Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied four times, including to James Comey, about his authorization of leaks to the media, according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with an internal FBI report recommending McCabe’s firing.
“He didn’t lie just once; he lied four times,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Thursday.
“Four times he lied. He lied to James Comey. He lied to the [FBI’s] Office of Professional Responsibility, and he lied twice under oath to the inspector general.”
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Jordan, a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Daily Caller News Foundation earlier on Thursday the Office of Professional Responsibility report revealed McCabe not only did not tell Comey he authorized leaks to the media, he “affirmatively denied” he did so.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe on March 16, two days before his retirement, based on a recommendation from FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The ethics office determined McCabe gave misleading statements about authorizations he gave to an FBI official to speak with the media.
The DOJ’s inspector general initially interviewed McCabe as part of an investigation into the FBI’s handling of the Clinton e-mail probe. The 20-year bureau veteran was removed from his deputy position in January after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz told FBI Director Christopher Wray about troubling findings regarding McCabe.
McCabe fired back in the wake of his ouster, claiming he was the victim of a smear campaign President Donald Trump orchestrated.
He also denied lying about authorizing an FBI official to talk to a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. The official, Lisa Page, spoke with Devlin Barrett in October 2016 about the FBI and Justice Department’s handling of the Clinton e-mail probe. During those conversations, Page revealed the FBI was also investigating the Clinton Foundation.
“I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators,” McCabe wrote in an op-ed at The Washington Post on March 23.
“When asked about contacts with a reporter that were fully within my power to authorize as deputy director, and amid the chaos that surrounded me, I answered questions as completely and accurately as I could,” he continued while also acknowledging his answers were not completely accurate.
“When I realized that some of my answers were not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood, I took the initiative to correct them,” McCabe claimed.
On Thursday, McCabe set up a fundraising campaign to help cover his legal expenses. He raised nearly $320,000 by Thursday night.
This report, by Chuck Ross, was cross posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
