Whaddya think the other derps are thinking right about now. Their boy got a deal.
Bet they makin' water in their pants.
Jimmy Comey Do A Dance. Listen To Him Squishin' In His Pants
They’re thinkin: “You don’t get deals for rattin’ out people below you”.
If Watergate offers any kind of template, it wasn’t until individuals start worrying more about protecting their own hides than protecting the higher-ups that things started breaking. If Clinesmith pleas guilty to fabricating evidence, what impact do that have on who used that evidence, and the FISAs themselves?
Will it just give them cover to say, “Well we didn’t know it had been faked, shame on him for doing that”. Or will it be possible to prove he was ordered to make the alterations? The answer to that may well be what Durham got in return for this plea deal.