Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on Saturday, setting into motion what may be the beginning of the end for charges of collusion against President Trump.
In typical Trump style the President tweeted just hours after McCabe’s firing:
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hardworking men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
It’s not surprising that mainstream media sources were quick to label McCabe’s firing as “vindictive, small-minded and cruel” and an obvious political ploy by Trump to shut down the Mueller investigation. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post wrote:
For those within the FBI and the Justice Department, it may turn up the long-simmering resentment against the president to a full boil. A president willing to force McCabe’s firing is willing to fire any one of them.
What Rubin and most on the left don’t seem to get is that Donald Trump promised he would “drain the swamp” and there was no better place to start than Andrew McCabe.
Sessions announced the decision to terminate McCabe came on the recommendation of both the Justice Department inspector general and the FBI office that handles discipline. Their report stated:
Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.” . . . . The move will likely cost McCabe a significant portion of his retirement benefits, though it is possible he could bring a legal challenge.
While Democrats and most in the media focus on McCabe losing his pension, the gravity of the charges against McCabe is finally becoming clear. McCabe wants the focus to be on how harshly President Trump approved of his ouster and the President’s alleged desire to shut down the Mueller investigation.
The truth is found in Sessions announcement, “Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.”
Jeff Mordock of the Washington Times notes that that two words sealed the fate of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Before Sessions or President Trump made any final decision an internal office of the FBI accused McCabe of the most damning breach of conduct an agent of the Bureau can make – lack of candor.
Danny Defenbaugh a former agent who investigated lack of candor cases says that the candor issue is so important that it is addressed on the first day of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. According to Defenbaugh, “If your candor has been challenged … how can you be any type of formidable witness when you have that hanging over your head?”
Former agents say the FBI must deal sternly with any accusation of lack of candor. Lewis Schiliro, former head the New York office of the FBI, said lack of candor is one of the most common reasons agents get fired.
The credibility of an FBI agent is critical to doing the job. Once you no longer have credibility, you can no longer be an FBI agent.
There are at least a few honest liberals when it comes to McCabe’s firing. Jonathan Turley a Law Professor at George Washington University School of Law told CNN’s Michael Smerconish that he wasn’t surprised at all that McCabe was fired. Turley said he actually expected it a lot sooner. He said the firing seemed “justified” and that McCabe should be thankful he isn’t facing criminal charges. He added that such a recommendation from the Office of Professional Responsibility is extremely rare:
“In fact, it’s unprecedented for someone in this position. These are not political appointees. The OPR … is not viewed as a particularly aggressive office. So, all of that makes this a relatively rare sanction coming from career officers. They clearly concluded that McCabe … misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating, not a collateral issue.”
McCabe has made it plain that he intends to take everyone down with him. Turley notes that McCabe said he conferred with James Comey before prematurely releasing information to the press. Either Comey or McCabe is telling the truth or perhaps neither.
Some accuse President Trump of pettiness, but perhaps he knew where the plug might be to “drain the swamp.”
~ American Liberty Report
