The sentencing guideline for the single count of lying to federal investigators was: 0 to 6 months. After a rather sketchy plea deal, DOJ Prosecutors had requested an upward revision to two-years incarceration based on the severity of the conduct.

Moments ago US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson sentenced James Wolfe to a two-month prison term.

The judge rejected the request for an upward revision of sentencing; and she rejected a victim impact statement from Carter Page outlining the damage to him caused by James Wolfe’s leaking… In essence, James Wolfe became the benefactor of a corrupt FBI/DOJ trying to protect the Senate Intelligence Committee from scrutiny.

Backstory Below

If you have followed the case against SSCI Security Director James Wolfe you will note the original indictment against him outlined, obliquely, how Wolfe took custody of the Carter Page FISA application and then leaked it to his concubine at Buzzfeed Ms. Ali Watkins.

The leak of the FISA application was a rather explosive issue not readily identified when Wolfe’s indictment was first presented (June ’18). It was only possible to connect the dots after the FISA application was released (July ’18) and a comparison on specific dates, times, contacts and chain-of-custody, was possible.

In response to his indictment, Wolfe’s lawyers said they would force Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) members to participate and testify in any trial. This was a rather stunning approach. A few months passed and a plea bargain was struck. Wolfe would plead guilty only to one count of lying to FBI investigators. The charges of the leaking “top secret and classified” intelligence were dropped.

Wolfe was not ultimately charged with leaking the FISA application. We sniffed a quid-pro-quo. We suspected Wolfe was instructed by at least one senator, likely SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, to leak the information. This would explain Wolfe’s extraordinary defense position – and the DOJ response therein.

Think about it. A gang-of-eight member (Warner), who happened -as a consequence of the jaw dropping implications- to be one of only TWO SSCI members who was notified by the FBI that Wolfe was compromised. The ramifications cannot be overstated.

After the sketchy plea agreement the DOJ filed a sentencing memo, on ONLY the lying aspect, claiming –contrary to the original indictment– their investigation could not prove classified intelligence leaks. However, the DOJ also argued for a sentence of two years incarceration, far exceeding the judicial sentencing standard for a single count of lying. Again, rather dubious DOJ positioning.

CTH still believes Wolfe leaked the FISA application to Ali Watkins and the DOJ was in a tenuous position due to the strong likelihood of key and powerful senators being involved.

Last week (December 15th, 2018) the DOJ filed a response to the Wolfe defense teams’ own sentencing memo (full pdf below), and within the DOJ response they, perhaps inadvertently, posted an exhibit (#13) written by the FBI special agent in charge, which specifically says:

….”because of the known disclosure of classified information, the FISA application”…

“known disclosure”…

I don’t think the DOJ meant to allow or file that.

Here’s the full DOJ responsive filing to the Wolfe defense sentencing memo:

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As a reminder, we know the FISA court delivered the read and return Top-Secret Classified Carter Page application due to the clerk stamp of March 17, 2017.

That stamp date, March 17, 2017, and the content therein, matched the date and details of the original Wolfe indictment:

On that same date, March 17th, 2017, within the text messages of SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner and Lobbyist/Lawyer Adam Waldman – as they were working out details of how to meet covertly with dossier author Christopher Steele, we find Warner going into the Senate Intelligence Committee SCIF.

SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner is a central figure in the scheme to entrap the incoming administration under the auspices of the fraudulent Russia probe.

(Washington, DC – December 14th, 2018) Judicial Watch today released two sets of heavily redacted State Department documents, 38 pages and 48 pages , showing classified information was researched and disseminated to multiple U.S. Senators by the Obama administration immediately prior to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The documents reveal that among those receiving the classified documents were Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Sen. Robert Corker (R-TN). Judicial Watch obtained the documents through a June 2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department after it failed to respond to a February 2018 request seeking records of the Obama State Department’s last-minute efforts to share classified information about Russia election interference issues with Democratic Senator Ben Cardin ( Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:18-cv-01381 )). The documents reveal the Obama State Department urgently gathering classified Russia investigation information and disseminating it to members of Congress within hours of Donald Trump taking office. (read more)

STORY: James Wolfe, a former Senate Intelligence Committee senior staffer, was sentenced to two months in prison for lying to the FBI about his contacts with reporters. The judge said the public shame and stigma wasn't enough for someone in his position https://t.co/QGLOHZMujQ — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 20, 2018