On Friday, the FBI threw cold water on one of President Trump's favorite conspiracy claims when it released 13 pages of documents that assert that Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe did not take a managing role in the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails while his wife was running for office.
McCabe's wife Jill launched a campaign for Virginia's state Senate in 2015, during which she received almost half a million dollars in donations from the political action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a longtime friend of the Clintons. Republicans have alleged that because of that donation from McAuliffe, McCabe went easy on Clinton during the investigation into the former Democratic presidential candidate's private email server.
But the documents released Friday show McCabe did not join the email investigation until February 2016, three months after his wife had lost her bid for Virginia Senate. The FBI documents additionally show that during his wife's campaign, McCabe — who was not yet deputy director of the bureau — was warned of the possible appearance of impropriety if he worked on public corruption cases in Northern Virginia. "Out of an abundance of caution," the FBI said in April 2015, McCabe was "excluded … in all such cases."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump has long taken issue with McCabe's role in the Clinton investigation, implying that McAuliffe's donations to McCabe's wife's campaign actually came from the Clintons. In July, the president took to Twitter to ask why Attorney General Jeff Sessions had not yet fired McCabe.
Read the FBI documents in full here.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodleCartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
