." ## Why he matters in the vault **The one conviction.** Durham's other two prosecutions — [[Michael Sussmann]] (May 2022) and [[Igor Danchenko]] (October 2022) — ended in acquittals. Clinesmith's plea is the single proven act of misconduct in the FISA process against Page, which is why it carries so much weight in the "FISA abuse" story the movement tells. **The wrong FISA.** That story is about an individual Title I warrant. The civil-liberties case against [[FISA Section 702]] — warrantless searches touching millions of Americans — is about a different authority entirely, and one the same movement's leaders have repeatedly voted to renew. See [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]]. ## See Also - [[Carter Page]] · [[Crossfire Hurricane]] · [[John Durham]] · [[FISA Court]] · [[Deep State]]