The Shadowy Legacy of Andrew McCabe

Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI who briefly served as acting director in 2017, has long been a target for controversy. He rose through the ranks during a tumultuous period in American law enforcement history. McCabe’s career disgracefully ended when he was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions just days before his retirement eligibility in March 2018. McCabe’s involvement in an unauthorized disclosure (leak) of sensitive information to the Wall Street Journal in October 2016 is what led to his resignation. Many argue this shines light on the institutional bias, personal conflicts of interest, and a pivotal role in what many now view as the politicized Russia collusion narrative against President Donald J. Trump. As the federal indictment swirls around James Comey, his old boss, McCabe’s name is resurfacing, raising questions about whether true accountability is around the bend.

Almost immediately after I was sentenced to 40 months in prison in the Soviet-style show trial I was put through in Washington DC, the prosecutor in my case, J. P. Cooney, announced that Andrew McCabe would face no charges—despite the fact that McCabe very clearly lied to Congress under oath. In my case, no misstatement I made to Congress in my voluntary testimony before the House Intelligence Committee hid any underlying crime. There was, as we know now, no Russian collusion or WikiLeaks collaboration—and therefore I had no motive to lie, as there was nothing to lie about. Andrew McCabe specifically lied about the leaking of classified information to embarrass President Trump.

McCabe joined the FBI in 1996, climbed to Deputy Director in 2016, overseeing major investigations into national security threats. McCabe’s leadership was overshadowed by persistent allegations of misconduct. The Justice Department’s Inspector General report in 2018 painted a damning picture, McCabe lacked candor on four separate occasions when questioned about unauthorized disclosures to the media regarding the FBI’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails. He was accused of misleading investigators, a violation that led to his termination and a referral for criminal charges. Ultimately, the DOJ declined to prosecute him in 2020. Numerous critics decried this as a miscarriage of justice, arguing that failing to prosecute McCabe signals a tolerance for corruption at the senior ranks of federal law enforcement. President Trump himself stated that McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI, framing his firing as a great day for honest agents. McCabe has since reinvented himself as a CNN contributor and author, but the Inspector General (OIG) 2018 report, led by Michael Horowitz, still lingers fueling claims that his tenure exemplified a politicized FBI.

No chapter of Andrew McCabe’s legacy burns brighter with controversy than his role in the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, launched in July 2016 to probe ties between the Trump campaign and Russian election interference. As Deputy Director, McCabe was a driving force in overseeing this explosive inquiry, which paved the way for the Mueller special counsel investigation. During 2019 press interviews promoting his memoir, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, McCabe revealed he launched separate obstruction and counterintelligence probes into Trump after his 2017 inauguration, defending them as critical to safeguarding the Russia investigation from interference.

McCabe’s firing in 2018 came just as the Mueller probe intensified, and was seen by many as a necessary purge, with many Americans arguing it exposed the leaking, lying, and corruption at the FBI’s core. Andrew McCabe admitted, in a 2020 Senate hearing to unacceptable errors in the Russia investigation but denied a coup. The 2019 Inspector General report on the probe’s origins found no evidence of political bias, but highlighted 17 significant inaccuracies and omissions in the FISA warrant applications targeting Trump associate Carter Page, warrants McCabe’s team helped secure. McCabe’s defenders, including himself in interviews, insist the probe was driven by legitimate intelligence, such as the Steele dossier (later discredited). His actions, coupled with texts from subordinates like Peter Strzok expressing anti-Trump animus, further validate perceptions of a deep-state effort.

Andrew McCabe’s connections have faced intense scrutiny. Jill McCabe, his wife, ran unsuccessfully for Virginia state senate in 2016. During her campaign, she received nearly $467,500, over half her total funding, from the Washington Victory Fund, controlled by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally and former DNC chairman. McAuliffe had deep links to the Clinton Foundation. Sen. Chuck Grassley probed these connections in 2017, questioning whether McCabe recused himself from Clinton related matters, a recusal the Inspector General later deemed insufficient. The 2018 IG report confirmed McCabe should have stepped aside but found no direct evidence he influenced outcomes. The optics were still viewed as toxic from afar. McCabe’s affiliations with figures like James Comey and Peter Strzok have also drawn criticism, particularly after Strzok’s private texts exposed a group of FBI insiders who appeared to see the agency as a shield against Trump. These ties exemplify how McCabe kept company with the wrong people prioritizing loyalty over ethics. While McCabe remains a media fixture at CNN, his past is resurfacing amid the Department of Justice’s September 2025 indictment of James Comey.

Though no charges have been filed against McCabe directly, the Comey case could reveal more, potentially reigniting calls for his prosecution. Andrew McCabe’s tenure as FBI Deputy Director serves as a cautionary example of the risks of perceived overreach within institutions tasked with the power to protect our democracy. Whether it ends in vindication or further disgrace, the shadow of 2016 has undoubtedly been stirred.