On the heels of a so-called “DAG appeal,” it appears that appeal has been denied and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. will move forward with charges against fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Fox News cited a “source close to McCabe’s legal team” on Thursday, who said that the Department of Justice sent an email reading as follows: “The Department rejected your appeal of the United States Attorney’s Office’s decision in this matter. Any further inquiries should be directed to the United States Attorney’s Office.”
As Law&Crime reported before, all indictions were that the DOJ was nearing a decision on whether or not to charge McCabe for allegedly lying to federal agents about his role in leaks to the media regarding the FBI’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Former Acting Attorney General of the United States Matthew Whitaker even made an appearance on Fox News, during which he said he believed there were indications that McCabe was “imminently going to be charged.”
The New York Times previously reported that a decision about McCabe was in the “final stages” and was expected to involve U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Jeffrey Rosen. The Times, in particular, mentioned that “[i]n two meetings last week” McCabe’s lawyers met Rosen and “for more than an hour with the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie K. Liu.” It was said that McCabe’s lawyers might have been trying to “persuade them not to indict their client.”
Whitaker commented that this looked like what is known as a “DAG appeal,” wherein McCabe’s lawyers may have been attempting to make a last-ditch case to the Deputy Attorney General on their client’s behalf. Whitaker, citing his experience as a U.S. Attorney, former chief of staff to Jeff Sessions and former Acting Attorney General, said that he “ha[s] not seen a DAG appeal be successful,” and argued that the meetings with DAG Rosen suggest McCabe is ” imminently going to be charged.”
If the latest email is any indication, this is yet another example of a failed DAG appeal.
As Law&Crime also noted before, the testimony of former FBI lawyer Lisa Page might end up coming into play in this case. Page was been identified as a key witness in a grand jury investigation of the McCabe disclosure to the media and his subsequent statements about it.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) previously released a 39-page report that concluded McCabe “lacked candor” (lied) or “knowingly provid[ed] false information in a verbal or written statement.” The OIG said McCabe lacked candor when he told or led then-FBI Director James Comey to believe that he didn’t authorize the disclosure about the Clinton Foundation investigation. and didn’t know who did. The report also said McCabe lacked candor on May 9, 2017, when he was questioned under oath about the leak. During that interview, McCabe again said he didn’t authorize the disclosure and didn’t know who did. OIG said that McCabe “lacked candor” on at least four documentable occasions.
McCabe was recently hired by CNN as a contributor.
[Image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
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