Judge Boasberg Accepted the Guilty Plea on August 19, 2020

FINDING

Official/court finding: at an arraignment and plea hearing on August 19, 2020, Clinesmith entered a plea of guilty to Count 1. Judge James E. Boasberg accepted the plea. The docket records that he was placed on personal recognizance.

Counsel Justin Shur said, in a statement quoted by Fox News and the Washington Examiner: “Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email. It was never his intent to mislead the court or his colleagues as he believed the information he relayed was accurate. But Kevin understands what he did was wrong and accepts responsibility.” This site does not host a hearing transcript. Fox also reported that Clinesmith told the court he inserted language that was not originally in the email.

Chuck Ross at the Daily Caller, Joseph Weber at Just the News, Jeff Mordock at the Washington Times, and Fox News wrote the hearing. Conservative Treehouse compared the deal to another D.C. plea. Those pieces are reporting or commentary. The docket is the finding.

Sources

CourtListener docket, minute entry Aug. 19, 2020. courtlistener.com

Fox News, plea story. foxnews.com (reporting)

Washington Examiner, plea story. washingtonexaminer.com (reporting)

Chuck Ross, Daily Caller, Aug. 19, 2020. dailycaller.com (reporting)

Joseph Weber, Just the News, Aug. 19, 2020. justthenews.com (reporting)

Jeff Mordock, Washington Times, Aug. 19, 2020. washingtontimes.com (reporting)

Sean Davis, The Federalist, Aug. 14, 2020 (expected-plea URL; live headline later updated). thefederalist.com (reporting/commentary)

Opinion

The following is commentary by this site. It is not a finding of fact and not a legal conclusion.

Compiler take

He stood up — by phone — and took the count. “I inserted language that was not originally there.” Then the lawyer said he thought it was accurate. The statute is about the writing he used, not the speech he gave afterward.