We covered that yesterday. The time requirements related to due process for his internal notification and hearing which took place, took them right up to the time when he was scheduled to resign voluntarily so as soon as they met all the requirements they summarily dismissed him. No one is hiding the fact that they wanted him out and did not want him to fully benefit from his corrupt service and wanted him tossed immediately after the internal review committee completed all due process requirements. And they did that. As discussed yesterday, if you as a member of the public or a member of the press feel that you did not get some notification then you can complain to the Inspector Generals Office, but those are not essential elements to his removal or the related decision. And he has a right to appeal his removal and he should just go ahead do that.
No lie there. And that's why we need a special prosecutor. Thank you for making that point. Flynn understands that point very well too. Prosecuting others for perjury is something the FBI does to others, but they themselves are above the law. Let's review for a minute, shall we? The FBI tried to imprison Martha Stewart for insider trading but - as is often the case- they didn't have the evidence to get a conviction. So they imprisoned her for perjury and she did hard time in the slammer. And who prosecuted that case? Oh, that's right. James Comey. And now you remind me that McCabe probably will not be prosecuted because FBI agents lie all the time and are not prosecuted. Take that Flynn. Special prosecutor anyone?
Nineteen other FBI employees were fired for "lack of candor" over the last year. Andy's not anything special.
Except that the announcement of their terminations followed federal guidelines and included OPC documentation.
Okay, but so what? They had a compressed timeline also wanted to move him immediately. You have a grievance about that but do not make it clear whether you think it is a cause for reversing anything or whether you are just miffed because he got the rough treatment. Everyone agrees that they tossed him the very next day when they legally could, ie. after the statutory internal review committee reviewed and approved and McCabe received a chance to personally appear and plead his case. Done. Then he is gone. 99.99% might not go that way but his did. So again, what do you want to accomplish by continually pointing out that you did not get notice of the action, even though the respondent did and had a hearing to go with it. Complain to the IG's Office that public notifications guidelines were not met in your view. Not gonna change McCabe's status one bit. This is all about to become yesterday's story anyway. There is more bad news to come about McCabe- much more. It may involve prosecution or it may not but it definitely will reveal other areas where has been a bad actor. Those of you who are committed to rallying around him and spinning it should do so. He is going to need it. He needs to go to prison but I am okay just seeing a special investigator appointed and accepting the outcome. But the years of overlooking this stuff had to end.
You mean that the guy who gives out "HQ Specials" is not special himself? Must be a new sheriff in town.
Again, we do not know the context of McCabe’s situation. Comparing him to Flynn at this point is futile. To a larger point, McCabe isn’t in the position you make him out to be in. What you’re hoping for is a fantasy.
Sorry but we do know the allegation. The IG stated that he misled investigators and while we have not seen the full report, Sessions quoted that part from the report. Making deliberately misleading or false statements to the FBI is a crime. When you say "we do not know the context" that is just codespeak for saying that it might be special and different because it involves a pro-Hillary FBI agent. The IG was in a pretty good position to have an opinion about whether there was any context to justify his lying to them and obviously concluded otherwise. That's for McCabe to deal with now and/or his attorneys. In regard to McCabe and "the position I make him out to be in", I have stated that the news and revelations about his bad actions will get worse before it gets better and he has to deal with that. I stand by that 100%. In regard to what "I am hoping for", I am hoping that he is prosecuted but have also said he may or may not be but I will abide by the findings and actions of an independent investigator. MORE TO COME. You are right in one respect though. There are differences with the Flynn case. In the Flynn case, the investigating agents stated that they did not believe he was lying and then he was charged anyway. But in McCabe's case the investigating agents concluded that he was. Your argument that he could be special is noted.
So it appears that both the I.G. report and OPC report were in the hands of Jeff Sessions on Monday, January 29th -- Can you explain why it took this many weeks for Sessions to arrive at the decision to fire McCabe?
I assume that you are referring to the OPR rather than the OPC which is the civil liberties division in the department. Not sure. In any case, the fact that Sessions got it the same time the OPR did, does not mean that the OPR's review period is waived. To the best of my recollection. OPR did not complete their review until Thursday or so of last week and Sessions said he would not make a decision until they completed their review. Also, McCabe requested and received a chance to go in and plead his case after the OPR issued their report/finding/approval/whatever. All of that is highly in order and worked to the benefit of McCabe in regard to seeing that the process was followed and that there was a level of review beyond just the AG and the IG having a chat. Keep trying though. You have a burr under your saddle on this and are looking for some facts to go with it.