The Federalist and RCP Said the Plea “Goes Higher.” That Is Their Hypothesis.

On August 24, 2020, Margot Cleveland wrote in The Federalist that “FBI Lawyer’s Guilty Plea Suggests Spygate Corruption Goes Way Higher.” RealClearPolitics carried a matching item the same day. RealClearPolitics had already run “Will the Dam Break After Clinesmith’s Plea?” on August 18.

Those headlines are commentary. The Information is one count. The judgment is one count. This site does not treat “Spygate,” “goes higher,” or “only a scapegoat” as adjudicated fact. If a later charging document names another person for this email, that document would be a new episode. None is cited here.

No dedicated John Solomon byline in The Hill solely on Clinesmith was located for this draft. Deep Capture and OANN video-only pages were not used. Instant-message slogans quoted in secondary Horowitz recaps are not reproduced here; this page has no link to an original post.