Law Professor to McCabe: Don’t Worry About Pension, Worry About Prison
As the termination of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe continues to fuel controversy, one law professor is speaking up on what he believes should really be worrying McCabe.
As reported by BizPac Review, George Washington University School of Law Professor Jonathan Turley told CNN’s Michael Smerconish on Saturday that he sees the FBI official’s termination as “justified” and that McCabe should be grateful he has not yet seen criminal charges thrown his way.
“It was justified in the sense that these were career officials — at the Office of Professional Responsibility — that made this recommendation, which is exceedingly rare,” Turley said.
“In fact, it’s unprecedented for someone in this position. These are not political appointees,” he added. “The OPR, quite frankly, is not viewed as a particularly aggressive office.”
“So, all of that makes this a relatively rare sanction coming from career officers,” Turley explained. “They clearly concluded that McCabe misled them — and that he misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating, not a collateral issue.”
Though many have reported that the firing of the 21-year-veteran of the FBI was politically motivated, Turley has joined a long list of others stating that the move was anything but retaliatory.
The law professor noted that Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who ultimately fired McCabe — is absolutely apolitical.
Do you think that McCabe should be facing criminal charges?
Turley insisted that, unlike many other figures throughout Washington, Sessions is “insulated like a Sherman Tank from any outside forces,” which made his firing of McCabe even more “substantial.”
Turley also admitted that the initial report of McCabe’s dismissal brought on a feeling of surety that Sessions would essentially do what is right and get rid of those who lack integrity and honesty in their work.
“It would be very surprising for Sessions to turn down this type of rare recommendation from the career staff,” Turley said. “After all, he followed a recommendation from career staff to recuse himself — and I think rightfully so.”
As reported by The Western Journal, McCabe had been fired after the Department of Justice determined that he displayed a blatant disregard for the truth when giving testimony to investigators about the bureau’s probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server.
Sessions had made the decision under a growing pressure to fire the 21-year-veteran of the FBI, after a thorough review of recommendations made by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility that he be terminated.
The attorney general pointed out that FBI employees are expected to adhere to standards of honesty and integrity, and that McCabe had ultimately failed in that regard.
However, McCabe denies any wrongdoing, and Turley further suggests that the controversy will only grow if it isn’t thoroughly looked into or prosecuted.
“What’s going to create an issue going forward is whether there will be a criminal referral,” Turley continued. “Michael Flynn was indicted for making a false statement to investigators.”
“Now, it’s true that they were looking at him for other crimes as well,” he added. “But there will be some that will argue, ‘Why would you indict Michael Flynn, but a deputy FBI director is just worried about his pension, not prison?’”
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