FBI deputy director testifies before House committee; *contradicts other FBI/DOJ testimony*
Yesterday the deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, testified before the House Intel committee. For seven hours.
His testimony reportedly contradicted the testimony of previous FBI and DOJ witnesses on numerous points.
Depending on the subject of the contradiction, this could be massive.
Due to those contradictions, Republicans on the Intelligence Committee said they would subpoena the persons whose testimony McCabe contradicted and re-question them next week. While staff would not confirm who will be subpoenaed for re-questioning, indications point to DOJ official Bruce G. Ohr and FBI General Counsel James A. Baker.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has accused DOJ and FBI officials of “stonewalling.” Intel chairman Devin Nunes threatened contempt-of-congress citations against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray--though former Attorney-general Eric Holder ignored such threats without consequence when Obama was in office.
Sources close to the investigation say that McCabe seemed to be a “friendly witness” to the Democrats on the committee. This is significant because it's powerful evidence that McCabe expects the Democrats to defend him, and vice-versa.
Investigators say the Dems gave McCabe the chance to claim for the record how hard the FBI had worked to verify the claims made in the infamous anti-Trump “dossier.” But after finishing his self-serving statement Republican members asked the deputy director of the FBI to state specifically what claims in the salacious document the bureau had actually corroborated.
Sources said McCabe only cited the fact that Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had traveled to Moscow--a fact admitted by Page. McCabe was unable to even say that the FBI had verified the dossier’s allegations about the specific meetings Page supposedly held in Moscow.
When McCabe was asked when he learned that the dossier had been funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, he claimed he couldn't recall. This is interesting because sources in the FBI have reported the existence of documents signed by McCabe that establish his knowledge of who paid for the dossier. Since that document--if accurate--was a potential bombshell that could have cost Trump the election, you'd think the circumstances and time when the deputy director learned about it would have been memorable.
Ohr's testimony should be explosive. Until earlier this month Ohr was associate deputy attorney general, a post that placed him four doors down from his boss, Rosenstein. But after stories came out that Ohr's wife was working for FusionGPS (the firm that contracted for the infamous anti-Trump dossier) in the summer and fall of 2016, and that Ohr hadn't disclosed this to his boss; and that Ohr himself had met with the director of Fusion, Ohr was demoted.
DOJ officials confirmed that Ohr had also failed to inform his superiors about secret meetings in 2016 with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote the dossier; and with Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that hired Steele with funds supplied by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
His testimony reportedly contradicted the testimony of previous FBI and DOJ witnesses on numerous points.
Depending on the subject of the contradiction, this could be massive.
Due to those contradictions, Republicans on the Intelligence Committee said they would subpoena the persons whose testimony McCabe contradicted and re-question them next week. While staff would not confirm who will be subpoenaed for re-questioning, indications point to DOJ official Bruce G. Ohr and FBI General Counsel James A. Baker.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has accused DOJ and FBI officials of “stonewalling.” Intel chairman Devin Nunes threatened contempt-of-congress citations against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray--though former Attorney-general Eric Holder ignored such threats without consequence when Obama was in office.
Sources close to the investigation say that McCabe seemed to be a “friendly witness” to the Democrats on the committee. This is significant because it's powerful evidence that McCabe expects the Democrats to defend him, and vice-versa.
Investigators say the Dems gave McCabe the chance to claim for the record how hard the FBI had worked to verify the claims made in the infamous anti-Trump “dossier.” But after finishing his self-serving statement Republican members asked the deputy director of the FBI to state specifically what claims in the salacious document the bureau had actually corroborated.
Sources said McCabe only cited the fact that Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had traveled to Moscow--a fact admitted by Page. McCabe was unable to even say that the FBI had verified the dossier’s allegations about the specific meetings Page supposedly held in Moscow.
When McCabe was asked when he learned that the dossier had been funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, he claimed he couldn't recall. This is interesting because sources in the FBI have reported the existence of documents signed by McCabe that establish his knowledge of who paid for the dossier. Since that document--if accurate--was a potential bombshell that could have cost Trump the election, you'd think the circumstances and time when the deputy director learned about it would have been memorable.
Ohr's testimony should be explosive. Until earlier this month Ohr was associate deputy attorney general, a post that placed him four doors down from his boss, Rosenstein. But after stories came out that Ohr's wife was working for FusionGPS (the firm that contracted for the infamous anti-Trump dossier) in the summer and fall of 2016, and that Ohr hadn't disclosed this to his boss; and that Ohr himself had met with the director of Fusion, Ohr was demoted.
DOJ officials confirmed that Ohr had also failed to inform his superiors about secret meetings in 2016 with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote the dossier; and with Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that hired Steele with funds supplied by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
posted by SF at
5:34 PM
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