Tucked inside the inspector general's report on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was the story of an August 2016 phone call from a high-ranking Justice Department official who Mr. McCabe thought was trying to shut down the FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was running for president.
James Wedick, who conducted corruption investigations at the bureau, said he never fielded a call from the Justice Department about any of his cases during 35 years there.
"It is bizarre - and that word can't be used enough - to have the Justice Department call the FBI's deputy director and try to influence the outcome of an active corruption investigation," he said.
Ron Hosko, a former assistant director at the FBI, wondered if the call to Mr. McCabe was made because Justice Department officials believed he would be more sympathetic than the FBI's New York field office, which was overseeing the Clinton Foundation investigation.
Those familiar with Justice Department operations said they don't believe the principal associate deputy attorney general would have made the McCabe call without consulting with his supervisor, which would have been Ms. Yates.
Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official who is now a legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the proper chain of command for the Justice Department to follow up on an investigation would involve the head of the Criminal Division, not the PADAG, calling the FBI. "There is no way I would have ever called the FBI on my own unless I raised concerns with my boss or my boss told me to do so," he said.
The inspector general is examining the way the FBI and Justice Department handled investigations into Mrs. Clinton during the election.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/23/justice-departments-attempts-influence-investigati/
James Wedick, who conducted corruption investigations at the bureau, said he never fielded a call from the Justice Department about any of his cases during 35 years there.
"It is bizarre - and that word can't be used enough - to have the Justice Department call the FBI's deputy director and try to influence the outcome of an active corruption investigation," he said.
Ron Hosko, a former assistant director at the FBI, wondered if the call to Mr. McCabe was made because Justice Department officials believed he would be more sympathetic than the FBI's New York field office, which was overseeing the Clinton Foundation investigation.
Those familiar with Justice Department operations said they don't believe the principal associate deputy attorney general would have made the McCabe call without consulting with his supervisor, which would have been Ms. Yates.
Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official who is now a legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the proper chain of command for the Justice Department to follow up on an investigation would involve the head of the Criminal Division, not the PADAG, calling the FBI. "There is no way I would have ever called the FBI on my own unless I raised concerns with my boss or my boss told me to do so," he said.
The inspector general is examining the way the FBI and Justice Department handled investigations into Mrs. Clinton during the election.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/23/justice-departments-attempts-influence-investigati/
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