Attorney General Jeff Sessions pulled the trigger on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday night. But there was little doubt about who gave the order. And soon after the firing, that man was tweeting his gloat for all to see:
The ostensible reason for that firing just hours before the 21-year veteran would have been eligible for his full pension benefit was that he had not been forthcoming about a conversation he okayed between FBI officials and journalists.
That accusation is found in a yet-to-be-released internal report by the bureau’s inspector general’s office. In it, according to unnamed sources who have seen it, McCabe is criticized for lacking candor in interviews with those investigators regarding his actions related to a report by The Wall Street Journal, in October 2016 about disagreements between the FBI and the Department of Justice Department regarding an investigation into the Clinton family’s foundation. McCabe authorized a bureau spokesperson and lawyer to speak to the newspaper to respond to allegations that McCabe had dragged his feet on the investigation into the foundation.
FBI disciplinary officers had recommended firing McCabe. But the action itself was carried out under highly politicized circumstances and had all the appearance of a vendetta being fulfilled given the timing that impacts McCabe’s pension.
McCabe has denied the accusations against him, and after the firing, issued a lengthy, fiery statement in which he made his own accusation:
“I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey,” McCabe wrote, adding that this is all “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," McCabe continued in his statement. "Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work."
He has also lawyered up, according to Betsy Woodruff at the Daily Beast:
Andrew McCabe, formerly the deputy director of the FBI, has lawyered up. Michael Bromwich of the Bromwich Group confirmed to The Daily Beast that he is representing McCabe for the purposes of the matter that led to his firing. [...]
The Washington Post previously reported the news of Bromwich hire. Bromwich, who has been representing McCabe for several weeks, was formerly the inspector general of the Justice Department.
Why would the alleged slander be directed at McCabe?
Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman write:
Mr. McCabe was among the first at the F.B.I. to scrutinize possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. And he is a potential witness to the question of whether Mr. Trump tried to obstruct justice. Mr. Trump has taunted Mr. McCabe both publicly and privately, and Republican allies have cast him as the center of a “deep state” effort to undermine the Trump presidency.
As a witness, Mr. McCabe would be in a position to corroborate the testimony of the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, who kept contemporaneous notes on his conversations with Mr. Trump. Mr. Comey said Mr. Trump prodded him to publicly exonerate the president on the question of Russian collusion and encouraged him to shut down an investigation into his national security adviser.
Aaron Blake at The Washington Post notes that the firing may be giving glee to Pr*sident Trump, but it could come back to bite him by spurring McCabe to make public things he knows that he might not otherwise have done:
“There are a host of inappropriate actions by the president that don't necessarily rise to the level of criminality that McCabe may feel obliged to disclose publicly now,” [Matthew Miller, a former top Justice Department official in the Obama administration] said. “It's very much in McCabe's interests to reveal any inappropriate actions by the president that he was aware of because it helps make his case that he was fired for political reasons. He may do that in interviews, and he may do it in a lawsuit he brings over his firing.”
Former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said McCabe would still be bound by confidentiality rules and can't share anything about grand jury testimony that he may have gleaned. But he said the treatment of McCabe is without real compare.
"I would add that for me, and I think many former law enforcement personnel, it is difficult to recall any precedent for the kind of personal vindictiveness the action by the executive exhibits towards a career FBI agent like McCabe, except from the long-time targets of federal law enforcement, like the mob or drug cartels," Cotter said. "With those criminals I noted that their hate was personal towards the agents and attorneys they thought were building cases against them. This move strikes me as very similar."
Update:
Andrew McCabe [...] kept personal memos regarding Trump that are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey detailing interactions with him, The Associated Press has learned.
It was not immediately clear whether any of McCabe’s memos have been turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller, whose criminal investigation is examining Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice, or been requested by Mueller.
McCabe’s memos include details of interactions with the president, among other topics, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasn’t authorized to discuss the memos publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Update 2: An unnamed source has said that the memos have been turned over to Mueller.
There are ongoing conversations about the firing in Dartagnan’s post of McCabe’s entire statement. Also at posts by ursulafaw, First Amendment, seraphiel, annieli, and Frank Vyan Walton.