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March 2018
Many are crying foul, and pointing the finger at President Trump over the firing of Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI. Those that are placing the blame on Trump are either ignorant of the facts or attempting to capitalize on the opportunity to once again cast Trump as the Machiavellian evil despot. Adding to the evidence of bias and venom directed against Trump and his associates by those in power, the former head of the CIA, John Brennan’s tweethttp://
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018
may win the prize for the best public display of unhinged hatred for the POTUS.
The reality is McCabe’s firing was the result of information gleaned from the Obama appointed non-partisan inspector general’s, Michael Horowitz, investigation. Further, the probe began before Trump even took office, at the urging of Democrats nonetheless, over the handling of the Clinton email investigation.
Upon learning of the impending report the FBI Director, Christopher Wray, asked McCabe to step down from the bureau in January. McCabe subsequently resigned his position, but his official retirement date was delayed until March, when he was to become eligible for full retirement benefits. Contrary to numerous media reports McCabe does not lose his entire pension. He loses the opportunity to retire and collect his pension immediately. Due to the firing he will not be eligible to collect his benefits for another seven years when he is 57. Not that tragic.
When the report was completed the IG shared it with the Office of Personnel Responsibility, (OPR) which consists of non-partisan career FBI employees. It was McCabe’s colleagues at the OPR, not President Trump, who recommended to the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, McCabe’s firing. Sessions made the right decision to abide by the will of the OPR. The institution of the FBI must be above reproach. If dishonesty by the second in command of the chief law enforcement agency in our country is tolerated, the integrity of every FBI agent that comes before a court of law to testify would be suspect.
The report has not been made public yet. But, what is known has revealed that McCabe was responsible for leaked information, regarding the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton and her charitable foundation, to a Wall Street Journal reporter. He then “mislead”, AKA lied, to FBI investigators, numerous times, about the unauthorized leak. The article, entitled “FBI in Internal Feud over Hillary Clinton Probe”, containing the leaked information appeared in the Wall Street Journal in October 2016.
Interestingly, McCabe now claims that James Comey, the head of the FBI at the time, approved this disclosure to the WSJ. The same James Comey that testified before congress in May 2017 that he had never been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump or Clinton investigation, nor had he authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source. If Comey did indeed approve this disclosure it wouldn’t be the first time that he leaked sensitive and/or classified information to the press. After his firing, he leaked his classified notes to a friend, from his meeting with President Trump, with the objective of spurring a special investigation. Thanks to Comey’s dirty dealings -mission accomplished.
It is incredulous that most of the media, and almost unanimously all of those on the left are decrying the injustice of denying a public servant his pension, regardless that after a nonpartisan investigation it was concluded that he lied under oath. If McCabe was treated commensurate with those involved with the Trump campaign and/or administration, losing a portion of his pension should be the least of his worries.
Mike Flynn, Trumps former National Security Advisor, was also accused of lying to FBI investigators. He, however, unlike McCabe was not even under oath. Not surprisingly, he has found no support or sympathy among those in the mainstream media, who often depict him as a nefarious and duplicitous character.
In December 2017 Flynn pled guilty, and is now facing a potential federal prison sentence of five years. It has been reported that his guilty plea was precipitated by the fear of financial ruin (he was forced to sell his house), and a concern that his son would be caught up in the investigation.
Why Flynn was even the subject of a criminal investigation is perplexing. During the transition period in December 2016 a phone conversation, in which Russian sanctions were mentioned, occurred between Flynn and the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. The conversation was monitored and Flynn’s name was illegally unmasked (as a U.S. citizen caught incidentally on surveillance his identity should have been concealed) and leaked to the press. Many have conceded that it was not illegal, or even inappropriate for the soon-to-be National Security Advisor to be speaking to the ambassador to Russia. Sally Yates, the then acting attorney General, thought otherwise, and believed that this conversation possibly violated the Logan Act. A law enacted in 1799 that criminalizes negotiation with foreign governments by those unauthorized. Interesting fact- in its 219 year history this law has never been enforced. Under this law no one has ever been successfully prosecuted. Not incidentally, while acting attorney general, Yates was lauded for defying President Trump’s executive order to implement the travel ban.
In January 2017 two FBI agents appeared at the White House to interview Flynn. At the time Flynn had no idea he was under criminal investigation, and agreed to be questioned without legal representation. According to Byron York of the Washington Examiner, during a private meeting with lawmakers, in May 2017, Comey revealed that the agents who interviewed Flynn reported that they didn’t believe that he had lied to them, or that any inaccuracies were intentional. Inexplicably nine months later, Flynn plead guilty to making false statements to the agents during that January questioning. If the agents that conducted the interview reported back to Comey that Flynn was truthful, why was he doggedly pursued for lying and seemingly forced to plead guilty to avert financial ruin and spare his son?
There is no doubt that there is a double standard in the way Trump and his associates are treated compared to others outside of his administration. The repercussions that Flynn has suffered compared to McCabe is just one of many unfortunate examples of this discrepancy. McCabe lied under oath in an FBI investigation and as a consequence he had to step down from the FBI and may lose a portion of his pension. Flynn has plead to lying when questioned by the FBI. He has since lost his job, his home, and he is facing the loss of his freedom. The sympathy and outrage expressed for Andrew McCabe is sorely misplaced.
