Last Updated Apr 19, 2018 2:53 PM EDT
The Department of Justice’s watchdog has made a criminal referral regarding fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, CBS News has confirmed. The referral comes after the recent blistering IG report claiming McCabe “lacked candor” about his interactions with Wall Street Journal reporter Devlin Barrett, who was writing about the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
The IG’s investigation centered on whether McCabe authorized the disclosure of the contents of a phone call he had with the then-principal associate deputy attorney general to Barrett, for an article, “FBI in internal feud over Hillary Clinton probe” on Oct. 30, 2016. It is not yet clear what those recommended charges are. McCabe has declined to comment, as has the DOJ IG.
McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month, at the recommendation of FBI officials, ahead of the IG report. President Trump has blasted McCabe on Twitter since his firing, and since the release of the IG report.
“DOJ just issued the McCabe report – which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey – McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!” Mr. Trump tweeted after the release of the IG report.
McCabe has a robust legal defense fund, if criminal charges are introduced related to him. A GoFundMe page raised nearly $568,000 for any of McCabe’s future legal bills.
It is up to the U.S. Attorney in D.C. to decide if criminal charges are warranted.
McCabe was fired two days before he was set to retire, at the recommendation of FBI officials. While at the FBI, McCabe played a pivotal role in the investigation into Clinton’s emails.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
— CBS News’ Jeff Pegues, Andy Triay and Katie Ross Dominick contributed to this report.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
