Trey Gowdy rips mainstream media for ignoring ex-FBI lawyer's expected guilty plea
He said 'it doesn't fit their narrative'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The mainstream media barely covered the expected guilty plea of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith because it doesn't fit their narrative, Trey Gowdy, former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Monday.
Gowdy, a Fox News contributor, told “Fox & Friends” on Monday that former FBI director James Comey, the Democrats and “the D.C. media belittled us for looking into FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] abuse.”
“They belittled us and low and behold [Justice Department Inspector General] Michael Horowitz finds two dozen instances of misconduct and now we have an indictment and a supposed guilty plea so that's why they didn't cover it,” Gowdy continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gowdy made the comments three days after two sources told Fox News Clinesmith will plead guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the investigation into links between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
Clinesmith was referred for potential prosecution by the Justice Department’s inspector general's office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation.
Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency. Page has said he was a source for the CIA. The DOJ relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clinesmith is being charged in federal court in Washington and is expected to plead guilty to one count of making a false statement, his attorney Justin Shur told the Associated Press.
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Host Ainsley Earhardt noted that when the news broke on Friday, the other networks barely covered it. She pointed out that “CNN Tonight,” MSNBC's “The Rachel Maddow Show” and NBC’s “Nightly News” had no coverage of the development, while “CBS Evening News” spent 22 seconds to the issue and ABC’s “World News Tonight” spent 26 seconds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Earhardt then asked Gowdy, “Why didn't they cover it?”
“I’m going to write the headline for them,” Gowdy said in response.
“In the Russia probe, more FBI employees have been indicted than Trump family members. That's why they didn't cover it,” he explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added, “If you like investigating police misconduct, and God knows the Democrats have liked it for the last six months, if you want to talk about police misconduct, how about start with the FBI, which is the one entity you actually have jurisdiction over.”
Gowdy also noted on Monday that “President Trump is right. There has been a cloud cast over his first term as president and that cloud was manufactured by the Department of Justice and the FBI.”
“So if you want to a justice system that we can all have confidence in, and that's why people are setting cities on fire, then how about start with the FBI,” he went on to say, referencing the violence directed at members of law enforcement in cities with Democratic leaders, including Portland.
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Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Bill Mears contributed to this report.