The Justice Department on Friday decided against filing charges against fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe after being handed a criminal referral from the department’s inspector general’s office.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea, in a letter to McCabe’s lawyers, wrote that the DOJ “has decided not to pursue criminal charges” over whether the former top law enforcement official misled investigators who were probing how the FBI and DOJ handled matters associated with the 2016 election.
“Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the government at this time,” the letter added, “we consider this matter closed.” Now, according to the officials, “no charges will be brought against him based on the facts underlying the Office of the Inspector General’s April 2018 report.”
McCabe served in place of former FBI Director James Comey, who was also fired upon the recommendation of then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Following his ouster, McCabe filed a civil lawsuit against the DoJ and the FBI, arguing that his dismissal was politically motivated.
The suit named Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray as defendants, saying that McCabe faced “unlawful retaliation for his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single man,” which may be in reference to President Trump.
“We said at the outset of the criminal investigation, almost two years ago, that if the facts and the law determined the result, no charges would be brought,” lawyers Michael R. Bromwich and David Schertler said in a statement to news outlets.
“We are pleased that Andrew McCabe and his family can go on with their lives without this cloud hanging over them.”
However, DoJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz recommended criminal charges against McCabe in 2018 for allegedly lying to federal investigators when he was asked about providing information in 2016 to a Wall Street Journal reporter regarding an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.