By Thomas Gallatin

On Thursday, the Justice Department rejected an appeal by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to avoid indictment regarding charges that he lied to the DOJ inspector general. This decision opens the door for U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu to move forward on indictment of the infamous coup co-conspirator.

Recall that McCabe was fired back in March 2018 following the IG’s finding that he had lied about his involvement in leaking to The Wall Street Journal the fact that the FBI was investigating the Clinton Foundation. His rationale for leaking this information was likely an attempt to deflect the charge by then-candidate Donald Trump that McCabe was in the tank for Hillary Clinton because his wife had received significant contributions for her failed state senate run from longtime Clintonista and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

If indicted, McCabe’s defense will be that the only reason for it is because he has long been targeted by Trump, who pressured the DOJ to act. However, as former DOJ prosecutor Andrew McCarthy writes, “According to the IG, McCabe at one point dressed down the FBI’s chiefs in New York and Washington, as if their field offices were responsible for the leak. That is, he knew that he himself was the culprit, yet he tried to shift suspicion and blame to innocent agents. If proved, that is the kind of fact that would not endear McCabe to a jury. It would also make it hard for him to portray himself as a fundamentally honest guy who would never deceive other FBI agents.” In other words, irrespective of Trump’s opinion, the IG found significant grounds to recommend charges.

All that said, as former Rep. Trey Goudy cautioned, an indictment does not equate to guilt. “He’s presumed innocent,” Gowdy said. Everyone is entitled to the same due-process rights of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. This obviously includes McCabe, but it also should serve as an encouragement to all that even those in high positions of government are not above the law. Well, except Hillary Clinton.