Andrew McCabe, FBI’s Former No. 2, Faces Criminal Probe for Lying, Leaking

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog has asked for a criminal probe of the FBI’s recently ousted top deputy for leaking and lying to investigators, several media outlets report.

Michael Horowitz, inspector general at the Justice Department and an appointee of President Barack Obama, sent a criminal referral on Andrew McCabe to prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, according to news reports Thursday.

On March 16, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, acting on the recommendation of the Office of Professional Responsibility—which cited the inspector general’s findings—fired McCabe just hours before his formal retirement with eligibility for a full pension.

An earlier inspector general’s report on McCabe made a “compelling case” that he had repeatedly lied to investigators, Ron Hosko, a former assistant director of the FBI, told The Daily Signal.

However, Hosko asserted, such cases rarely rise to the level of prosecution. Lying under oath is a felony, but it is often “selectively prosecuted,” he said.

“The leak [to news reporters] itself wasn’t of classified information,” Hosko told The Daily Signal. “It’s somewhat extraordinary. But I’m not surprised considering the political vitriol directed at Andrew McCabe.”

The Justice Department, reached late Thursday, declined to comment to The Daily Signal.

McCabe, 50, joined the FBI in 1996. He had been the FBI’s deputy director since Jan. 29, 2016. Amid controversies, he either stepped down or was removed from his post to go on paid leave this past Jan. 29.

Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog group, first exposed in 2016 potential conflicts of interest for McCabe through documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

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