McCabe’s bid to avoid charges rejected
WASHINGTON » The Justice Department rejected a last- ditch appeal from defense lawyers for the former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as prosecutors have appeared close to charging him in a criminal case.
Lawyers for McCabe, who is being investigated over whether he lied to internal investigators about dealings with the news media, had argued that prosecutors lacked evidence to charge him. The lawyers detailed their position to top officials including Jeffrey A. Rosen, the deputy attorney general, who ultimately rejected their view. His deputy, Edward O’Callaghan, who was also present during the discussion, notified McCabe’s lawyers of the decision, one of the people said.
The case is politically fraught for the Justice Department because of President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on McCabe, who was the acting director of the FBI when investigators opened the inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice. Charging McCabe would undoubtedly please Trump, but passing on charges could provoke his public displeasure.
The rejection of McCabe’s appeal would typically foreshadow an impending indictment, but that has apparently not yet happened.
McCabe’s lawyers have vigorously denied that he intentionally lied and believe prosecutors singled him out. False statements made during internal inquiries at federal law enforcement agencies are typically punished administratively, not by criminal prosecution.
The case centers on McCabe’s interactions with investigators for the Justice Department inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz. He faulted McCabe last year for misleading investigators when asked about the disclosure of information in 2016 to a Wall Street Journal reporter about an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The inspector general referred McCabe’s case to prosecutors.
Hints of the case’s weakness have since emerged. The investigation was referred about 18 months ago, which is an unusually long stretch for an inquiry with a limited set of facts and witnesses. It dragged on for so long that the first grand jury examining the evidence expired before apparently being called back this week.
The Justice Department fired McCabe, a 21-year FBI veteran, last year after the inspector general determined that he demonstrated a lack of candor with his investigators. McCabe was dismissed days before he was eligible for retirement benefits, and he has accused law enforcement officials of singling him out to undermine his standing as a witness in the Russia investigation.