Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has released his watchdog report on the conduct of former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and it is scathing. As I discussed in an earlier column, McCabe took the unprecedented step of a top former FBI officer of asking for donations on GoFundMe and racked in more than half a million dollars. He notably raised the money and then closed the site not long before the release of the report showing that he repeatedly made false statements to investigators as well as Comey. It was like creating a victim fund before police concludes whether you were attacked or the attacker. Horowitz did not convey any doubt as to McCabe being the culprit. He and his career staff found that McCabe not only lied but did so to advance his personal — the public’s — interest. If that is the case, it only magnifies the concerns over the treatment of McCabe as opposed to the Trump officials (like Michael Flynn) who he once investigated. The fact that he had the audacity to raise a half million dollars before the facts were made public only heightens these concerns.
At issue is the leak to The Wall Street Journal about an FBI probe of the Clinton Foundation.
Notably, the report itself belies the allegation of McCabe that he was victim of a witch hunt loyalists. Not only was Horowitz an Obama appointee but his staff were all career officials. More importantly, the report confirms that opened this review a week before Trump was sworn in. It preceded and had no connection to Mueller.
The report takes apart McCabe’s spin with clinical precision. It found that McCabe, 50, lied or misled investigators on not one but four occasions. It also found that these lies were clearly meant to help McCabe alone. McCabe said that he had full authority to make the disclosures. The IG found no evidence to support those claims. It also found that there was no evidence that then FBI Director James Comey was informed by McCabe. The IG states:
“[W]e concluded that McCabe’s decision to confirm the existence of the CF investigation through an anonymously sourced quote, recounting the content of a phone call with a senior department official in a manner designed to advance his personal interests at the expense of department leadership, was clearly not within the public interest exception.”
So let’s sum up. The IG found that McCabe lied on four occasions. It found that he did so for personal benefit. He further showed no contrition and allegedly falsely implicated his superior in the improper leaking of information to the media.
As noted earlier, Flynn was indicted for criminal false statements on less. He now faces a prison stint after pleading guilty to a single false statement about a meeting with Russian diplomats during the Trump presidential transition period. While Flynn did not deny the meeting, which was entirely legal, he denied discussing sanctions with the Russians. Mueller charged him with lying or misleading federal investigators under 18 U.S.C. 1001. He did so even though investigators working under former FBI Director James Comey reportedly had concluded that Flynn did not intend to lie and should not be charged criminally for the omission.
McCabe has used the Flynn defense that he was “confused and distracted” but unlike Flynn it appears (thus far) to have worked.
The issue is not as much the crying need to indict McCabe as it is the lack of consistency of how this law is being applied.
It pays to have friends in high places.
We have a criminal referral now, thanks to Congress.
Either we have equal application of the laws of the United States, or we don’t. If we don’t, it’s time for heads to roll, jerks to be fired and Deep State hacks to be cut off at the knees.
McCabe has not been indicted for the same reason Comey has not been indicted; They are Democrats. This whole thing has only one purpose–to indict Republicans.
What is your definition of a Democrat?
“Rosenstein? A longtime registered Republican. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III? He was a registered Republican when GOP President George W. Bush appointed him as FBI director, and he still was as of 2017. James B. Comey? A longtime registered Republican before testifying in 2016 that he no longer was. McCabe? As CNN reported recently, he voted in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.”
Really? Where is Mueller registered to vote? DC? Md? Va? California?
And how about Comey? He has a home in McLean, Va. Virginia has no party registration.
Rosenstein actually is registered Republican in Bethesda, Md. More salient than that though is that he’s a Justice Department lifer.
These guys “party” is the state.
Absolutely – this is far less partisan than painted.
It is still a tribal war.
It is a war between DC corruption and outsiders looking to “drain the swamp”
The DC insiders are all friends. Their ideological differences are minor. They are not really republicans or democrats, left or right. They are bureaucrats first and foremost.
They are defenders of themselves and the state over all others.
They are the swamp.
You ever heard of #never Trump? You appear to know every members name. Furthermore I doubt that collection of stiffs you noted in your post have any desire to be a part of “Trumps” republican party! They lined up with the dems long before the election was held.
So much for your argument ace.
McCabe has not been indicted yet because his felonies are but a triffle compared with the overarching case being brought by IG Horowitz and USDA Huber. They will not reveal everything they know about McCabe (vis-à-vis an indictment) until they can reveal everything they know about everyone involved. That will be coming over the next month.
Be patient and fasten your seatbelts. The “Big Ugly” has only just begun.
Phil, I pray daily that what you are saying is correct. I believe this is BIG, REALLY BIG and some serious heads are going to roll. If not, I’m going to be seriously disappointed. Personally, i don’t care what “party” they are members of – the law is the law. If there is no “rule of law” and/or “equal justice under the law,” we are doomed as a nation. A person with the moniker of Sundance posted a lengthy article laying all this corruption out in “The Last Refuge.” Andrew McCarthy and Victor Davis Hansen have laid this all out in detail over the six months or more. Can they all be so wrong connected the dots? I hop not!
I sincerely hope you’re right.
I agree with Prof Turley that the problem is inconsistency in the application of the law. In my opinion, though, there is another bigger problem and that is with 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1001. A 5-year felony for materially “lying” to any federal official gives federal prosecutors way too much power and an improper incentive to entrap people. I know that a relatively recent SCOTUS decision eliminated the judicially-determined self-incrimination carve-out from Sec. 1001, which I suppose means that Congress would have to fix the overreach of Sec. 1001. It seems to me that a person should at the very least be put under oath before being guilty of “lying” to federal officials. I put lying in quotes because what prosecutors claim is an untruthful statement — a lie — can encompass a broad range of situations where the target/subject did not intend to lie. I also think that a person being questioned should be informed that he or she need not answer any question, especially those which would self-incriminate.
The IG has yet to drop the other shoe. Could hit the floor in DC-Land with a very hard thump.
Blog’s shot through with syntactical and grammatical errors, in several instances that obscure the author’s meaning. I suspect voice recognition software’s being employed (none too successfully), over which is run a spell-check program, followed by it being posted. Desperately needs an editor’s touch.
Isn’t the real question in this situation and in the Mueller “investigation” and in almost anything to do with the Federal government for decades: Why did it take 15-18 months to reach this pretty simple and obvious finding? Now — if anything comes of it — the prosecution of this hack will drag on for another 2-3 years.
(By the way, I am not sure I would conclude that Comey told the IG the truth but he was not under investigation… in this case.)
Gen. Flynn was let go and prosecuted for failing to fully inform VP Pence and the FBI of his meetings with the Russian Ambassador and the full details of his discussions. Mr. Comey failed to inform the POTUS that Russians operatives and proxies of the Clinton campaign had collaborated in collecying and distributing salacious and unverified dirt on Mr. Trump. Mr. McCabe and Mr. Comey have, by their actions concerning the Hillary Clinton’s national security violations & her pay to play moneygrubbing, have done more harm to our nation in applying double standards to members or associates of the Trump campaign and a deliberate dereliction of duty in failing to prosecute members or associates of the Clinton campaign engaged in nstional security violations and collaboration with Russian operatives.
Gen. Flynn is the least guilty of all three.
Then put them ALL on trial. Let’s see who can meet a criminal burden of proof. Flynn opted out of the process. Let’s see how the other two fare. Oh, and by the way, ENOUGH about the Clinton Foundation! If you want to piss and moan about medicine and mosquito netting, knock yourselves out.
I see not a single mention of the Clinton Foundation other than yours, and in the article where it is relevant to what was being leaked about. But now that you mention it, the foundation was largely a scam to give future campaign aides like Huma, Podesta, and a host of others a paid gig while Hillary waited for Obama to leave so she could take her ‘rightful place in history.’
CF did NOT spend much on medicine and mosquito netting. Most of the CF’s spending was “educating” other NGO’s about how to do charity.
Would anyone expect the Clinton’s or their sinecures to get their hands dirty ?
But honestly, I do not care if CF is the worst charity on the planet – which it might be.
The BIG deal is that CF donations were used as a ticket to stepp to the front of the line as State.
Flynn failing to fully inform IS NOT A CRIME. He had every right to meet with the Russian ambassador and any other ambassador, and had no obligation to fully inform the Vice President, whom he does not work for, nor to inform the FBI who have no business in a political matter that is not a crime.
This was a manufactured indictment solely to bankrupt Flynn and reduce him to a guilty plea to stop Mueller’s persecution. Our system of justice has gone thoroughly corrupt.
As an old pal of mine used to say, “Wrong for TEN!” Flynn lied to FBI investigators in the course of a routine investigation in relation to his security clearance. He lied about discussing sanctions with representatives of the Kremlin.
You are entitled to your opinion, but the facts are the facts. It will be interesting to find out more about McCabe’s alleged misdeeds, but Flynn is an intelligent man, and is presumably represented by competent attorneys, and he would not have pleaded guilty of the prosecutors did not have him dead to rights.
Opps, make that, “if the prosecutors….”
“Flynn is an intelligent man, and is presumably represented by competent attorneys, and he would not have pleaded guilty of the prosecutors did not have him dead to rights.”
This can only come from an individual that has no experience and little understanding of how government’s can abuse its citizens with its enormous powers.
“All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” __Lord Acton
If you think that the DOJ is decent, honest and only prosecutes where there is evidence. You may wish to look at this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M3P8sT4IFg
It is long, but gives you an excellent understanding of why everything – and particularly medical devices cost so much.
dhlii, you are commenting here to the wrong person.
I watched the video. Fantastic! Fantastic! Enigma and people that think like him should view this video and make sure they hear Supreme court Justice Jackson’s statement in 1940 which is at the end of the video. The entire speech was well done becoming more and more interesting as time went on. It was better than any TV show, even the Soprano’s where we saw how criminals act and find that it isn’t all that different than the way the government can act.
I am more than familiar with what he is talking about then you can imagine.
…And yes, you are right. This is a reason medical devices cost so much and also a part of the reason for healthcare in this country to be so expensive. The government should be our friend but all too often it isn’t.
There are multiple things to glean from this.
One that is appropriate to all the comments here about the purported integrity of Mueller and the rest of DOJ and the FBI and the governemnt – is the Howard Root video is NOT about a rogue government agent.
It is about the normal functioning of DOJ.
We need to let go of the notion that McCabe, Comey, Mueller, … are “partisan” – they might be, but only a little. But their lack of partisanship has NOTHING to do with the fact that they are CORRUPT.
You quoted Lord Acton – Power Corrupts.
Power is a corrupting influence, an aphrodesiac for everyone in government – from the lowliest DMV Clerk all the way to Trump.
If you do not like Trump – great, neither do I. We can work together to get to something better – either in the next election, or through congress should Trump actually do something impeachable.
Not running a candidate such as Clinton who is far worse would be a start.
Not calling half the electorate “hateful, hating haters” and then expecting their vote would be another step in the right direction.
But if your hatred of Trump drives you to seek to remove him by any means possible – then you are far more of a problem than he is.
Regardless, my point – evident from the Root video is that government is corrupt from bottom to top.
The McCabe’s and Comey’s and Holder’s and Lehrner’s are not the exception.
And these people tend to protect themselves.
An important note, justice travels vertically and horizontally where it ultimately affects everyone.
@dhlii April 18, 2018 at 7:18 PM
“If you think that the DOJ is decent, honest and only prosecutes where there is evidence. You may wish to look at this.”
Thanks for linking to this illuminating and searing indictment of the US criminal justice system. I already knew that it was criminal, but I hadn’t realized just how criminal it can be.
I’m afraid, though, that Mr. Root’s going to be severely disappointed if he expects the Sessions DOJ to change the culture that he so rightly and eloquently rails against.
From what I’ve read about and heard from the unabashedly authoritarian Sessions, the culture at the DOJ will, if anything, be even more violently prosecutorial than it was under Eric Holder.
Here’s Ron Paul’s critique of Sessions’ drug law enforcement announcement, for example:
RonPaulLibertyReport
Streamed live on May 15, 2017
“On Friday, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a directive to US Federal Prosecutors to pursue the most severe penalties possible for drug infractions, even if it triggers large mandatory minimum sentences. Like the drug war itself, this new/old approach will prove a dismal failure. We’ll tell you why…”
Corruption is endemic – from the lowest DMV clerk to the president.
We fool ourselves when we beleive that the patina of law and process makes us less corrupt than tin pot 3rd world dictators openly taking bribes in the public square.
Worse still – some of these people are incredibly self righteous – they honestly beleive they are doing good – as they F’us over – and that may be worse.
Government is a necescary evil – but we should never forget it is inherently corrupt and inherently gravitates towards evil. That is why its power must be limited. That is the only means to constrain the corruption.
Markets – businesses are far from perfect, and they have bad actors too.
But no bussiness has actual power. No business may legitimately use force.
No business can compel you to surrender your property, your liberty or your life without the aide of government.
Every interaction you have with any business is voluntary. You are free to walk away. The only harm to you is the benefit you might have gained from the exchange.
If you are offered half minimum wage to collect garbage – you can say no.
MW laws merely take away YOUR right to say yes.
If the car you want to buy – costs too much, you can say no.
If McD’s has not re-assured you that its hamburger is safe and paletable – just say no.
You can not say no with government.
BZZT wrong.
Flynn failed to recall that Kislyak brought up sanctions and Flynn told him that they could not discuss that until after the election.
That is NOT talking about sanctions.
The interview was misrepresented to Flynn by McCabe as Strzok updating Flynn on security protocols.
Not as a investigatory interview.
The FBI tapped the conversation With Kislyak, there is a transcript.
Flynn was the incoming NSA, and a former DNI, he had every reason to know that calls to Kislyak were recorded.
Neither Strzok, Comey nor even McCabe thought this was prosecutable,
This is a simple failure to recall something that was barely mentioned and dismissed without discussion.
but McCabe did think it was enough to go to Yates to force Flynn’s resignation on the ludicrously stupid claim that the Russians could blackmail Flynn.
Flynn resigned. Most of us – including Trump can not even understand the resignation, much less the prosecution.
No sane person thinks this is a “lie”. No sany
One of the reasons that many of this keep comparing and constrasting this to McCabe is because it is related.
A female agent filed a harrassment claim against McCabe, McCabe retaliated, Flynn provided the agent a reference – because they had worked together in the mideast.
That reference was what got Flynn fired while working for Obama.
McCabe continued to hold a grudge and went after Flynn when Trump made him NSA.
McCabe is a vindictive SOB and deserves to be slammed hard.
“McCabe is a vindictive SOB and deserves to be slammed hard.”
If McCabe goes down his vindictiveness might turn beneficial.
“If McCabe goes down his vindictiveness might turn beneficial.”
It already has. This referal sounds excellent to me.
BEFORE it was out – we already have McCabe, Comey, Lynch and company engaging in a circular firing squad.
The left has been begging, praying for the moment Trump’s people turn on each other.
Failing to grasp that people can not turn on each other when there is little that any of them have done that is wrong.
dhlii.
.- I wonder what the history is on the actions ( or “inactions”) following a criminal referral from Congress.
The criminal referral on Christopher Steele from Sen. Grassley and Sen. Graham was made in early January..
..if this resulted in any action taken, I haven’t seen anything published.
Purportedly IG Horowitz and US ADA Hunt are quietly at work in Salt Lake City.
It is my understanding there is a grand jury.
You are clueless about guilty pleas.
Innocent people plead guilty all the time.
Mueller was bankrupting Flynn, and going after his family.
Prosecutors often use mafioso tactics. Weinstein is infamous for it.
It is not the means to reach the truth or justice.
It requires a self righteous SOB. And it requires absolute certainty that you know the truth.
It is the root of the most horrible miscarriages of justice.
If you would read your articles out loud a few times before publishing, you might catch more typos and awkward phrasing. This was annoying to read, even though I was very interested in the content.
Your comment was far more annoying than anything Turley wrote.
You have lost ALL credibility when you compare McCabe to Flynn. Mueller accepted a plea deal from Flynn in which Flynn was NOT charged with a slew of other crimes in exchange for co-operation and a guilty plea on the “lying” charge.
YOU KNOW THAT, yet you pretend that there is some equivalence between McCabe and Flynn. That’s just pathetic.
That is NOT how plea bargains work. Particularly not at the federal level.
The Plea is supposed to be to the greatest provable crime.
The person pleading gets THREE things:
Charges are reduced usually to a single crime.
The prosecute rolls back their typically massive overcharging.
Sentencing recomendations in return for cooperation.
There are absolutely critical reasons for this.
A defendant can walk away from a plea at any time.
But it is actually very hard for the prosecutor to put charges back – particularly one a defendant has started cooperating. You would have massive double jeophardy and 5th amendment problems otherwise.
In case you think that is unreal – that is pretty much exactly what most everything Iran-Contra related became unprosecutable.
The charge needs to remain high so that the prosecutor retains leverage over the defendant.
There is lots of innuendo related to Flynn. But the reasons for the Flynn pleas are NOT large numbers of other more serious proveable crimes. But that Mueller was bankrupting Flynn.
A very common problem of innocent defendants dealing with federal prosecutors.
You’ve been reading too much Andrew McCarthy.
You mean Andrew McCarthy the former US ADA SDNYC ?
Andrew should be one of the best people to explain how a US ADA and particularly one in the SDNYC operates ?
Or would you prefer Louis Mensche ?
Paul,
One cannot lose again, that which was lost long ago.
No my friend it is YOU who are pathetic. The “slew of other crimes” were standard operating procedure for as prosecutor who wants to scare a defendant into a plea deal. Obviously, you are one of the dead enders who still believe the earth is flat and that the election was somehow stolen by dark interests. The election was lost by your champion Hillary who was so corrupt, arrogant and criminally culpable she could not even win an election that she attempted to fix.
Flynn’s going to jail. Who’s he taking with him?
Hope springs eternal around here.
I think the odds are against the deal sticking.
Hi Paul-
Could you elaborate on your point that you think Flynn committed crimes that he did not get charged with? I have a concern, and I would call upon my liberal friends to think about this, that the Flynn prosecution appears to have resulted from an interview with the FBI that was conducted for no other reason than to trap him with a false statement to charge him with something. Being an ordinary law-abiding citizen, this tells me that only a fool would ever talk to law enforcement unless reporting a crime because one act of human error could lead to a felony. When the application of this rule seems to depend on the target’s politics, I think we should all be concerned. Look Paul, it may feel good to watch Trump twist in the wind. But these civil liberties aren’t intended to protect the popular. Popular people don’t need civil liberties. And tomorrow, you might be the unpopular one.
Adam Mill
millstreetgazette.blogspot.com
Off topic blog:
A thousand liters of drinking water for 58 cents.
How much were you estimating the same amount would cost? (California 3 wk/a)
The facts of the interview are pretty damning.
McCabe called Flynn to set it up.
It was purportedly a “Strzok will be at the WH and he wants to update you on security protocols”.
Flynn was not told he was being questioned, and agreed to the meet.
unbeknowst to Flynn,McCabe and Strzok had the transcript of his conversation with Kislyak.
So they know the answers to the questions they were going to ask.
Conversely Flynn was opperating off pure recollection of a conversation weeks before.
When Strzok showed up Flynn discovered he was being interviewed – not briefed.
But he unwisely decided to go ahead anyway and just get it over with.
He was not “hiding” anything.
The gist of the “lie” is that Kislyak brought up sanctions toward the end of the call and Flynn responded that could not be discussed until after the election.
Flynn told Strzok that Sanctions had not been discussed.
The distinction between raised by Kislyak and shot down for now, and not discussed is what resulted in Flynn’s resignation, and the charges against him.
There is video of Trump announcing his resignation, and saying he did not understand why Flynn needed to resign, but he was assured that he did.
Most of the rest of us do not either.
If Mueller could have proven other crimes, particularly anything to do with acting as a foreign agent or conspiracy, that is the crime he would have had Flynn plea to, even for the same sentence. Flynn pled to lying which makes him a terrible witness in the event Mueller believed he could flip him. If he would lie to the FBI to protect himself, it makes it hard to convince a jury he is telling the truth.
A reporter “fell” to his death in Russia. His latest investigation was into the Wagner Group, an organization the oligarch, Prigozhin, is suspected of bankrolling. Prigozhin was indicted by the U.S. in February, related to a troll factory operating during the 2016 presidential election.
The WH is backtracking Nikki Haley’s announced additional Russian sanctions.
Oh this is rich. The Stephanopoulos interview included the very cool wifey of Psycomey who has her sunglasses propped on her head which is adorned with flowing tresses of long-since grey hair as a chic affectation.
The bigger (cooler) they are, the harder they fall.
I wonder if she has a play date with Jill McCabe.
She’s probably contracting for a pallet of mother’s little helper:
“And goes running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper
And two help her on her way, get her through her busy day”
I mean times are gonna be tough after the conviction and everything.
“Russian journalist Maxim Borodin dies after mysterious fall”
“A Russian investigative journalist who covered the deaths of mercenaries in Syria has died after falling from his fifth-floor apartment.
News website Novy Den confirmed its reporter Maxim Borodin had been found badly injured by neighbours in Yekaterinburg, Russia, before passing away in hospital on Sunday local time.
The cause of the fall in unclear as local officials say the incident was unlikely to be of a criminal nature.”
___________________________________________________________________________________
I’m not goin’ above the first floor.
Russia did not want the news of the deaths of 200 Russian mercenaries reported.
I wonder if America wants the news of its coup d’etat reported.
Things sure are looking “Stormy.”
Prigozhin’s equivalent is Erik Prince who backs Trump and met with Russians in the Seychelles.
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/b5uebK7WDw3UwSSiOA0Fdzlw1TWt06AV6vbAQHcHHe6qcSHUrhWx0dz1DZoJF09eKClWZ1FLO5nbCyktlEi72_NYi3ZteVDSvR7IWFQp46qhuYsxe4g4RY8VsgygxweREbc2zOCuzP6c_vd0=s0-d-e1-ft#http://grrrgraphics.imgus11.com/public/c3d04933c8f2da6fad7f2404ff202294.jpg?r=25456832