Katie’s touched upon the GOP letter officially referring
former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew
McCabe, former FBI Director James Comey, and Hillary Clinton for a criminal
investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray
officially received
the letter yesterday:
Eleven House Republicans have sent a letter to Attorney
General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray officially referring
Hillary Clinton, fired FBI Director James Comey, fired Deputy FBI Director
Andrew McCabe and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch for criminal
investigation.
FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who were caught sending hundreds
of anti-Trump text messages during the Clinton investigation, have also been
referred for criminal investigation.
U.S. Attorney John Huber, who was tapped
by Sessions a few weeks ago to investigate the FBI's handling of the Clinton
email probe, was copied on the request.
Now, the nonpartisan, Obama-appointed Department of
Justice Inspector General has sent his report to a federal prosecutor to see if
Mr. McCabe should be charged with a crime.
McCabe was torched in the IG report,
where he was cited for lying under oath three times and misleading
investigators concerning an unauthorized media disclosure to The Wall
Street Journal over the Clinton Foundation (via WaPo):
The
Justice Department inspector general referred its finding that former FBI
Deputy Director Andrew McCabe repeatedly misled investigators who were
examining a media disclosure to the top federal prosecutor in D.C. to determine
whether McCabe should be charged with a crime, according to people familiar
with the matter.
The
referral to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office occurred some time ago, after the
inspector general concluded McCabe had lied to investigators or his own boss,
then-FBI Director James B. Comey, on four occasions, three of them under oath.
It
was not immediately clear how the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office responded to the
referral, or whether prosecutors there are conducting their own investigation
or believe criminal charges are appropriate.
A referral to federal prosecutors
does not necessarily mean McCabe will be charged with a crime.
The
Justice Department, the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office and a spokeswoman for
McCabe declined to comment Thursday.
Last
week, Inspector General Michael Horowitz sent to Congress a report blasting
McCabe.
It says he inappropriately authorized the disclosure of sensitive
information to the media, then lied repeatedly to investigators examining the
matter. The report — which quickly became public, though it was not released by
the inspector general — laid out in stunning detail allegations McCabe had
deceived investigators about his role in approving the disclosure, even as he
lashed out at others in the FBI for leaks.
McCabe,
though, disputes many of the report’s findings and has said he never meant to
mislead anyone.
Lying
to federal investigators is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison,
and some legal analysts speculated in the wake of the report that the inspector
general seemed to be laying out a case for accusing McCabe of such conduct. The
report alleged that one of McCabe’s lies “was done knowingly and intentionally”
— which is a key aspect of the federal crime.
The FBI and DOJ were reportedly at odds over this probe
and the report reconfirmed that the bureau was investigating the nonprofit for
possible felonious activity following a flurry of stories that seemed to show
the foundation as being a bed of unethical behavior; a bank for favors to sum
it up for those who gave very large amounts of money.
Devlin Barrett wrote the
article that detailed
the tension in October of 2016, which set off a mole hunt within the bureau,
even though McCabe ordered it.
McCabe was
fired in March, hours away from collecting his multi-million dollar
pension.
In the past couple of days, McCabe, Comey, and Lynch have
thrown each other under the bus.
The Comey-McCabe
flare up is especially popcorn-worthy since Comey had tweeted support for
McCabe, adding he was a man who served with distinction at the FBI. Also, he
issued an internal review of him while he was still FBI director due to the WSJ
leak.
I mean one could argue that we’re really getting into James Jesus
Angleton territory here, the top CIA counter-intelligence agent who said that deception
is the state of the mind and the mind of the state.
Whatever the reason, Comey launched the internal probe
that destroyed McCabe’s career (via Daily
Beast):
James
Comey appears to have inadvertently played a role in his deputy Andrew McCabe’s
expulsion from the FBI.
According
to a source familiar with the investigation that led to McCabe’s firing,
Comey—then FBI director—asked the bureau’s internal Inspection Division to look
into an Oct. 30, 2016, Wall Street Journal story that included leaks from
inside the bureau. T
he Inspection Division took on the case and started trying
to determine who was responsible for the leak. When they realized McCabe, the
bureau’s deputy director, was a likely culprit, they handed off the
investigation to the Justice Department’s inspector general, according to an IG
report released late last week.
Attorney
General Jeff Sessions cited that detailed IG report when he announced McCabe
had been fired barely before he was eligible for his retirement.
[…]
The
story that followed left Comey deeply upset because it highlighted
extraordinary tensions between senior leadership at the bureau and a top
official at Justice Department headquarters, according to the IG report.
Comey
raised concerns about the article in a staff meeting the next day.
[…]
McCabe
and Comey later discussed the piece in person. The two men gave the inspector
general vastly different characterizations of that conversation. In McCabe’s
version, McCabe told Comey that he authorized the two FBI officials to share
details of the conversation about the Clinton Foundation investigation with the
Journal. Comey “did not react negatively, just kind of accepted it,” according
to McCabe.
In
Comey’s version, however, McCabe never told him he authorized the leaks to the
Journal. Comey was “very concerned” about the story and thought it would be
toxic for the FBI’s relationship with Justice Department headquarters. And
according to Comey, McCabe said he had nothing to do with it.
“I
have a strong impression he conveyed to me, ‘it wasn’t me, boss,’” Comey told
the inspector general.
Well, at least McCabe has a rather sizable defense
fund.
***
UPDATE: McCabe’s lawyer calls
referral by nonpartisan Obama-appointed IG “unjustified.” He doesn’t expect
charges to be filed against the former FBI deputy director: (via AP):
A
lawyer for fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says a criminal referral to
prosecutors about his client is “unjustified.”
Attorney
Michael Bromwich confirmed the referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in
Washington in a statement Thursday.
It
comes amid an inspector general report that concluded that McCabe misled
investigators about his role in a news media disclosure.
The
referral doesn’t mean he will be charged, but it does mean he could face a
criminal investigation.
In
his statement, Bromwich says the standard for an inspector general referral “is
very low.”
He
says he’s already met with representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s office and
is confident that, “unless there is inappropriate pressure from high levels of
the Administration, the US Attorney’s Office will conclude that it should
decline to prosecute.”
