Comey Vouched for Andrew McCabe Four Times in Released Memos
According to newly-released memos from former FBI Director James Comey, the former official repeatedly vouched on behalf of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe before his subsequent termination.
As reported by Breitbart, Comey endorsed the alleged “integrity and professionalism” of McCabe to President Donald Trump — a stark contrast to reports from the Justice Department on Thursday regarding the disgraced official’s actions.
The inspector general for the Department of Justice referred findings on McCabe to the top federal prosecutor in Washington after his reports found that the former deputy director had “lacked candor” with investigators on four different occasions.
Under three of those occasions, McCabe had been under oath.
Controversy has also surrounded McCabe over text messages from FBI agent Peter Strzok, who had assisted in leading the bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton and her email server use.
According to a memo authored by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the text message from Strzok to a fellow agent with whom he was having an affair referred to “a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an ‘insurance’ policy against President Trump’s election.”
“The Committee has discovered serious violations of the public trust, and the American people have a right to know when officials in crucial institutions are abusing their authority for political purposes,” Nunes said in a statement.
After the DOJ sent the documents to Congress, Comey’s 15-page series of memos were redacted and declassified, showing the American public the former FBI director’s version of conversations with Trump and other political mishaps in Washington.
In one particular instance, Comey recalled a conversation he had with President Donald Trump on Jan. 27, where he was asked by the president about McCabe and to which he responded McCabe was “a true professional.”
“At this point he asked me (and asked again later) whether ‘your guy McCabe’ has a problem with me (Trump), explaining that ‘l (Trump) was pretty rough on him and his wife during the campaign.’”
“I explained that Andy was a true professional and had no problem at all,” he added. “I then explained what FBI people were like, that whatever there (sic) personal views, they strip them when they step into their bureau roles and actually hold ‘political people’ in slight contempt, without regard to party.”
At the same dinner, Comey wrote that Trump later asked if McCabe was “going to be okay.”
“I again affirmed Andy’s ability and professionalism and said the President would come to see and benefit from both,” Comey wrote among a series of other notes that included the investigation into collusion between Russia and the US.
On Thursday, Trump tweeted that the memos “clearly” prove that the former director had never felt obstructed by the Commander-in-Chief in regard to the investigation.
“James Comey Memos just out and show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION,” Trump tweeted. “Also, he leaked classified information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?”
The memos also highlighted that nearly eight days after his rise to the presidency, Trump spoke to Comey and insisted that he “needed loyalty and expected loyalty.”
Comey wrote that the president noted his decision to “not reply, or even nod or change my facial expression.”
The former director added that he and Trump came back to the discussion sometime later, where Trump repeated his need for loyalty and to which Comey replied he would always give “honest loyalty” — a statement the president seemed to approve of.
“I replied that he would always get honesty from me,” said Comey. “(Trump) paused and said that’s what he wants, ‘honest loyalty.’ I replied, ‘you will get that from me.'”
“It is possible we understood that phrase differently,” Comey added. “But I chose to understand it as consistent with what I had said throughout the conversation: I will serve the President with loyalty to the office, the country, and the truth. I decided it would not be productive to push the subject further.”
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