Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe admitted he misled bureau investigators about his role in a 2016 media leak — and reportedly apologized for the lie.
The National Review reported transcripts of McCabe's interviews with FBI investigators that have been released by the Department of Justice Inspector General's office show how McCabe tried to portray himself as not responsible for leaking news of a new probe into Hillary Cinton's email use to The Wall Street Journal in October 2016.
Obtained via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by government-watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, documents describe McCabe's reversal.
Initially, he told FBI investigators in May 2017 he was "disappointed" the story "was appearing in the publication," and was not sure how it got leaked to the press.
McCabe also denied he had authorized the article, and presented himself as a "victim" to the agent interviewing him, who at the time "wasn't surprised by his response."
But in a follow-up interview Aug. 18, 2017, after investigators received "conflicting information" in other interviews, McCabe admitted he green-lighted the leak.
"I need to know from you, did you authorize this article? Were you aware of it? Did you authorize it?" the FBI agent said he asked McCabe at the time.
"And as nice as could be, he said, yep. Yep, I did," McCabe replied.
"Things had suddenly changed 180 degrees with this," one of the agents recounted to the office of Inspector General.
In its February 2018 report, the office of Inspector General outlined how McCabe had told former FBI special counsel Lisa Page to speak to the Journal, stating McCabe's intent was "an attempt to make himself look good" after a previous article detailed how his wife had gotten nearly $500,000 from a Clinton ally to run for office in Virginia, the National Review reported.
Following the report, McCabe was fired by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The DOJ is currently mulling charges against McCabe, the National Review reported.
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