Inspector General report on fired McCabe claims he “lacked candor”

The long-anticipated Department of Justice Inspector General report critical of fired FBI Director Andrew McCabe is expected to be released Friday afternoon. It claims that McCabe “lacked candor” on multiple occasions in conversations with federal investigators, according to a copy of the report obtained by CBS News.

McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month, at the recommendation of FBI officials, ahead of the expected report. The inspector general began its work on the report more than a year ago, and the report has long been anticipated in Washington.

The inspector general’s report claims that McCabe misled investigators about the FBI’s contacts with the media. 

McCabe has called his dismissal part of the “war” on the FBI, and wrote a lengthy op-ed in The Washington Post immediately after his dismissal.

In a Friday statement, McCabe’s attorney Michael Bromwich disputed the inspector general’s findings, saying that the rush to fire McCabe was “unprecedented, unseemly, and cruel.”

“The core weakness of the OIG report is the lack of any understandable motive for his alleged wrongdoing,” said the statement in part.

“It is undisputed that Mr. McCabe was one of three senior FBI officials authorized to share information with the media, including on sensitive investigative matters. He chose to exercise that authority in October 2016, during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the Bureau, with the knowledge of Director Comey and other senior members of FBI management. His purpose was to protect the institutional reputation of the FBI against false claims, including that a sensitive investigation was being shut down for political reasons.” 

Mr. Trump is now lashing out at fired FBI Director James Comey, who is releasing a new book on his time at the FBI. Comey accuses the president of being “untethered to truth,” and describes in detail his interactions with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump responded to Comey’s book for the first time Friday, calling him a “LEAKER & LIAR” and saying he “should be prosecuted.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.