Lawyers, Liars, and Enablers.

Remember Kevin Clinesmith? Clinesmith was and remains a Trump-hater. He was also the senior lawyer at the FBI who altered evidence sent to the FISA court. The altered evidence was in part, the reason for the court-authorized surveillance of Carter Page. Thereafter, a cascade of warrants issued that, in turn, lead to the useless but expensive Mueller Report. Durham’s team caught Clinesmith and indicted him. He pled guilty to a felony and was sentenced in January. Clinesmith, acting as a lawyer for the government did great harm to the county and the credibility of the FBI; yet he spent a total of zero days in jail. He was sentenced to probation.

When a lawyer is convicted of a felony, whatever jurisdiction he/she practices in has a BAR, and they are licensed by that Bar. The bar(s) will mete out punishment.  Punishments can range from disbarment to suspensions, to reproval. In Clinesmith’s case, the DC Bar, did nothing.  He had agreed to a one year suspension then, the Bar did nothing. When a lawyer is convicted of a felony, they are required to inform the Bar within 10 days. Clinesmith, did nothing, and the DC Bar did nothing. Clinesmith is now eligible to practice law, like an upstanding ethical lawyer. He’s officially back in “Good Standing.”

His superiors – Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok — were fired, as well. Both are also liars. Both made “allegedly” false statements while in the employ of the FBI. Neither were charged with crimes. McCabe could, if he chose, practice law like an upstanding ethical lawyer. Strzok if he’s still interested in cheating on his wife, has more time to shag Lisa Page. Other than appearances to bash Trump, he doesn’t seem to have to work.  Page (another lawyer) has nothing but contempt of Trump. She not the least bit sorry about what she wrote about Trump in texts to her lover, Strzok, but she’s super sorry she was drawn into the light.

For Clinesmith, I’ll check on his Bar bio in six months. His future employment at a sympathetic law firm is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow. Like a good capo on the Mafia payroll, Clinesmith “took one” for the team. He didn’t finger anyone else at the FBI – he said it was him and only him. I imagine the plan was for him to take his suspension from the DC Bar and he’d be back to full standing, and employed at Latham & Watkins or WilmerHale  sometime in 2022.

But the DC Bar moved up the timetable. It winked and gave Clinesmith no punishment. He’s a “made man.” Like a “Good Fella” who gets out of prison and is greeted by another Made Man:

“Yo, Kevin, you done good, kid. Ya didn’t rat out the organization, ya kept your trap shut. You’re a loyal soldier Kevin and we reward loyalty.”

My guess is either Latham & Watkins or WilmerHale but there are dozens of loyal Democrat law firms in DC that will be perfectly willing to give him an office, a handsome salary, and book of business. Someone will make a call. Kevin’s a made man.

What happened to the other liars bounced from the FBI. They’re doing fine. Sure, McCabe lied and was fired. McCabe opened a GoFundMe page so other people could pay for his defense.  It raised over $500,000 in less than a week.

But two months ago, the Justice Department reversed course on McCabe. With the change at the DOJ it was no surprise that because McCabe took one for the team, too, the DOJ agreed to pay McCabe over $200,000 in lost pension payments. Also (by odd coincidence) the DOJ agreed to pay McCabe $500,000 in legal fees – which was about what he pocketed from GoFundMe saps. He was allowed to retire and like a Soviet court pretending bad stuff never happened, all records of his firing were, officially “disappeared.” With the right DOJ enablers, it pays to be a liar.

Peter Strzok? He’s fine. An FBI hack who, when he wasn’t hooking up with Lisa Page, was doing his best to undermine Trump’s candidacy and then, his presidency, is a book writer. Strzok also appeared before Congress and, in one of the smarmiest moments recorded on camera, denied that he did anything wrong. His acting was so bad he should audition for a daytime soap opera. Sure he was fired by the FBI but then wrote an “Orange Man Bad” book titled “Compromised.” It was a best seller.

It pays to be lawyers, liars, and enablers in DC