The Justice Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) delivered a scathing report to Congress on Friday, accusing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe of repeatedly misleading investigators.
McCabe was fired on March 16 after the OIG found that he “had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor – including under oath – on multiple occasions.”
Needless to say, President Trump – who is waging open war with Comey, McCabe and much of the FBI’s past and present leadership – was delighted by the release of the OIG report, which prompted the following outburst: “”DOJ just issued the McCabe report – which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey – McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!”
DOJ just issued the McCabe report – which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey – McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2018
We assume today’s report (found below in its entirety) only covers McCabe, and is not the all encompassing “OIG Report” probing the FBI’s conduct during the Clinton email investigation. Nowhere in the report, for example, is any mention of the FBI altering Hillary Clinton’s exoneration letter, effectively decriminalizing her mishandling of classified information. Of note, the OIG launched a separate probe in late March covering alleged FISA abuses by the DOJ and FBI.
One tidbit from the report is brought to us by Jordan Schachtel.
BIG finding in OIG report:
McCabe leaks to the WSJ
Then reprimands two senior FBI officials for leaks in the story
Specifically telling the NY Assistant director to “get his house in order”
Without disclosing that he was the leaker! https://t.co/jjLYlxorcC pic.twitter.com/gQKUOR9xcc
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) April 13, 2018
(Schachtel included a correction in a follow-up tweet noting that McCabe actually said this to the Washington Field Division assistant director, while he also reprimanded the NY Assistant Director).
On March 30, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) revealed on Fox News that McCabe lied four times, including under oath to the Inspector General.
JORDAN: “McCabe didn’t lie just once, he lied four times. He lied to James Comey. He lied to the Office of Professional Responsibility and he lied twice under oath to the Inspector General. Remember, this is Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director of the FBI. This is Andrew McCabe, the text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page talking about Andy’s office, the meeting where they talk about the insurance policy in case Donald Trump is actually President of the United States… Four times he lied about leaking information to the Wall Street Journal.”
McCabe was fired when it was uncovered that he authorized an F.B.I. spokesman and attorney to tell Devlin Barrett of the Wall St. Journal, just days before the 2016 election, that the FBI had not put the brakes on a separate investigation into the Clinton Foundation – at a time in which McCabe was coming under fire for his wife taking a $467,500 campaign contribution from Clinton proxy pal, Terry McAuliffe.
The WSJ article in question reads:
New details show that senior law-enforcement officials repeatedly voiced skepticism of the strength of the evidence in a bureau investigation of the Clinton Foundation, sought to condense what was at times a sprawling cross-country effort, and, according to some people familiar with the matter, told agents to limit their pursuit of the case. The probe of the foundation began more than a year ago to determine whether financial crimes or influence peddling occurred related to the charity.
…
Some investigators grew frustrated, viewing FBI leadership as uninterested in probing the charity, these people said. Others involved disagreed sharply, defending FBI bosses and saying Mr. McCabe in particular was caught between an increasingly acrimonious fight for control between the Justice Department and FBI agents pursuing the Clinton Foundation case.
So McCabe leaked information to the WSJ in order to combat rumors that Clinton had indirectly bribed him to back off the Clinton Foundation investigation, and then lied about it four times to the DOJ and FBI, including twice under oath.
Sean Davis of The Federalist has a few salient comments on this OIG report:
According to the just-released DOJ OIG report on Andrew McCabe, McCabe lied to the FBI director, lied to FBI agents under oath, and lied twice to DOJ OIG investigators under oath. https://t.co/1Vw2iI5noT pic.twitter.com/2P93PNkODZ
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018
DOJ OIG also concluded that McCabe’s leaks were designed not to help the FBI, DOJ, or U.S. law enforcement, but to “advance his personal interests.” pic.twitter.com/35JbAMKjt9
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018
The investigation of McCabe was started internally by FBI investigators, then referred to DOJ’s OIG. The FBI was mad that the McCabe-directed leak, meant to save his own hide, confirmed that the Clinton Foundation was investigated by the FBI, something they didn’t want public. pic.twitter.com/ARDaddFmKe
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018
Though not mentioned by name in the report, previously published text messages make clear that FBI special counsel Lisa Page and counter-intel deputy assistant director Peter Strzok were intimately involved in McCabe’s lengthy leak campaign. pic.twitter.com/M828LdRelo
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018
Page even bragged to Strzok about how she threw DOJ leadership “under the bus” in her leaks to protect McCabe’s personal reputation in the media. pic.twitter.com/Q3QjrQNknx
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018
Perhaps McCabe’s $568,000 GoFundMe “Legal Defense Fund” will come in handy…
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