The WikiLeaks revelation that the wife of the FBI official who supervised the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s off-the-books email server got a major campaign cash infusion from one of Clinton’s friends just took a stunning new turn.
The London Daily Mail is reporting Hillary Clinton had raised funds for the political action committee that steered the contributions to the unsuccessful campaign of Democrat Jill McCabe.
McCabe’s husband, Andrew McCabe, was promoted to FBI deputy director and supervised the investigation of Clinton not long after Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who through his PAC Common Good VA, contributed a total of $675,000 to Jill McCabe’s long-shot bid for a congressional seat.
The Daily Mail reported Hillary Clinton headlined a major fundraiser for McAuliffe’s PAC shortly before the group steered nearly $500,000 to Jill McCabe.
Critics are charging that the fundraising effort and McAuliffe’s PAC payments to Jill McCabe cast doubt on the FBI investigation, which culminated with Director James Comey announcing the agency would not refer charges to the Justice Department despite evidence of mishandling of classified information.
The Daily Mail reported that according to election records, Common Good VA was the largest single donor to Jill McCabe’s campaign, giving her $467,000 between June and October 2015.
Her campaign also received an additional $207,788 from the Democratic Party of Virginia, a group over which McAuliffe has significant control.
Clinton’s ties to Common Good VA go beyond her relationship with McAuliffe, the Daily Mail noted. In June 2015, she headlined a key fundraiser for the group, which reportedly brought in over $1 million for the PAC and the Democratic Party of Virginia.
The report quoted Ken Boehm, chief of the National Legal and Policy Center, who had concerns.
“The fact that Hillary Clinton’s inner circle was raising substantial funds for Gov. McAuliffe’s PAC and this same PAC gave close to a half-million dollars to the campaign of the wife of the senior FBI official involved in the Clinton investigation sure looks like a payoff – a major payoff,” he said.
It previously looked like “serious corruption,” he pointed out.
Now, it’s “much worse.”
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The London paper said Clinton was the feature speaker June 26, 2015, for an event for the PAC and the state party, with all of the money going to those groups.
Andrew McCabe has claimed there was no conflict of interest in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email system and that he followed the advice from FBI ethics officials on issues involving his wife’s campaign.
But WND reported the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party asked the FBI to review Andrew McCabe’s involvement in the election campaign of his wife.
The party reported a cursory search of social media turned up evidence of campaign activity the bureau has disavowed.
As WND reported Monday, the FBI has insisted Andrew McCabe “played no role, attended no events, and did not participate in fundraising or support of any kind” in his wife’s campaign.
“Months after the completion of her campaign, then-Associate Deputy Director McCabe was promoted to deputy, where, in that position, he assumed for the first time, an oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails,” the bureau said.
However, John Whitbeck, the chairman of the GOP in Virginia, wrote in a letter to FBI Director James Comey that he found evidence to the contrary.
“After a cursory Facebook search, we found photos that clearly depict Mr. McCabe publicly supporting Dr. McCabe’s campaign as well as a mailer sent by the Democratic Party of Virginia with Mr. McCabe’s picture,” Whitbeck wrote.
“These images are in direct contrast with the statement released … by the FBI. In light of the agency’s recent history, I formally request that the agency provide a sworn statement from Deputy Director McCabe that he did not attend any fundraisers, rallies, or any other political events with Gov. Terry McAuliffe on behalf of or accompanying Dr. McCabe during her campaign. I also ask that your agency take a second look at any role Deputy Director McCabe played in any investigation pertaining to Hillary Clinton or Gov. Terry McAuliffe.”
Facebook image of Andrew McCabe campaigning for his wife:
Jill McCabe last year unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Virginia state Sen. Richard Black, who had won his previous race by 14 points.
The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, quoted a McAuliffe spokesman who insisted the governor thought McCabe had a chance to win in the Northern Virginia district, centered in Loudoun County.
“Any insinuation that his support was tied to anything other than his desire to elect candidates who would help pass his agenda is ridiculous,” said the spokesman.
But Black said Monday in a statement that McCabe should have recused immediately himself from the probe, knowing McAuliffe is a Clinton confidante.
“As an attorney, and a former JAG officer who has had responsibilities over the investigation and prosecution of crimes, I am at a loss to see how the FBI could possibly allow Andrew McCabe to oversee the investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s email server scandals,” Black said in a statement. “Mr. McCabe was clearly indebted to the Clinton Campaign because of the support given his wife.”
“I was astonished at how much money she was able to raise – $1.8 million. How convenient for your husband to be a high-ranking FBI official with lots of potential influence,” he continued.