Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, ahead of former FBI Director James Comeys testimony tomorrow, in the Senate Hart building on Capitol Hill, on Wednesday, June 7, 2017.
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A lawyer for former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe has raised the possibility that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has refused a request by prosecutors to indict McCabe on charges of lying to federal investigators.
In a letter to Jessie Liu, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, McCabe’s lawyer Michael Bromwich said he and other lawyers had heard rumors from reporters that the grand jury reviewing evidence related to McCabe “had declined to vote an indictment” of the critic of President Donald Trump.
If that is the case, McCabe’s lawyer said, he urged Liu “not to resubmit this case” to the grand jury for possible indictment.
“At a minimum, based on our discussion with [prosecutors in Liu’s office] this afternoon, it is clear that no indictment has been returned,” Bromwich wrote in a letter that McCabe’s defense team released to reporters.
It is very rare — but not unheard of — for a grand jury not to indict people when a prosecutor asks them to do so.
The letter came hours after sources said that the Justice Department had told McCabe’s lawyers that prosecutors were refusing to grant their request that department drop plans to possibly seek an indictment of McCabe.
Kadiya Korama, a spokeswoman Liu’s office, declined to comment on the claims in the letter, but added, that “If there was an indictment we would have issued a press release along with it.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
McCabe, 51, served as acting director of the FBI after Trump fired James Comey in 2017.
McCabe was fired by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March 2018, a day before his planned retirement, denying him his full pension.
The Justice Department has said he was fired because he broke FBI rules by improperly disclosing information to journalists related to an investigation into Hillary Clinton.
A Justice Department inspector general report later found McCabe had “lacked candor, including under oath” in describing those disclosures to investigators.
McCabe disputed the report’s conclusions. Last month, he sued the Justice Department over his firing, claiming it was “politically motivated and retaliatory.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized McCabe, whom he has blamed, along with Comey, for what he has called a baseless investigation into whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russians to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
