Andrew McCabe: leaks, lies, and IG reports
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe lied to the FBI not once, but over and over and over (or “lacked candor,” which is quite the euphemism).
The number of self-serving lies McCabe told (as well as some well-placed leaks), the number of people he told them to, as well as the number of times he told them is rather shocking even if you’re already cynical:
Here are some of McCabe’s excuses, shall we say, as outlined in the [recent IG] report, with both direct quotes and narrative:
“”‰”˜Did not recall ”¦ no idea ”¦ ”˜I don’t remember’ ”¦ he was confused ”¦ ”˜I don’t know what she’s referring to’ ”¦ ”˜not that I’m aware of’ ”¦ he could not remember ”¦ ”˜I don’t really want to get into discussing this’ ”¦ ”˜on further recollection, I remember authorizing’ ”¦ ”˜so, I misspoke’ ”¦ claimed ignorance ”¦ ”˜I was surprised ”¦’”‰”
The first few times the IG’s sleuths talked to [McCabe], it was informal. Then they realized he was behaving like the Clinton stooge that he is ”” lying his rear end off. They finally put him under oath on May 9, 2017. Does that date ring a bell? It was the day Trump fired Comey and McCabe became acting director of the FBI. It’s mentioned, without comment, in a footnote on Page 15. Who says the IG doesn’t have a sense of irony?
Here’s some more of the ways the IG describes McCabe: “provided a starkly different account ”¦ significant questions whether (McCabe) testified truthfully ”¦ none of the circumstantial evidence providence support for McCabe’s account ”¦ no other senior FBI official corroborated McCabe’s testimony ”¦ we do not credit his claim ”¦ we did not find this to be a persuasive explanation.”
Stewart A. Baker considers it ironic in a different way:
The Justice Department Inspector General’s report on Andrew McCabe, the fired Deputy Director of the FBI, is as scathing as press reports say. According to the Inspector General, McCabe leaked dirt on the Justice Department, then misled FBI Director James Comey about the source of the leak, then misled leak investigators over and over again. It’s hard to read the report and feel that McCabe’s firing wasn’t earned. And yet, for all that, there’s a bit of low tragedy in McCabe’s tale. For he was disgraced not because he was evil, but because events conspired to turn his talent for regular old government information management into a fatal flaw.
What McCabe did is probably indistinguishable from the kind of lying and half-lying that happens in every corner of government every day of the week.
Now, there’s a depressing statement if I ever heard one. So, McCabe is just your garden variety average everyday lying ass-covering mediocrity of a bureaucrat, who rose to heights at the FBI according to the Peter Principle.
That doesn’t stop the WaPo’s Max Boot from trying (and failing) to place McCabe in some larger “context” that supposedly makes it all okay—that context being that, despite McCabe’s mendacity and wrongdoing, Trump had it in for him from the start.
One of the things Boot mentions is a story that’s been reported many times—that McCabe was fired in a way that meant he lost his pension:
But it’s highly unlikely that[McCabe’s] conduct, however unethical, was the sole reason Attorney General Jeff Sessions took the highly unusual step of firing him just 26 hours before he would have retired with his pension. “In 99 percent of cases, a federal employee is not at risk of losing a pension, even when fired,” reports Government Executive magazine. McCabe was treated more harshly than Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent-turned-Russian spy whose wife is able to collect part of his pension even while he is serving life in prison.
Well, guess what? McCabe remains able to claim plenty of retirement benefits (see this), although they will likely not be as huge as he originally expected:
…[A]fter working at the FBI for just 22 years, McCabe’s pension package was valued at a whopping $1.8 million. And even if he loses that, as someone who is covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System, he’ll still get a pension. It’ll just be smaller than his FBI pension, and he’ll have to wait until 60 to collect it, but it will be generous nonetheless.
Please remember, McCabe was fired on recommendation of the FBI’s own Office of Professional Responsibility. It wasn’t vindictiveness…
As one of the federal government’s 2.2 million employees, McCabe’s pension is subsidized, insured and mostly guaranteed by taxpayers, part of a generous benefits package ”” covering health insurance, paid leave and, of course, retirement ”” available to all federal workers.
Along with having 401(k)-type pensions with a generous “employer” match, federal workers also get a defined-benefit pension, to which they contribute less than 1% of their pay. Oh, and they also receive health coverage when they retire. And Social Security.
And then there’s Mark Penn, an interesting character who used to work for both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. He’s one of those Democrats who really do seem to be moderate (or perhaps Republicans-lite). Here’s what Penn has to say:
The first report from the inspector general of the Justice Department came out Friday and it documents in meticulous detail how the FBI’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, lied ”” on audio tape and under oath ”” denying a role in a self-serving leak that he, in fact, personally managed. His response? He may sue Trump for defamation.
As these deep staters turn into paid talking heads profiting through books, speeches and clicks, they undermine any notion that they acted professionally instead of politically while in office, and the evidence continues to mount that the foundation for turning the country upside down for the last year was most likely two parts politically tinged hubris and one part sketchy evidence.
I’ll leave it at that for now.
It will be interesting to see if GoFundMe makes rebates.
Until these folks start wearing orange jumpsuits…
Will be interesting to see what come has to say about McCabe. Seeing as he was praising him a few weeks ago. Especially since come seems to think that lying to feds is the biggest sin of all
It’s unfortunate, but Max Boot has seriously gone off the rails.
He’s not the only one….
It’s a good thing that the spin from the two parties’ partisans eventually cancels out, or the earth would be turning backwards by now from the Dems’ defensive denialism.
Birds of a feather.
During the 1980s Robert Mueller was an assistant U.S. attorney then acting U.S. attorney in Boston. During this time, under his supervision, the FBI was running an informant one James “Whitey” Bulger. While under the protection of the FBI and DOJ, Bulger would expand his criminal empire. Also, during this time, Bulger divulged that four men convicted of murder in 1965 were innocent.
Did the FBI and DOJ look into the case to clear the innocent men? No, in fact, Muller wrote letters to parole and pardon boards to keep the men in prison after the FBI and DOJ knew of their innocence. The actions of the DOJ and FBI were so egregious, in 2007 a jury awarded more than $101 million in damages to the surviving men and their families, two of the men died in prison innocent of the crimes they were in prison for. Does this sound honorable?
McCabe has repeatedly lied.The FBI will prosecute those who “lie” to them- when there is no recorded evidence of that “lying,” just the notes that the FBI claims it has taken. Which is why the mother of the Orlando night club killer went free. Good job, FBI.
McCabe needs to get some time in a place where all his expenses are covered without dipping into his pension. Three hots and a cot, they call it.
When you live and work in the D.C. swamp, you come in contact with a majority of people who lean left. You might think you are apolitical while on the job, but most people cannot be completely objective, especially when subjected to the leftist atmosphere of D.C.
So, let’s take a look at how such a person would act if they worked at the top of the FBI or Justice Department. They would be undercover Hillary sympathizers who would be genuinely alarmed (like so many Never Trumpers are) at Trump’s un-presidential demeanor – something that looms paramount in their minds. Now, suppose that someone brings you a dossier and or other information that implicates Trump might be in collusion with Russia. Wow! You are inclined to believe this because of your sympathies for Hillary and your dislike of Trump. You are in a position where you realize that you might be able to expose Trump, save the country from a pro-Putin corrupt administration, and , by the way, get an enormous boost to your reputation. It appears to me that Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and others who were involved all have this mindset. Once embarked on the investigation, it became a matter of faith that Trump was guilty and only a matter of time before the evidence was found. Even after all this time and unfruitful investigations, it is still their Moby Dick for these Captain Ahabs.
Well, maybe I’m wrong. I don’t want to believe that these people are all evil and have been evil for a long time. But that may be my blind spot.
Good point Dodger, about our friend Mueller.
Modern life is simply too complex and frantic. At least I think that explains, in part, why government grows unchecked, and those who govern are seldom held to account for their mistakes and misdeeds. People just don’t have the time or resources to keep up with all of it; and the media have now become one party, big government advocates. The other factor, of course, is simply a feeling of individual helplessness when faced with such a gargantuan entity. (Aside, I saw the real Gargantua when I was a kid, and lived within driving distance of the Ringling Bros circus winter quarters.)
There is layer upon layer at every level, from the local and state to the federal; and so much control is exercised by faceless, nameless bureaucrats.
I actually had some faint hope that Trump would be able to drain the swamp. But, as the old saying goes, “when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember…” He is probably the last hope, and I no longer expect that he will succeed.
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J.J.:
I believe your description is correct.
But when people are in those sorts of positions, where objectivity, self-awareness, and a cool head are of the utmost importance, the person’s training should kick in and warn them to beware of their own prejudices and leanings, and know exactly how that can lead them to error and even extreme error.
If people don’t have that ability to check themselves, they shouldn’t be in the business. And yet—of course—many people who are unable to be objective are in all of those businesses.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
McCabe is the latest public official (Comey fits too) to be unmasked as running afoul of the law, and general proper ethical behavior, because he was (supposedly) focused on a higher purpose, a better outcome for the people of the United States.
Hey Steve W…and JJ…just a thought…
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive…those who torment us ‘for our own good’ will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C.S. Lewis
I refuse to believe that Comey, McCabe, Clinton X2, Obama, Brennan, Lynch, Mueller, Clapper…ad nauseaum are anything less than tyrants. They would gladly (& in Mueller’s case HAVE gladly) railroad the innocent & their opposition into oblivion or the gulags whichever are handiest.
All the baying on the left for Trump’s literal head on a pike…once they have him do you think you are far behind?
I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt but upon reflection think your take, and the Lewis reference, more accurate.
Corruption is as corruption does. These people are corrupt, period. Make no excuses for their behavior. Let me know when one of these abusers of public trust is sent to a federal pen for 20 years. Until that begins to happen there will be no trust forthcoming from this peasant.
I refuse to believe that Comey, McCabe, Clinton X2, Obama, Brennan, Lynch, Mueller, Clapper…ad nauseaum are anything less than tyrants. They would gladly (& in Mueller’s case HAVE gladly) railroad the innocent & their opposition into oblivion or the gulags whichever are handiest.
All the baying on the left for Trump’s literal head on a pike…once they have him do you think you are far behind?
Conservatives are adopting Leftist ideology and tactics at a stunning pace.
Before long, conservatives will back their Dear Leaders to the point where they will be baying for the heads of the Leftist alliance. Even if that means bringing back WW2 concentration camps, gulags, or railroading the innocent.
I’m in front of that brownian motion in many ways. When it completes the transformation, America will truly be a country where Republican and Democrat is basically the same party. Right now, there are still finite differences.
Here’s a hint. It starts with the perception of the existence of “insults”. That’s how the Left started. People were “insulting” Islam, for example. This results in Ft Hood Hasans. Then more and more pressure goes down from the Head and Dear Leaders, until people end up like British Islamic rape circles.
Until that begins to happen there will be no trust forthcoming from this peasant.
Until more than half of them faces the firing and hanging squad, “trust” is not available from me, ever.
John Guilfoyle: Yes, the Lewis quote certainly fits these perps. I see the tendency in my neighborhood home owners association. Some folks who just know what’s good for us whether we do or not. A very common human trait that can be dangerous to a free republic.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance against those who torment us ‘for our own good’ because it makes them feel good. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
And let us not forget that the people who “are in those sorts of positions, where objectivity, self-awareness, and a cool head are of the utmost importance,” are zeroing in on Mr. Cohen and anyone else they can get their hooks into.
Those people, including the judges.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/04/16/judge-michael-cohen-client-outing-presided-soros-wedding-early-clinton-ag-pick/
“This matters. We brought you a headline earlier today on the report that the third “mystery” client of Michael Cohen — a list that became of interest to some after Cohen’s home and office were raided by the FBI — was radio and Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
The judge in the case insisted that the identities of all of Mr. Cohen’s clients be revealed to the court:
At the hearing before Mr. Hannity’s name was revealed, Stephen Ryan, an attorney for Mr. Cohen, said the then-unnamed client didn’t wish to be associated with the notoriety of the search warrant. He said revealing the client’s name would “affect people’s willingness to consult an attorney,” eliciting laughter from the crowded courtroom.
Judge [Kimba] Wood ordered his attorneys to provide the name in court, saying Mr. Cohen’s team “has not met the standard for an exception to the notion that client identity…must be revealed.”
[I wish I knew what those standards were; if Cohen had 100 clients, would all of their names have been revealed?]
Some of you, like me, will remember the name Kimba Wood.
Yes, it’s the Kimba Wood whom Bill Clinton tried to appoint as his attorney general in his first months in office in 1993. She had to step down as a nominee when it was discovered that she had been employing an illegal as her child’s nanny.
As Gateway Pundit notes, Wood also presided at the 2013 wedding of George Soros, then 83, to his third wife, Tamiko Bolton (then 42).”
[analysis and connection of dots]
“The oddly dedicated “Russiagate” themes about Prague and Estonia come into focus a little better when you know how varied and deep George Soros’ ties are with both locales.
And that’s one reason why the connection between Kimba Wood and George Soros should not be ignored, when Wood is deciding what happens to Michael Cohen’s attorney-client confidentiality at the same time Robert Mueller’s team is insisting that Cohen was in Prague in 2016, for a meeting with Russians about interfering in the U.S. election.”
Time for a laugh.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/04/17/cartoon-day-sour-grapes-wrath/
I told Americans before 2012, about the danger of Soros. Many replied that I was being a paranoid nut case that should tone it down, because my world isn’t the real world. These were conservative Southerners, in part, not Leftists.
It took them more than half a decade to wake up to the reality of Soros’ influence and power: things which I had freely told people but they treated it as a voice crying out in the wilderness.
I did not have the habit of believing in my own gut instincts and conclusions until humans taught me that believing in everybody else’s gut instincts was just a way to hell in a hand basket.
The more people ridiculed the positions I took, the more those positions became correct in the quantum lines. Humans have chosen their own fate, I merely leave them to it. I’m just the messenger, not the Savior of Humanity. If people want to burn, let them. Not really my problem yet.