The Clinesmith Plea Was Invalid and Will Have To Be Re-Opened

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Kevin Clinesmith is the ex-FBI lawyer who inserted the false statement that Trump staff aide Carter Page was not a CIA source into material used to secure an ex parte FISA warrant for surreptitious electronic surveillance on the Trump campaign.  He got caught and was charged with a violation of the false statements statute, 18 USC 1001.  He purported to plead guilty this week.  But because he refused to admit, and in fact specifically denied, a key element of the offense  —  intentional deceit  —  the plea is invalid.  The Assistant US Attorney should have caught this, and at all events the court should not, and legally could not, have accepted the plea when the defendant unambiguously maintained that he did not have the statutorily-required bad intent.  The plea hearing will have to be re-opened, or the case will have to go to trial.

During the plea hearing, [Judge] Boasberg asked Clinesmith to affirm that he “intentionally altered an email, and added language” that “individual number one” was “not a source…and you knew that statement was in fact not true.”
Clinesmith replied, “At the time I thought the information I was providing was accurate, but I am agreeing the information I inserted was not originally there, and I inserted the information.”
Boasberg went on to ask: “You intentionally altered the email to insert information that was not originally in the email?”
“Yes, your honor,” replied Clinesmith.
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The problem is that it is not a violation of the false statements statute merely to insert information that was not originally in the document. Under that theory, it would be a felony to insert, “Mary had a little lamb.” That of course is ridiculous. The gravamen of the offense is intentional deceit, not intentionally adding material that wasn’t in the original.  It was precisely intentional deceit that Clinesmith continued to deny.
The plea was invalid.