Ex-Deputy Director of FBI Blamed for Leaks

Former FBI deputy director, Andrew G. McCabe, is expected to be criticized by a Justice Department review, for his authorization of the disclosure of information regarding the investigation to journalists.

McCabe has been under the target of President Trump, who believes him to one of the “deep state” actors inside the FBI to sabotage and weaken his presidency. This report would add fuel to President Trump’s criticism and suspicion of Mr. McCabe. However, Mr. McCabe’s disclosures to the media served to function the opposite as it was a negative article regarding Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration, undermining their Justice Department instead of Trump’s.

Mr. McCabe has stepped down as the deputy director late January while an intense investigation led by the inspector general of the department, Michael E. Horowitz, has been launched. Along with the disclosures to the Wall Street Journal, Horowitz is also investigating the FBI response to the 2016 inquiry which entailed Mrs. Clinton’s treatment of classified information.

Horowitz’s findings could potentially lead to serious consequences for the FBI, sitting at the center of this special counsel investigation regarding the relationship between Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia. This report, expected to be released in a month, will provide fuel to Trump’s criticism and attack for the FBI.

October of 2016, The Wall Street Journal exposed a conflict between the FBI and Justice Department, in which the two agencies diverged in how to proceed in an investigation into Clinton family foundation’s financial dealings. The article drew attention to a closed-door meeting and how senior Justice Department officials displayed dismissive attitudes towards the evidence presented by the FBI. During the meeting, the department officials refused to authorize grand jury activity and Mr. McCabe has been suspected of being the driving force in stalling this investigation, according to some of the FBI agents.

The Journal further revealed a conversation with a senior Justice Department official, during which Mr. McCabe stated that the FBI could overpass the agency to further the investigation. Even though Mr. McCabe has declined a comment, many have vouched for his integrity and argued that his actions were appropriate and proper.

Horowitz has concluded that Mr. McCabe pushed for FBI officials to disclose information to the Wall Street Journal; however, some claimed that Mr. McCabe, as the deputy director of Justice Department, had the authority and right to interact and involve with the media without penalty.

Mr. Trump has had long-running hostility towards Mr. McCabe. He was very close to the former FBI director James B. Comey, who was fired by President Trump last year. Mr. McCabe’s wife, Jill, also ran as a Democrat for a State Senate seat in Virginia, and her campaign received tremendous support and funds from the Virginia governor at the time, who has been an ally of the Clintons for a long period of time. Because of this incidence, Mr. McCabe’s promotion to oversee the Clinton investigation was seen as impropriate by some FBI officials, as they viewed Mrs. McCabe’s involvement as a conflict of interest. Mr. Comey has pressured Mr. McCabe to recuse himself earlier and Horowitz suspected that he should have stepped down even earlier.

Mr. Trump’s personal tension with Mr. McCabe also partially spring forth from the fact that Mr. McCabe, as a loyal Republican, did not vote in the 2016 election, for which Trump has called him a “loser”. While Mr. McCabe is on leave, David L. Bowdich, the acting FBI deputy director, will be taking his place.

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