Friday, the Justice Department announced it would not pursue criminal charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.
The two-year-long investigation is closed as officials cited lack of “candor” when questioning McCabe about alleged media leaks. McCabe was accused of strategically leaking information to media outlets (in particular, the Wall Street Journal) and of lying to federal agents.
Fox News reports:
The Justice Department said Friday it will not pursue criminal charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, after a nearly two-year-long investigation into accusations brought by the agency’s independent watchdog who claimed that he lacked “candor” when questioned about leaking to the media.
In a letter to McCabe attorney Michael Bromwich obtained by Fox News, Justice Department attorney J.P. Cooney said the investigation is now “closed.”“We write to inform you that, after careful consideration, the Government has decided not to pursue criminal charges against your client, Andrew G. McCabe,’” Cooney wrote.The DOJ added: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the Government at this time, we consider the matter closed.”In a statement to Fox News, Bromwich, and McCabe counsel David Schertler, confirmed they received the information through a phone call from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., which was followed by the letter notifying them that “the criminal investigation of Andrew McCabe has been closed.”“This means that no charges will be brought against him based on the facts underlying the Office of the Inspector General’s April 2018 report,” Bromwich and Schertler said. “At long last, justice has been done in this matter.”…The 2018 inspector general’s report faulted McCabe for leaking information to then-Wall Street Journal reporter Devlin Barrett for an Oct. 30, 2016 story titled “FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe.” The story, written just days before the presidential election, focused on the FBI announcing the reopening of the Clinton investigation after finding thousands of her emails on a laptop belonging to former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin.The Journal’s account of the call said a senior Justice Department official expressed displeasure to McCabe that FBI agents were still looking into the Clinton Foundation, and that McCabe had defended the agent’s authority to pursue the issue.
Our previous coverage of the McCabe story:
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