Law prof to McCabe: ‘Don’t worry about pension, worry about prison’

(National Sentinel) Lawyer Up: George Washington University School of Law Professor Jonathan Turley said in a recent interview with CNN‘s Michael Smerconish that fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has more to be concerned about than losing his pension.

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Saying that he sees the FBI official’s termination as “justified,” Turley added that McCabe should be grateful he has not yet been charged with any criminal offenses.

“It was justified in the sense that these were career officials — at the Office of Professional Responsibility — that made this recommendation, which is exceedingly rare,” Turley said.

“In fact, it’s unprecedented for someone in this position. These are not political appointees,” he added. “The OPR, quite frankly, is not viewed as a particularly aggressive office.”

“So, all of that makes this a relatively rare sanction coming from career officers,” Turley explained. “They clearly concluded that McCabe misled them — and that he misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating, not a collateral issue.”

While Democrats and some Republicans have complained, as has McCabe and former Obama officials, that the firing was politically motivated, Turley joins a growing list of legal experts and analysts who are pushing back against that.

He noted that the recommendation to fire McCabe came from DoJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is a career civil servant appointed by President Obama. And he notes that the decision to act on that recommendation was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Turley called apolitical.

He said that Sessions is “insulated like a Sherman Tank from any outside forces,” which made his firing of McCabe even more “substantial.”

The Georgetown law professor and constitutional expert further noted that the controversy will only grow if it isn’t thoroughly investigated into or prosecuted.

“What’s going to create an issue going forward is whether there will be a criminal referral,” Turley continued. “Michael Flynn was indicted for making a false statement to investigators.

“Now, it’s true that they were looking at him for other crimes as well,” he continued. “But there will be some that will argue, ‘Why would you indict Michael Flynn, but a deputy FBI director is just worried about his pension, not prison?’”

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