McCabe Admission: Some Answers to Investigators Were 'Not Fully Accurate'
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has admitted that his answers to investigators were not always accurate, but insisted he never meant to mislead anyone.
On Friday, The Washington Post published an Op-Ed from McCabe, who was fired from his post earlier this month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
McCabe was terminated for his role in the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails and after a review of his case by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the inspector general’s office in the Justice Department, NBC News reported.
“The FBI’s OPR … reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending the dismissal of Mr. McCabe. Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions,” Sessions said earlier this month, referring to a 2016 leak of information by McCabe to The Wall Street Journal.
McCabe, in his Op-Ed, said that he never tried to evade the truth, but there were times when his answers and the truth were not in sync.
“I have been accused of a ‘lack of candor.’ That is not true. I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators. 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,” McCabe wrote.
However, he acknowledged his initial version of the truth had some shortcomings.
“And when I realized that some of my answers were not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood, I took the initiative to correct them. At worst, I was not clear in my responses, and because of what was going on around me may well have been confused and distracted — and for that I take full responsibility. But that is not a lack of candor,” McCabe wrote.
McCabe also used the opportunity to slam President Donald Trump.
“I was sad, but not surprised, to see that such unhinged public attacks on me would continue into my life after my service to the FBI,” he wrote.
After McCabe was fired, Trump had tweeted his opinion on McCabe’s ouster.
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
“Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working 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!” Trump tweeted.
As McCabe tried to rally support for his position, not everyone connected to the FBI was supportive.
Former FBI agent Robyn Gritz told “Fox & Friends” that she was pleased McCabe was finally “being held accountable,” Fox News reported.
Gritz said that McCabe had treated her unfairly after she filed a harassment claim against a supervisor.
“I went through hell for a year and a half,” she said. “Andy made sure I couldn’t get out of the division.”
McCabe made “nasty, false” comments about her, she said, adding that he was “lying, which is why he just got fired.”
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