by Chuck Ross
- The FBI is calling for former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to be fired
- McCabe came under scrutiny for his handling of the investigation into the Clinton Foundation
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions is likely to fire McCabe
The FBI determined in an internal review that former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe should be terminated, according to a report from The New York Times.
That leaves Attorney General Jeff Sessions in charge of determining whether to fire McCabe, who is set to retire with full benefits on Sunday.
The FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility issued the recommendation after receiving information from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The watchdog has been conducting an investigation of the bureau’s handling of the Clinton email investigation.
Horowitz has reportedly determined that McCabe encouraged FBI officials to speak to the media about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
A McCabe associate spoke to the Wall Street Journal in Oct. 2016 for an article about a bureaucratic standoff between the FBI and Justice Department over its various investigations into Clinton. The McCabe-linked source shot down an allegation that McCabe tried to stymie an investigation into the Clinton family charity.
While it does not appear that the source provided classified information, disclosure of ongoing investigations is typically not allowed.
Horowitz also determined that McCabe was not forthcoming to investigators when asked about his involvement in the matter.
Horowitz is expected to release a report on his findings next month. His investigation has already led to the demotion of Peter Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence official who worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Horowitz’s investigators discovered text messages between Strzok and Lisa Page, a McCabe deputy, in which they were heavily critical of President Donald Trump. Strzok was removed from the Mueller team in July, though the reason for his ouster was not reported until December.
it is expected that Sessions will fire McCabe, who has become a target of President Trump’s ire, according to The Times.
One focal point for Trump has been McCabe’s wife’s political connections to allies of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
McCabe’s wife, Jill McCabe, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in 2015 from a political committee controlled by then-Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close ally of the Clintons.
McCabe was not deputy director at the time and was not involved in the Clinton investigation before it was first closed in July 2016. McCabe did recuse himself from a separate investigation into McAuliffe’s campaign finances.
Problem is that the acting head of the FBI & the person in charge of the Hillary investigation, Andrew McCabe, got $700,000 from H for wife!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017
McCabe stepped down as deputy director in January following a meeting with FBI Director Christopher Wray.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department acknowledged to The Times that McCabe’s employment is under review.
“The department follows a prescribed process by which an employee may be terminated,” Sarah Isgur Flores told the newspaper.
“That process includes recommendations from career employees, and no termination decision is final until the conclusion of that process. We have no personnel announcements at this time,” she added.
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