November 11, 2020
"If you knew then what you know now, would you have signed the warrant application in June 2017 against Carter Page?" Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked McCabe..."No, sir," McCabe said."
McCabe was helping to run a coup, not an investigation. As I heard Trey Gowdy say, (paraphrasing), "That's the wrong question. The right question is, 'why didn't you know? You were at the very top of the FBI, and it was your investigation."
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/russia-mccabe-fbi-senate-gregg-jarrett
Gregg Jarrett: In Russia hoax probe, fired FBI Deputy Director McCabe gives ludicrous defense of misconduct
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McCabe said he was "shocked" by the "significant number of errors and failures related to the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] applications" to spy on Carter Page, a former adviser on candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. His claim was reminiscent of Captain Renault in the film “Casablanca,” who pretended to be "shocked, shocked" at the gambling in Rick's Cafe as he pocketed his winnings.
Like Renault, McCabe was a key participant in corruption, in his case at the FBI. He presided over every decision in the bureau's misbegotten investigation of Trump and his campaign.
As I detailed in my book, “Witch Hunt: The Story of The Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History,” there was never any plausible evidence that someone connected to Trump had colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. There was no credible evidence to justify the FBI's intrusive investigation, which included undercover informants, secret recordings, and illegally obtained surveillance warrants.
In his testimony Tuesday, we learned that McCabe never bothered to speak with ex-British spy Christopher Steele about his unverified and fictitious dossier that was used by McCabe and the FBI to spy on Page. A simple conversation would surely have exposed Steele as a cartoonish Inspector Clouseau.
Before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, McCabe's agents tracked down Steele's main source, Igor Danchenko, who promptly discredited the dossier as nothing more than multiple hearsays and rank speculation, some of which emanated from Danchenko’s drinking buddies.
It was also determined that parts of the dossier were likely Russian disinformation and that the Russia Hoax itself was invented by none other than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to smear Republican candidate Trump with an alleged scandal.
Did McCabe know this? It is inconceivable that he did not. But at Tuesday's hearing, McCabe insisted that he was oblivious to the exculpatory evidence and knew nothing at all about what his own agents had discovered. That's about as likely as me winning the lottery.
Documents prove that McCabe was intimately involved in every facet of the Trump investigation, codenamed "Crossfire Hurricane." Yet, McCabe professed complete ignorance of the pervasive deceit, misfeasance and corruption that contaminated the case. Evidence of Trump's innocence was scrupulously concealed by McCabe's FBI.
Conspicuously, McCabe misstated the law. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI is "not required to use only verified information" when applying for a surveillance warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). This is demonstrably untrue.
According to the FBI's own "Woods Procedures," all factual assertions submitted to the intelligence court must first be independently verified. Any information contradicting those assertions must be presented to the court.
Neither of these requirements were met when McCabe sought the final warrant. In a scathing condemnation of his actions, the Justice Department inspector general cited numerous violations of the "basic obligations of accuracy."’
The Justice Department declared McCabe's warrant was "invalid" and should never have been sought. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was so incensed that it banned FBI officials (such as McCabe) from appearing before it in other cases. It wasn't just a rebuke of the wrong committed by McCabe, it was a public humiliation.
In a moment of uncommon candor on Wednesday, McCabe owned up to his own role in signing off on the final spy warrant presented to the intelligence court.
"If you knew then what you know now, would you have signed the warrant application in June 2017 against Carter Page?" Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked McCabe.
"No, sir," McCabe said.