Judge Boasberg gave Kevin Clinesmith probation for forging a federal document – and let him walk out of the courtroom a free man.
That was five years ago, and nobody looked any further.
Now a Grassley document proves he did it to a second Trump adviser – and buried the evidence himself.
How Clinesmith Buried the FISA Evidence Against Walid Phares
The Trump adviser in question is Walid Phares – a scholar of jihadist ideology who advised both Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016.
Phares has never been charged with a crime.
But the FBI surveilled him for years under FISA warrants, and a Mueller team whistleblower has now confirmed what investigators knew all along: the entire case was built on nothing.
In the words of the FBI agent's own report: there were "no corroborating facts" tying Phares to the original allegations, no evidence of a large money payment, and no evidence of a foreign meeting that supposedly launched the investigation.
The surveillance wasn't exposing a spy. It was confirming an innocent man.
When investigators tried to relay those conclusions to DOJ officials responsible for renewing the FISA warrant, Clinesmith stopped them cold.
"We can't send this to DOJ," he told colleagues directly.
Then he set up a meeting with DOJ himself – and led a presentation pushing for renewal.
The Russia Hoax Pattern Durham Never Charged
This is not a new theory about Kevin Clinesmith. This is documented proof that the conduct he pleaded guilty to in the Carter Page case was a pattern – not an accident.
In the Page case, Clinesmith doctored a CIA email to make it appear Page was "not a source" for the agency – concealing the fact that Page had been a reliable CIA contact for years.
That single falsification formed the entire basis of his one criminal charge.
Durham wanted prison time. Judge Boasberg gave Clinesmith 12 months' probation, a $100 fine, and 400 hours of community service.
The DC Bar restored his law license before he even finished his probation.
Meanwhile, the same DC Bar is actively pursuing disbarment against Jeff Clark – a Trump DOJ official whose alleged offense was drafting a letter about the 2020 election that was never sent, never filed, and never shown to any court.
Clinesmith lied to a federal court to spy on innocent Americans. Clark drafted a memo his boss ignored.
The DC Bar went after Clark.
The FBI Surveillance Machine That Ran Without Accountability
FISA is a one-sided system.
There is no defense counsel in a FISA court. There is no cross-examination. No opposing argument.
The court sees exactly what the FBI and DOJ choose to present – and nothing else.
That asymmetry puts an extraordinary burden on the government to be honest. When that honesty disappears, the court has no mechanism to discover the fraud.
We now know FISA was used against at least two Trump advisers across a minimum of eight warrant applications spanning two years.
Clinesmith was involved in both. He withheld exculpatory evidence in both.
And Durham – despite running his investigation through May 2023 – charged Clinesmith with exactly one count covering exactly one falsification in exactly one case.
The Federalist's Hans Mahncke raises the central question: was the Phares misconduct deliberately hidden from Durham's team? And if so, by whom?
Those questions now need answers. The statute of limitations likely covers conduct running through Durham's investigation, which means Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have both the authority and the obligation to pursue them.
Grassley has already asked them to produce emails, personnel files, and internal records by March 29.
The document is there. The pattern is documented. The people responsible are known.
The only question left is whether this time, someone actually has to pay for it.
Sources:
- Hans Mahncke, "'We Can't Send This To DOJ': New Doc Alleges More Deception From Russia Hoaxer Kevin Clinesmith," The Federalist, March 18, 2026.
- M.D. Kittle, "Corrupt DC Bar Moves To Disbar Jeff Clark After Restoring Russiagate Felon Kevin Clinesmith," The Federalist, August 1, 2025.
- Staff, "Ex-FBI Lawyer Kevin Clinesmith Given Probation After Guilty Plea in John Durham Probe," Fox News, January 29, 2021.
- Staff, "Insider Blows The Whistle On Mueller Probe," Independent Journal Review, March 16, 2026.
