Bad Bet

If you were to believe just about every Democrat politician and all of their trained hamsters in the media, the firing of FBI assistant director, Andrew McCabe, a few days before his retirement, was a vindictive act perpetrated by the evil Donald Trump who wanted to "silence" McCabe's crusade for justice. In fact, a number of Democrat politicians are offering McCabe employment so that he can collect a $1 million+ dollar pension, because—victimization. I guess that lying to the FBI Inspector General is okay as long as those lies skew in favor of the Democrats and against their political opponents.

The Trump Derangement Syndrome outrage machine went into overdrive when McCabe was fired. You'd think he was an innocent bystander, caught up in a political firestorm. The reality (something that Dems always have trouble with) is that it appears McCabe plotted against Trump during the presidential campaign and when he became the newly elected president, was a partisan who protected Hillary Clinton, and leaked confidential information to the media (with the apparent approval of the FBI Director, James Comey) with the specific intent of harming Donald Trump.

The editors of the Wall Street Journal explain:

The recommendation to fire Mr. McCabe isn’t coming from Donald Trump or Russian bots. It comes from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. News reports say it is based on a finding from the Justice Department’s Inspector General that Mr. McCabe authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to a Wall Street Journal reporter about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation—and then lied about it to IG investigators.

The IG report remains secret, but it’s hard to believe the FBI would recommend such punishment if it did not believe Mr. McCabe’s actions were a serious breach of duty. The bureau’s recommendation is in marked contrast to the endorsement from his old boss, former FBI Director James Comey, who tweeted in January that Mr. McCabe “stood tall” as “small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on.” Did St. Jim know about his comrade’s alleged deception?

Mr. McCabe is connected to controversial FBI investigations into both presidential candidates in 2016, and in January he said he would formally retire on March 18 when he would have enough seniority to qualify for his pension. Firing him early could cost him that lifetime payout.

The American people still don’t know what went on at the FBI during those 2016 investigations. Several FBI and Justice officials will soon testify to the House Intelligence Committee. Perhaps Mr. McCabe’s firing would persuade them that there are consequences for untruthfulness. Time and again we have been assured of the FBI’s high standards. Imagine how Mr. McCabe would treat an American citizen who lied to the FBI.

So ... the FBI itself recommended that McCabe be terminated because he lied to investigators about his involvement in the leak of information damaging to Trump.

I wonder why the same Democrat politicians who currently defend McCabe didn't come to the defense of Michael Flynn, a decorated General who served his country far longer than McCabe. Flynn wasn't simply fired, he was indicted for lying to federal investigators, exactly the same crime that got McCabe fired. In McCabe's case (by the way, his wife got hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions from Clinton loyalist, Terry McAuliffe) I guess if you're a friend of the Clintons and an enemy of Trump, you're immune from any wrong-doing.

Shed no tears for McCabe. He worked hard to ensure the election of Hillary Clinton, believing it to be a slam dunk, and therefore believing her election would protect him from investigation and any repercussions. He bet wrong, and now he's paying the price for that bad bet.