{"id":63667,"date":"2018-04-20T11:27:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T11:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=63667"},"modified":"2018-04-20T11:27:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T11:27:21","slug":"u-s-watchdog-refers-report-on-ex-fbi-no-2-to-prosecutors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/politics\/u-s-watchdog-refers-report-on-ex-fbi-no-2-to-prosecutors.html","title":{"rendered":"U.S. watchdog refers report on ex-FBI No. 2 to prosecutors"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. watchdog refers report on ex-FBI No. 2 to prosecutors<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice internal watchdog has referred its findings on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to the U.S. attorney in Washington for possible criminal prosecution, an attorney for McCabe said on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The referral from the Inspector General\u2019s office does not automatically mean charges will be filed, and it would be up to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office to decide whether to prosecute McCabe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The watchdog office issued a report last week alleging McCabe \u201clacked candor\u201d when he was questioned about media leaks he authorized to the Wall Street Journal related to his role overseeing probes into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.<\/span><\/p>\n

The findings in the report were used as the basis for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire McCabe in March, less than two days before his 50th birthday when he could retire with full benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

McCabe has said he did not intentionally try to mislead investigators and that he believes he is facing retaliation because of his crucial role as a witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation into whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct the Russia probe.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement, McCabe\u2019s attorney, Michael Bromwich, said he was advised about the referral \u201cwithin the past few weeks\u201d and was confident it would not lead to any criminal charges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we believe the referral is unjustified, the standard for an IG referral is very low,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already met with staff members from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office. We are confident that, unless there is inappropriate pressure from high levels of the administration, the US Attorney\u2019s Office will conclude that it should decline to prosecute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Spokesmen for the Justice Department, the Inspector General\u2019s office and the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Washington declined to comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview with National Public Radio on Tuesday, former FBI Director James Comey said he had no recollection that McCabe had said he authorized officials to communicate with a Wall Street Journal reporter, as McCabe said he had.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m quite confident that it didn\u2019t happen, as is the inspector general,\u201d Comey said.<\/span><\/p>\n

MUELLER PROBE<\/span><\/p>\n

The referral for possible criminal prosecution could have an impact on Mueller\u2019s investigation into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice by urging Comey to abandon an investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his contacts with Russians during and after Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his new book, \u201cA Higher Loyalty,\u201d Comey, who was fired by Trump last May, wrote that the president asked him to drop the probe, saying: \u201cI hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.\u201d Trump has denied doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all his conversations with the president, Comey briefed McCabe and other aides, and McCabe later took notes about Comey\u2019s interactions with Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

With McCabe now under a cloud, the notes taken by other aides, including FBI general counsel Jim Baker and Jim Rybicki, Comey\u2019s chief of staff, may assume greater importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Justice Department agreed to provide Comey\u2019s own notes on his meetings with the president to Congress, according to a source familiar with the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republicans have questioned whether Comey might have broken department regulations by giving some of his memos to a friend at Columbia University Law School who gave them to reporters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-russia-mccabe\/u-s-watchdog-refers-report-on-ex-fbi-no-2-to-prosecutors-idUSKBN1HQ2QD<\/span><\/p>\n

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