Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe compared the special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden with the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and found the two had “nauseating similarities.”
Comey’s investigations in 2016
James Comey, former FBI director, investigated Clinton’s emails and, in July 2016, recommended no criminal charges against her handling of classified documents while serving as Secretary of State. But, days before the election, he reopened the investigation, only to come to the same conclusions.
Comey’s remarks
In his July statement, the then-FBI director said, “Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.” He added, “There is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
McCabe recalled Comey’s statement
While talking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, McCabe said, “I think where we stepped far over the line and made a mistake was in Jim’s rhetoric clearly criticizing Hillary Clinton but, of course, not recommending that she be charged.”
Possible violations
The former FBI official continued, “The use of those terms was very likely a violation of [Department of Justice] policy, which says you don’t say bad things about someone you say you’re not going to charge..”
Comey made a mistake
The host asked if Comey made a mistake in his press release, and McCabe said he believed so, adding, “That’s not an easy thing for me to conclude because I worked very closely with Jim. I reviewed his remarks before he made them.” McCabe regrets not working harder to convince him not to use those terms and possibly not to make the statement at all.”
Hur’s report
Special counsel Robert Hur did not file charges against the President, but his report raised eyebrows. McCabe suggested Hur was “attempting to even out the scales” with his report and explained, “It really felt like it was another instance of a very high-profile investigator who was coming out with a conclusion that he likely knew would not be accepted or embraced by many people.”
Playing for both sides
“In other words, to play to … the segment of the audience that was going to be frustrated by the fact that he concluded not to pursue charges,” McCabe shared, and added, “That’s what it felt like to me. I have a lot of concerns with the way that he talked about the evidence in the report.”
Political damage
Like with Clinton, it is widely believed that the report, which discusses Biden’s mental decline in-depth and even discusses the passing of his son, Beau Biden, only serves to cause political damage.
Most prosecutors agreed that the report was “inappropriate”
Andrew Weissmann is one of the report’s most vocal critics, calling it an example of “what you’re not supposed to do.” Speaking on MSNBC, former federal prosecutor Weissmann called Hur’s analysis “entirely inappropriate,” “irrelevant,” and “gratuitous.”
No opinions
Weissmann further stated, “You either decide to go forward, that there is proof here, or you don’t say anything at all with respect to your opinions about the case.” He added, “The appropriate thing to do there is just to say ‘we’re declining; there’s insufficient proof. It is not a time to have a press conference to state, ‘Oh, by the way, let me give you my personal views.’”
Ex-Solicitor General agreed
Former Solicitor General Neal Katyal shared, “I’m not aware of anything quite like this, in which you’ve got a special counsel going after the sitting president for being too old and having a faulty memory,” he added. “As Andrew said, ‘totally gratuitous.’” He added the report should not be a “list of adjectives.”
Back to Comey
Bradley P. Moss wrote on X, “What Robert Hur did in his report with these irrelevant and extraneous remarks is the same thing DOJ used as the basis to fire James Comey in 2017. Seven years later, they did it again. Seriously. Unreal.”
Joe Scarborough’s allegations
The host and lawyer shared, “He couldn’t indict Biden legally, so he tried to indict Biden politically.” Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, also compared the report to Comey’s, “Let’s be clear–the special counsel isn’t a dummy, and we should be very careful not to take the bait after Comey pulled this in 2016. Hur, a lifelong Republican and creature of DC, didn’t have a case against Biden, but he knew exactly how his swipes could hurt Biden politically.
“Outrageous”
Jeffrey Toobin, an American lawyer, said on CNN, “It was outrageous that Herr put in some of that stuff in this report. That had no place in it. There’s no reason why this report had to be 300 pages. There is no reason why this fairly straightforward case had to be treated this way. The job is to put up or shut up.” He also slammed the choice of Trump’s appointee to investigate Biden and said it was done to “damage Biden politically.”
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