The Department of Justice's Inspector General released a report Friday on its investigation of fired deputy director Andrew McCabe, concluding he lied about media contacts.
The IG found McCabe "lacked candor, including under oath, on multiple occasions" in connection with a disclosure to the Wall Street Journal in violation of FBI codes.
The IG also concluded that McCabe's "disclosure of the existence of an ongoing investigation in the manner described in this report violated the FBI's and the Department's media policy and constituted misconduct."
McCabe previously drew attention for his misbehavior regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. His wife was taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for her political campaign from friends of Hillary Clinton at the same time McCabe was investigating Clinton's mishandling of classified information.
The IG found that in late October 2016, McCabe authorized the disclosure to a reporter of an Aug. 23, 2016, telephone call between McCabe and the then-principal associate deputy attorney general "to rebut a narrative that had been developing" following a Wall Street Journal story "that questioned McCabe's impartiality in overseeing FBI investigations" into Clinton's email server.
The article claimed McCabe had ordered the termination of the Clinton Foundation investigation due to Department of Justice pressure.
McCabe "lacked candor" when he talked with then-FBI Director James Comey, the IG report said, or "made statements that led Comey to believe, that McCabe had not authorized the disclosure and did not know who did."
The report continued: "We also found that on May 9, 2017, when questioned under oath by FBI agents from INSD, McCabe lacked candor when he told the agents that he had not authorized the disclosure to the WSJ and did not know who did. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor – Under Oath).
"We further found that on July 28, 2017, when questioned under oath by the OIG in a recorded interview, McCabe lacked candor when he stated: (a) that he was not aware of Special Counsel having been authorized to speak to reporters around October 30 and (b) that, because he was not in Washington, D.C., on October 27 and 28, 2016, he was unable to say where Special Counsel was or what she was doing at that time. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor – Under Oath)."
The report also found that on Nov. 29, 2017, when questioned under oath by the IG, McCabe "contradicted his prior statements by acknowledging that he had authorized the disclosure to the WSJ."
McCabe, the report said, "lacked candor when he: (a) stated that he told Comey on October 31, 2016, that he had authorized the disclosure to the WSJ; (b) denied telling INSD agents on May 9 that he had not authorized the disclosure to the WSJ about the PADAG call; and (c) asserted that INSD’s questioning of him on May 9 about the October 30 WSJ article occurred at the end of an unrelated meeting when one of the INSD agents pulled him aside and asked him one or two questions about the article. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor – Under Oath)."
McCabe was fired March 16 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions just two days before he was to retire with a full federal pension.
The IGÂ said it is issuing this report to the FBI "for such action that it deems to be appropriate."