White House overrules Justice Department in effort to discredit Trump-Russia inquiry
Developments on Day 375 of the Trump Administration:
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FBI’s McCabe Resigns
The effort of Donald Trump and his allies to undermine the Trump-Russia investigation claims successes with the resignation of a top FBI official and a House committee vote to release a controversial memo declaring a politically-motivated campaign by the agency.
After months of pressure and attacks by pro-Trump media, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe resigned on Monday, less than two months before he was due to retire on full pension.
Trump has pressed McCabe ever since he became Acting FBI Director after Trump’s firing of James Comey last May in an effort to curb the Trump-Russia inquiry. The President and his allies have claimed that McCabe was compromised in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, because of a donation by a Clinton ally to the campaign of McCabe’s wife Jill for State office in Virginia in 2015.
The FBI said there was no connection between Jill McCabe’s campaign and the Clinton inquiry. McCabe did not become Deputy Director until after the election. Before that, he disclosed her candidacy and sought ethics advice from senior FBI officials.
In the autumn, the Deputy Director announced that he would leave the agency on March 18 but that was not enough for Trump’s allies, amid the efforts to discredit the FBI as the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has closed on Trump. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire McCabe. Wray reportedly threatened his resignation, blocking the effort.
However, McCabe told friends that he felt pressure from Wray to leave, according to “two people close” to the Deputy Director.
Up to last week, McCabe told people that he hoped to stay until March 18. But according to a former official close to McCabe, Wray proposed moving him into another job — an effective demotion. The Deputy Director then chose to resign.
In an e-mail to FBI employees, McCabe praised colleagues as “the greatest work force on earth because you speak up, you tell the truth and you do the right thing”.
Wray’s message to employees thanked McCabe for his service. The Director said he would not comment on “specific aspects” of a review by the FBI Inspector General of the handling of the Clinton investigation.
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted that Trump had nothing to do with McCabe’s departure: “The President wasn’t part of this decision-making process.”
Wray wrote, “I will not be swayed by political or other pressure in my decision-making.”
House Committee Votes to Release Nunes Memo
Disregarding the warnings of the Justice Department, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee vote to release a memo by Committee chairman Devin Nunes accusing the FBI of misusing authority, in the obtaining of a warrant from a top-secret Federal court for surveillance in the Trump-Russia investigation.
The Justice Department warned that the step is “reckless”, as it may expose classified sources and information, but Republicans invoked a power, under an obscure rule of the House of Republicans and never before used, to declassify the memo by Nunes.
Nunes supposedly recused himself as chair of the committee last March, after revelations that he had met with White House officials and received information in a possible attempt to influence Trump-Russia hearings. However, he has persisted with efforts to curb the investigation, including criticism of the FBI.
After the vote, the memo was taken to the White House where it is being considered by lawyers. Republicans refused to allow a Justice Department review of the document.
Democrats put forth a series of motions to put the Republican memo in context. All but one failed along party lines. The committee did allow a Democratic memo to go to the full House, but Republicans said they want time for members to review it before any public release.
The Democrats were unsuccessful in an attempt for the FBI and the Justice Department to brief the entire House in a private session before the release of the Nunes memo.
The Nunes memo contends that officials from the FBI and the Justice Department withheld information when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorized a warrant in October 2016 for surveillance of Russian officials and entities.
The warrant was first sought by the FBI in July and granted after revisions to meet the ruling of a FISA judge. In addition, the FISA court authorized surveillance of Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, because of the FBI’s concerns since 2014 that Russia might be recruiting him as an agent.
The Republicans have insisted that the research presented to the judge was based on an intelligence dossier assembled by the private firm Fusion GPS, initially commissioned by a conservative outlet, the Washington Free Beacon, and then by the Democratic National Committee.
The FBI and Justice Department have said that their inquiry was not prompted by the dossier. Instead, officials have pointed to an incident in May 2016 when Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos bragged to a top Australian diplomat about his attempts to arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, including contact with a Moscow-linked, London-based academic, and Russian information that they had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
A Move v. the Deputy Attorney General?
The Nunes memo also reportedly aims at the current Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, noting that he approved application to extend the surveillance of Page, shortly after taking office in spring 2017.
While the renewal indicates that the Justice Department still believed that Page could be connected to the Russians, the Repubicans could use the information to put further pressure on Rosenstein over the Trump-Russia inquiry.
In June 2017, Trump criticized Rosenstein on Twitter, about the same time that the President ordered the firing of Special Counsel Mueller but was blocked by his White House lawyer Don McGahn.
Because of the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions from the Trump-Russia inquiry, Rosenstein is the official with the formal authority to fire Mueller.
Trump’s criticism of Rosenstein has continued, with further revelations this week of his complaints to staff that he would like to be rid of the official.
Last week Trump was infuriated that a top Justice Department official had warned against releasing the Nunes memo.
“Four people with knowledge of the matter” said Trump erupted in anger while traveling to Davos, Switzerland after learning that Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd warned that it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to circulate the document. He declared that it was another example of the Justice Department undermining him and blocked Republican efforts to expose the alleged politically-motivated agenda behind the investigation.