By Steve Neavling
Kevin Clinestmith, a former FBI lawyer who was convicted of altering an email in connection with the surveillance of former Trump aide Carter Page, will lose his law license for one year.
The D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday approved the suspension, which was approved and recommended by a legal disciplinary committee as part of a negotiated settlement last month.
In the order, the Court of Appeals judge said they “agree the proposed sanction is not unduly lenient or inconsistent with dispositions imposed for comparable professional misconduct,” Reuters reports.
Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 400 hours of community service on Jan. 29 for altering an email used to seek the continued surveillance of Page. The email suggested that Page was not a source for the CIA, even though he had a relationship with the agency.
In June, Clinestmith agreed to the one-year suspension of his law license. The suspension is retroactive to start in August 2020.
Clinesmith faces a two-year suspension as part of a separate disciplinary deal in Michigan.
Last month, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility noted that Clinesmith showed remorse and had no prior disciplinary history.
“All of the evidence regarding respondent’s intent supports the contention that he did not act with fraudulent intent,” the committee said.
