{"id":92860,"date":"2021-10-28T15:32:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T19:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=92860"},"modified":"2021-10-28T15:33:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T19:33:45","slug":"oh-really-ag-merrick-garland-stands-by-mccabe-lies-but-reverses-his-firing-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=92860","title":{"rendered":"

Oh, really, AG Merrick Garland stands by McCabe lies but reverses his firing anyway!?!?<\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Merrick Garland says DOJ stands by conclusion Andrew McCabe lied despite reversing his firing<\/h1>\n

Jerry Dunleavy
\nYahoo! News<\/p>\n

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A<\/span>ttorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department continues to stand by the findings of the DOJ watchdog that fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied under oath to investigators during a leak investigation despite the Biden DOJ\u00a0reversing<\/a>\u00a0his firing and settling his lawsuit against it with a big payout.<\/p>\n

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz\u2019s\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0in 2018 detailed multiple instances in which McCabe\u00a0\u201clacked candor\u201d<\/a>\u00a0with FBI Director James Comey, FBI investigators, and inspector general investigators, including while under oath, about his authorization to\u00a0leak sensitive information<\/a>\u00a0to the Wall Street Journal that revealed the existence of an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.<\/p>\n

But McCabe won back his full pension last week as part of the settlement with the DOJ in his wrongful termination lawsuit filed in 2019. The agreement allows McCabe to retire and receive an estimated $200,000 in missed pension payments and $539,000 in attorney\u2019s fees for his lawyers. The agreement also requires the DOJ to provide him with a plaque of his FBI badge and Senior Executive Service cufflinks.<\/p>\n

Garland was questioned by GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, arguing that \u201cunder your leadership, instead of punishing him, the department reinstated his retirement and expunged his records as part of the settlement\u201d as he called DOJ\u2019s actions \u201cbeyond incredible.\u201d Grassley asked if he had authorized the McCabe settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe McCabe settlement was the recommendation of the career lawyers litigating that case based on their prospects of success in the case,\u201d Garland said. \u201cThe case did not involve issues about lying. It involved a claim that he was not given the amount of time necessary to respond to allegations. The litigators concluded that they needed to settle the case because of the likelihood of loss on that claim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garland insisted the DOJ still stood by Horowitz\u2019s report, however, saying: “The inspector general\u2019s report still stands. We have not questioned in any way the inspector general\u2019s findings. The reference with respect to false statements was made to the Justice Department in the previous administration and declined in the previous administration. The only issue here was an assessment of litigation merits.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the release of the Horowitz report, which concluded \u201cthe evidence is substantial\u201d that McCabe misled investigators \u201cknowingly and intentionally,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March 2018 just before he was set to retire. McCabe denied wrongdoing and sued the DOJ in 2019, claiming his firing was brought on due to pressure from then-President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The Trump-era DOJ decided in early 2020\u00a0not to prosecute<\/a>\u00a0McCabe over his alleged dishonesty.<\/p>\n

Grassley asked Garland if he agreed with U.S. taxpayers having to pick up what could end up being \u201ca multimillion-dollar bill for someone who lied under oath to government officials.\u201d Garland replied simply, \u201cThe assessment by the litigators was that the bill to the taxpayers would be higher if we didn\u2019t resolve the matter the way it was resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horowitz appeared at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing last Thursday, and Republican Sen. Rob Portman asked Horowitz to speak about his findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI internal investigators developed information that they believed \u2014 led them to believe \u2014 that Deputy Director McCabe may have lied to them,\u201d Horowitz said. \u201cThey then referred the matter to us, given the position he held at the FBI. We assumed the investigation and concluded in a public report that remains on our website \u2014 and the public can see \u2014 that Mr. McCabe lied both under oath and not under oath on several occasions when he denied at various points certain key facts and information, including who was the source of the leak.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an appearance on CNN, where he is a law enforcement analyst, McCabe\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0last week, \u201cTrump demanded this, and Jeff Sessions complied, and the rest of the Department of Justice complied as well.\u201d He also said Horowitz “delivered a truncated, rushed, unfair report that left out material evidence.\u201d Horowitz is widely respected by both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

Portman asked the watchdog if there had been any influence on his report from Trump or anyone else in the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely none,” Horowitz said, adding, \u201cOur findings remain on our website. We stand by our findings. The public can read them. They can go to our website. And by the way, the FBI issued a statement stating that they stand by their findings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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