Judge delays sentencing for ex-FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty in Durham inquiry until after Biden inauguration

A judge delayed the sentencing of a former FBI lawyer ensnared in special counsel John Durham’s criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation until after Inauguration Day.

Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in August to falsifying a document related to the secret surveillance of 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page, now faces a sentencing date of Jan. 29, more than a week after President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office.

Durham, the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut, asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. District to sentence Clinesmith to as many as six months in prison to “send a message that people like the defendant — an attorney in a position of trust who others relied upon — will face serious consequences if they commit crimes that result in material misstatements or omissions to a court.”

Clinesmith’s lawyer requested probation and community service for his client, arguing a more lenient sentence would be a “just punishment,” as the fired FBI lawyer’s “reputation has been ruined, his professional career is in shambles, and he has been unable to support his family financially at a time when he and his wife are expecting their first child.”

Biden has not yet said how he will treat Durham’s inquiry, but Attorney General William Barr, who left the role this week, elevated the prosecutor to special counsel status in October, which provides extra protections and independence to complete his work.

Boasberg reset the sentencing date this week as he set a deadline for responses on Jan. 5. A coalition of victims rights groups filed a motion for relief last week in support of Page’s motion for relief under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. Page was suspected of acting on behalf of Russia, but he denied any wrongdoing and was never charged with a crime.

“If this Court grants Dr. Page the opportunity to provide a victim impact statement before it imposes sentence, then the public will have greater confidence in the case’s outcome — which is one of the reasons why Congress included victims in the criminal justice process by enacting the CVRA,” they wrote in the filing.