President Donald Trump touted an FBI lawyer’s impending guilty plea Friday in U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the FBI’s information gathering on his 2016 presidential campaign.
Ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith will plead guilty to one charge of making false statements in documents used to obtain a surveillance warrant against former Trump aide Carter Page. Durham’s probe is tasked with investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation within the FBI. The probe and other sources have uncovered a steady drip of revelations showing the investigation into Trump’s campaign likely crossed legal lines.
“It’s a terrible thing,” Trump said. “The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught.”
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2020. – Trump said Thursday that the United States is withdrawing from the Open Skies arms control treaty with Russia, accusing Moscow of breaking the terms. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A report from the FBI inspector general unveiled communications between Clinesmith and another FBI lawyer that showed a bias against Trump in the presidential election.
Shortly after the 2016 election, he wrote “Viva le Resistance!” in a text regarding Trump. (RELATED: Former US Official Threatens To Blow Up ‘Spygate’)
He also later appeared to fear that actions he took against the campaign could be illegal.
“I am so stressed about what I could have done differently,” Clinesmith wrote. “Plus, my god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff.”
Trump’s statement came hours after announcing he would travel to New York City to visit his younger brother, Robert Trump, who has been hospitalized for an unknown medical issue. This is Robert’s second hospitalization since June.
Trump is also expected to speak Friday evening before the New York City Police Benevolent Association.