Top Senate Republican Wants DOJ To Twist Screws On Probe Into FBI Deputy Director McCabe
REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/Files
Kerry Picket Political Reporter
WASHINGTON–Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley Tuesday called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to start more closely supervising and reviewing the agency's handling of high-profile and politically charged investigations, particularly one involving FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
In Chairman Grassley's letter to the recently-confirmed deputy attorney general, the Iowa Republican reiterated issues related to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's involvement in high-profile and much debated FBI investigations considering the possible political conflicts of interest that come from his wife's receipt of nearly $700,000 from close Clinton associates during her congressional campaign for office in Virginia.
McCabe's wife, Dr. Jill McCabe, was urged to run for Congress by Democrat Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close friend and former fundraiser of Bill and Hillary Clinton. According to The Wall Street Journal, during the filing period of October to November 2015, McCabe's campaign filings shows she received $467,500 from Common Good VA, a political action committee headed up by McAuliffe and $292,500 from another Democratic PAC.
Fox News reported in March that records revealed Deputy Director McCabe did not list these particular 2015 donations or his wife's salary in financial disclosure forms.
"The FBI and Department of Justice cannot expect to maintain the public's trust when there are so many outstanding questions and apparent conflicts of interest in consequential investigations. The American people need and deserve a better accounting of how investigations are conducted and whether politics have affected an inquiry. The FBI has yet to adequately explain the steps taken to fix these issues since I first raised concerns over six months ago. It's time they were addressed," Grassley said in his letter.
He went on to say, "Public reports of his meeting with a longtime Clinton and Democrat party fundraiser, Governor Terry McAuliffe, and his wife's subsequent campaign for public office being substantially funded by McAuliffe's organization raise serious questions about his ability to appear impartial. The FBI provided unsatisfactory answers to those questions."
The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General is currently investigating McCabe for not recusing himself from the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information.
It is unknown if McCabe may have taken an active part in the investigation of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's potential violation of federal campaign laws and if it remained active after the election.
"In addition, [McCabe] remains involved in the investigation into the alleged collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia ahead of the 2016 presidential election, and into the subsequent leaks of classified information related to the Russia controversy. Further, the FBI's recusal protocols seemingly gave McCabe the authority to approve his own recusal with respect to Virginia-related investigations before the election," a statement from the Judiciary Committee Chairman's office said.
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Kerry Picket