There have been heated debates following the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe after a big push from President Donald Trump and the official termination by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. However, it seems that now the politicization has taken a back seat as the former FBI official really is in the hot seat.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz has just issued a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. regarding its recent reports claiming that McCabe lied under oath about the disclosure of sensitive information to reporters.
Although president Trump has not held back in his highly-public criticisms about the former FBI official, the situation now looses its then-politicized nature after the allegations have put McCabe in the hands of non-partisan federal investigators. Nevertheless, the assumptions that can be made considering the referral are ambiguous at best.
In March, McCabe was fired just one day before he was set to retire with full pension and benefits, igniting a partisan firestorm.
Last week, according to a report from Axios, Horowitz sent a department report to Congress, reportedly “blasting” the former law enforcement official. The report states that McCabe, “inappropriately authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to the media, then lied repeatedly to investigators examining the matter.” He even criticized others for the FBI leak for which he is now being investigated.
On the day McCabe was fired, he released a statement saying:
“This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work.”
Although McCabe may think that the firing was purely partisan political maneuvering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not staffed with party-line investigators. Nevertheless, a recent report claims that a lawyer for McCabe says that he will not be charged unless the Trump Administration applies “inappropriate pressure.”
