According to reporting by Fox News, federal prosecutors are in the final stages of making a decision on whether to charge former FBI official Andrew McCabe over the circumstances that led to his firing from the bureau last year.
A source close to the process told Fox recently that McCabe has had a “target on his back” because of the Justice Department inspector general findings against him over his actions during the Hillary Clinton email investigation, as well as his role in the surveillance warrants against Trump campaign associates during the Russia investigation. McCabe is a former deputy and acting director of the FBI.
Fox’s report comes after the — The New York Times first reported on these developments. The Times piece said that McCabe’s lawyers recently met with DOJ attorneys who would handle a prosecution, which seems to be an indication of a possible indictment of McCabe.
McCabe’s legal team and the Justice Department declined to comment on the Fox report. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. also has not responded to a Fox News request for comment.
When and Why Was McCabe Fired
If you recall, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March 2018 after the Justice Department inspector general report found that he had repeatedly misstated his involvement in a leak to The Wall Street Journal regarding an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
Fox’s unnamed source confirmed that the inspector general files on McCabe went to U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is handling the “Investigation of the Investigators” probe which is looking into the origins of the Russia case, so that Durham can investigate McCabe’s actions.
Earlier this month, McCabe sued the FBI and the Justice Department over his firing, arguing it was part of Trump’s plan to rid the bureau of leaders he perceived as disloyal to him.
The complaint contends that the two officials responsible for demoting and then firing McCabe — FBI Director Chris Wray and then AG Sessions — created a pretext to force him out in accordance with the Pesident’s wishes.
The stated reason for the firing was that McCabe had misled investigators over his involvement in a news media leak, but McCabe says the real reason was “his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single man.”
Fox says that McCabe has been singled out for attacks by the President since before he was elected, after news emerged in the fall of 2016 that McCabe’s wife had accepted campaign contributions from a political action committee associated with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, during an unsuccessful run for the state senate there.
McAuliffe is a close ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, who was being investigated at the time for her use of a personal email server while she was secretary of state.
For his part, McCabe has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has said the inspector general’s conclusions relied on mischaracterizations and omissions, including of information favorable to McCabe.
