[Politico] A former FBI analyst was sentenced to seven days in jail and a $500 fine Friday for illegally accessing a neighbor's email account in a bid to head off an apparent smear campaign against special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mark Tolson, 60, pleaded guilty in September to a single misdemeanor charge of computer fraud and abuse for his unusual effort last fall to derail eccentric Washington lobbyist Jack Burkman's attempt to obtain information to be used in sexual misconduct allegations against Mueller.
Tolson admitted he unlawfully accessed Burkman's emails in October 2018, after the conspiracy-minded lobbyist announced plans to hold a news conference to air sexual harassment allegations against Mueller.
After snooping through Burkman's account, Tolson sent screenshots of the messages and offered the password to an unspecified journalist, court filings say.
Tolson's wife, Sarah Gilbert Fox, facilitated the illicit access by providing Burkman's email password, which she had obtained for work she'd previously done for him.
At Tolson's sentencing Friday morning in Alexandria, Va., the longtime FBI employee told U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema that he acted out of a desire "to protect Director Mueller" from what Tolson believed were false allegations. "It was because of the press conference, your honor," the ex-FBI official said.
"This is actually a very serious offense," Brinkema said. "You're lucky. Your wife is lucky. The government could have prosecuted her as well." |