Former F.B.I. Deputy Director, Andrew McCabe, was fired last Friday by Attorney General Sessions after a 21-year stint in the FBI. No, it wasn’t Trump that fired McCabe, as the talking heads have been insinuating. Instead, it was a collaborative effort by the Justice Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to investigate allegations of misconduct by McCabe and issue a disciplinary proposal. After the OPR reviewed the OIG report, they recommended Sessions fire McCabe.
Career Justice Department and FBI officials—rather than political appointees selected by Trump—conducted the investigation that eventually resulted in the FBI deputy director’s dismissal. Inspector General Michael Horowitz was appointed by Obama; and Candice Will, who’s the head of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility (FOPR), was appointed by FBI Director Robert Mueller. Indeed, this was an independent government personnel decision by career apolitical employees at the Justice Department.
The report alleges that McCabe lied under oath when answering questions about whether he made an “unauthorized disclosure to the news media.”
McCabe began his career out of law school and rose to the position of Deputy Director in 2016. The firing came after an investigation by the Justice Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) under Michael Horowitz, and the FOPR led by FBI Assistant Director Candice Will.
Make no mistake: this was not a political decision forced by President Trump or any external party. The recommendation to fire McCabe came from the FBI’s own Office of Professional Responsibility, led by FBI Assistant Director Candice Will, who has been in her position since her appointment by then-Director Robert Mueller in 2004. In other words, this was the FBI itself recommending to the attorney general that, based on well-established precedent, one of their own should be fired for not meeting the high standards of integrity expected of an FBI employee.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mr. McCabe’s wife, Jill McCabe, received $467,500 in campaign funds in late 2015 from the political-action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons and, until he was elected governor in November 2013, a Clinton Foundation board member.
In February 2106, Mr. McCabe ascended from the No. 3 position at the FBI to the deputy director post. When he assumed this role, officials said he started overseeing the probe into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server for government work when she was secretary of state.
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