Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

Sessions Fires McCabe

McCabeThis evening, I discussed why I thought Attorney General Jeff Sessions would fire Andrew McCabe.  Now that has come to pass in a late night announcement that McCabe has been terminated just 24 hours before his retirement (and eligibility for a pension).

I wrote recently how McCabe’s case is undermined by the indictment of Michael Flynn for basically the same alleged offense.

McCabe spent four hours arguing for his pension but it appears to have fallen on dead ears.  Sessions announced tonight “I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately.”

The Justice Department inspector general investigation found McCabe authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to the media about a Clinton-related case and then misled investigators.

I viewed it as highly unlikely that Sessions would ignore the relatively rare recommendation of the Office of Professional Responsibility that McCabe be fired.  Sessions previously followed staff advice in his own recusal and there was every reason to expect him to continue to yield to the recommendation of career staff.

Of course, Flynn is looking at a question of prison rather than a pension.

McCabe issued a statement blaming his filing on the “unrelenting attacks” by the President and others. The problem of course is that his termination was demanded by career officers at the Justice Department.  This recommendation is exceedingly rare.

Notably, McCabe indicates that Comey knew of the leak in saying “I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter.”

The Hill ran a column on the implications of this disclosure for Comey.

McCabe issued the following statement:

I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.

For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The President’s tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us.

No more.

The investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI’s involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.

The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.

But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

Here is the reality: 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. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG’s focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursday’s comments from the White House are just the latest example of this.

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.

I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was privileged to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see.

I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.

295 thoughts on “Sessions Fires McCabe”

  1. @PoliticalShort
    “From day one at Quantico—FBI Academy, they nail into our heads that lack of candor is the biggest thing that will get you fired…lack of candor is key. It’s almost always worse than whatever you’ve done to hide the lie.” -Bobby Chacon, former FBI agent

    @RogerThorn_hill
    Replying to @PoliticalShort

    If DOJ OPR recommended McCabe’s firing for lack of candor, shouldn’t Strzok, Page, Ohr, Rosenstein and others b next? Ohr didn’t disclose wife’s Fusion work, Rosenstein signed FISA disguising HRC dossier origins. Strzok, Page planned meeting w FISA judge. #FISAGate #Obamagate

    “Former FBI Agent: Lack Of Candor ‘Number One’ Reason People Get Fired”

    Kallstrom also said officials had a scheme to blame Trump for the Russian interference during the 2016 election.

    “They had a backup plan to basically frame Donald Trump and that’s what’s been going,” Kallstrom said.

    Entire article:

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/16/former-fbi-agent-lack-of-candor-mccabe/

  2. “McCabe Bailout: Dozens GoFundMe Campaigns Launched; Dem Congressman Offers Job For Full Pension”

    “Despite being fired for lying under oath and leaking to the press in a manner that “lacked candor,” former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has received an outpouring of support from the left. In addition to Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) offering him a temporary job so he can receive his full retirement benefits, dozens of people have set up GoFundMe accounts, which have already raised tens of thousands of dollars.

    Some have expressed surprise that the same people who have long railed against “the man” are so overwrought that an FBI Official – who was found corrupt in an IG investigation demanded by Democrats that and that was directed by an Obama IG appointee – was fired by an administration they don’t like, that they’ve put the closest thing to “Agent Smith” on a pedestal and are now giving him money.

    So far 39 GoFundMe donation campaigns have been set up for the former Deputy Director who’s now left with a reduced pension”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-18/mccabe-bailout-dozens-gofundme-campaigns-launched-dem-congressman-offers-job-full.

    1. Cool dude that is Walz Honorable military career unlike da tiny bone spur porno King mobster dictator.

  3. The leftists need to stop whining about McCabe’s $1.8 million pension being lost. The leftist media have already been meeting with him this weekend about signing a $4 million book deal covering his “glorious” career in the FBI. The Deep State always takes care of their own, one way or the other.

  4. March 17, 2018 media reporting-
    (a) Cambridge Analytica had an elections division.
    (b) An employee of Cambridge Analytica said meetings with a Russian oil company left him puzzled as to why they were uninterested in the commercial application of the data from American focus groups in which respondents were asked about Putin’s popularity and views about Russian expansion.
    (c) Cambridge Analytica is linked to the Republican donor, Robert Mercer (Bannon’s benefactor)
    (d) Nunes shut down the House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russia without a full accounting to the public related to Cambridge Analytica.

    1. Linda – there is a full committee report being written. And I am sure there will be a minority report.

  5. Maybe he has been offered another federal job to cover his last 2 days.

    1. David Benson – the federal govt is to bureaucratic to be able to hire someone that fast.

  6. There are many, many more people in the FBI and the DOJ that need to be fired. And not only should they lose their pensions (i.e., generous gifts from the taxpayers to fund their retirements), but they should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Those agencies are loaded with traitorous leftists that violate the law to serve their anti-American leftist agenda. They must be rooted out and terminated. People holding positions in government must know that there will be severe penalties for their anti-American and criminal acts.

    McCabe’s firing is a wonderful, unprecedented development in the Trump Administration. You’d have to go back to JFK’s administration to see something like this, where JFK boldly fired not only the vile CIA Director Allen Dulles, but also fired CIA planner Richard Bissell Jr., and CIA deputy director Charles Cabell. Incidentally, Charles Cabell’s brother Earle Cabell, mayor of Dallas, would come into play about 2 years later, to ensure that the kill zone was prepared and that the Dallas police would stand-down when the CIA and the other Deep State operatives of the day “fired” JFK, in retribution for thinking that he could go against the wishes of the Deep State.

    But to truly have a lasting positive impact, scores of FBI and DOJ operatives will need to be fired. You will rarely see only one cockroach. When infestation occurs, as has been the case with the FBI and the DOJ for decades, there are many, many cockroaches that must be terminated. And please understand that I’m in no way attempting to denigrate cockroaches in using this metaphor. Cockroaches, after all, are merely attempting to survive and thrive. They are not seeking to destroy their host. Perhaps I should have used a cancer metaphor instead to describe the Deep State operatives.

    1. Ralph Adamo – I think more heads are on the chopping block, it was just that McCabe was too close to early retirement and they had to move fast.

      1. You, and your ilk will be knashing hair and pulling teeth when this episode is presented as yet another episode of obstruction, Your question should rightfully be is whether President Pence will pardon the day glo bozo while considering that he will soon have to stand for election after the bozo’s resignation.

        this is to “oh, I didn’t know that me and my old, white friends were so out of touch” paulie – georgie

      2. Is Kelly on da choppinblock? Is McMaster in da chopping block. Ben Carson needs to be gone. Maybe all will be
        Left is Javanka and Kelly Anne.

        1. Original Ken – I was referring to the FBI/DoJ and the IG’s report. I do think McMaster is going to be replaced and I can only hope Jared and Ivanka are. I think Sessions is safe until the midterms.

    2. So your idea is to get rid of the so-called “deep state” and replace it with the Mafia? That doesn’t seem like a very smart plan.

      1. Ralph Adamo is a Devine Rightist. Even John Foster Dulles stood well to his left.

      2. T rump likes to combine da mob with some deep staters that like torture. McCabe does not look like da torturing type so bye bye.

  7. Pingback: VIDEO Swamp Draining – Sessions Fires McCabe, ZERO Pension – Inditing Clinton Crime Network – Mueller, Wray Next? | Reclaim Our Republic

  8. OT: Hey Hilbots – here is Bernie last week – total enthusiasm when he shows up. Unlike HRC who apparently can’t even walk down steps these days unaided. I hope you morons who support the grotesque status quo in the party are happy! We are NOT going to vote for losers.

    1. You must be a jumpin up and down today. Putin is winnin 107 percent of da vote.

      1. OK – Da! I’d rather have Putin, someone level-headed than an unknown.

          1. You must have him confused with HRC. Quite frankly it’s not my concern how he runs Russia. I just care that does not allow himself to be goaded into conflict on the world stage.

    2. Teens might not like Hills but the fat porn King makes them taketo da streets with disgust. They will be votin da orNge dictator and his red NRA army out of office.

    3. Here’s to betting da anti gun teens and da pink pussy hatted women whip you Trump gals and guys come November.

  9. Pingback: Why McCabe’s Claims Actually Don’t Prove Obstruction Case Against Trump - Daily Callout

  11. McCabe: “I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.”

    So, is that another way of saying you lied?

    Here’s McCabe: “It’s hard to tell the truth, you know, because, like, there was chaos surrounding me…..”

    1. Article summary-
      Wylie cites connections between Mercer’s Cambridge Analytica and (1) a Russian gas and oil company and (2) Assange’s Wikileaks (referencing Clinton’s stolen e-mails).

      In the following weeks will know if the the richest 0.1% will succeed in taking down the Republic. So far, the only GOP standing up for the nation are Flake and the sheepish, Rooney and Cotton.

      1. Linda – Flake cannot get re-elected in his own state. He is only standing up for himself.

        1. If Flake operated similar to Nunes, the richest 0.1% would offer him a job. Flake, in calling out the GOP’s dereliction of duty, which threatens the US, offends the oligarchs. He’s not very good at self- interest or, he cares about his country.

          1. Linda – for 4 years he was a Democrat and voted against Trump. Now he pretends he is a conservative again. Arizonans do not forget. He could not raise enough money to run in the primary and he was being primaried by a strong candidate. He had daily FB ads trying to raise money. The comments on those ads were not as nice as I was when I told his office that he was not McCain’s butt boy and needed to start being a conservative again. He didn’t take my advice and now he is going to be out of a job.

    2. An Observer article, 12-4-2017, cites Project Veritas as a link between Mercer and the Koch’s. The project’s title is ironic given a lesson from the training manual attributed to Weyrich (founder of the Heritage Foundation)- falsehoods are not only acceptable, they are necessary.

  13. McCabe, whinin’ and cryin’ – such a victim (!!) – but, gasp (!) dude’s got notes and is lawyered up!

    “After former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired by the Justice Department late on Friday night just two days before his retirement, because he lied under oath or as AG Sessions said, McCabe “lacked candor – including under oath – on multiple occasions… all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal”, McCabe has decided he won’t go down quietly in what he has dubbed the Trump administration’s “war on the FBI.”

    McCabe, who briefly led the agency after Director James Comey was fired, said his dismissal by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday night was the latest attack on his credibility. He has claimed he’s being singled out because of what he witnessed in the aftermath of Comey’s ouster.

    Of course, some – such as ethics officials belonging to the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility – beg to differ: after all it was they who recommended McCabe’s dismissal on Thursday for lying to the Inspector General in the course of a government investigation. As CBS News justice correspondent Paula Reid noted, McCabe’s termination takes place just days before the highly anticipated release of the Inspector General’s report which is expected to show that he leaked information with the media about the agency’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation, and lied under oath.

    McCabe has pushed back hard, saying his firing is yet another attempt by the administration to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election process, and allegations that Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded with those efforts. In a statement, McCabe wrote that he was, “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.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-17/mccabe-lawyers-kept-personal-memos-trump

    1. FUN FACT: If Andrew McCabe was actually an impartial law enforcement official, in his statement after being fired he would have directly addressed his own agency’s allegations against him and proclaimed his innocence – not attack the president.

      If you know ANY FBI agents – they are one happy and relieved group today. Good cops are always happy to see bad cops get busted………..

    1. You and your T rump ’Progressivrs. da militaristic
      Pro torture racist woman assault in T rump is the opposite of a progressive. He also favors da rich in all things. The wealthy oligarch wants to smash dissent.

      1. ”
        Pro torture racist woman assault in T rump is the opposite of a progressive. ”

        Are your Buds still ripping Unborn/Born kids from young mothers Wombs, Murdering them & selling their body parts on what amounts to Craigslist, yea I thought so .

        1. Abortion is not a crime in this country. But you T rumpers want to force women to bear the children of sex Assaulters
          Like T rump should they become impregnated. Stormy signed an agreement with T rump about children.

          1. How you think those blacks who voted for Doug Jones feel now? Or for Tim Kaine? Dims are dispicable.

          2. Abortion is not a crime in this country.

            Actually it is a legal means to take a human life. If you’re okay with positive laws alienating rights, then you have no logical argument against legalized torture. Whether either is a crime is a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

      2. OK – I would think you’d wanna focus on your party rather than Trump’s misdeeds. Cause those folks are right in there voting for bank deregulation. Losers. Sad.

  15. McCabe will be lucky if he is not tried for sedition. When you attempt to overthrow the elections and government you had better succeed or face the consequences.

  16. Pingback: LEGAL ANALYSIS: Constitutional Law Expert Slams McCabe: Should Be ‘Worried About Prison’ - Daily Callout

  17. A curiosity- The Kochtopus has pledged to spend $400,000,000 on midterm elections. (Note- the richest 0.1% disagree with Turley about money’s influence on elections.) If Charles and David had a concern about Putin’s influence on U.S. elections, the politicians (campaigns) that they finance would be tap dancing in the direction of getting it exposed, wouldn’t they? But, instead we see the GOP undermining leadership of the intelligence community and running interference for Russia in investigations. When politicians think their actions threaten donor class funding, they don’t follow that course, do they? Reviewing this blog’s commenters, the same defenders of Russia, defend the Koch’s. ?????

    1. Linda,…
      – I thought YOU were defending the Kochs.
      The more you obsess about and exaggerate the “Koch plot”, the easier it is for the Koch’s to paint their opponents as bonkers.
      They could not have picked a better anti-Koch advocate.

      1. Is Mercer’s Cambridge Analytica the reason that Nunes shut down the House investigation when he did or was it, as Rooney stated, the committee had lost all credibility?.

      2. What is the amount of money that Dems are able to raise just by mentioning the Koch threat? I recall the number as quite high. So, Nash you can carry their water but, the Kochtopus, including ALEC, is a cancer on democracy and economic prosperity.

    1. He can a write a
      book about T rump’s dictatorship and sue the slime balls.

    2. Oh my God. Moron ALERT! Pity the poor fool that contributes a dime to that fund.

      Will they get their money back when they see that McCabe gets his pension afterall? Or a portion of his very large pension?

      Turley has said that whether McCabe gets his pension or not is the least of his worries.

    1. LOL – he probably should have referred back to them to keep his ‘lacking candor’ (see: lies) straight.

      The entire corrupt cabal is unraveling.

      it is a very good thing.

    2. lizlaw – I did hear that McCabb has threatened that if he is going down, he is not going alone. 🙂

        1. Autumn – yes, I saw it earlier. I do agree the pension system should be rethought.

          1. Paul, I think maybe lower level “civil servants” should have a pension – isn’t that the deal – that you make less in salary but get a pension? The higher ups already make plenty of $$s. I guess I’m going there because my Dad worked as a teacher for DoD. His pension isn’t great, but between that and Social Security he is able to have a decent life in his waning years.

            1. Autumn – I am not sure what the federal system is, in Arizona government employees contribute half to their pension and the government the other half. This includes teachers.

          2. McCabe’s pension of $1.8M was earned in just 22 years of work. That’s over $80,000 in retirement benefits per year worked. These aren’t “public servants” they’re looting the taxpayers.

      2. I read that, too, but I don’t think he means who he seem to think he means.

        2. lizlaw – I think it means exactly what it usually means. It is not a secret code.

          1. If it’s not a secret code, then name the person or persons to whom McCabe was referring.

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