Emails Reveal Andrew McCabe Had An Inside Scoop On CNN’s Reporting On The Anti-Trump Dossier

It appears disgraced former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had an “in” with CNN. New emails reveal that McCabe “was keenly aware of CNN’s internal understanding of a secret briefing about the infamous Steele dossier, days before CNN published any stories on the matter.”

Huh. Interesting, that.

Hours before Comey briefed Trump, FBI chief of staff James Rybicki e-mailed staff that Comey “is coming into HQ briefly now for an update from the sensitive matter team.” Just as the same officials dubbed the Clinton e-mail investigation the “mid-year exam” and the anti-Trump counterintelligence investigation “Crossfire Hurricane,” they also used various phrases using “sensitive” to refer obliquely to the dossier.

Two days after the briefing, on January 8, 2017, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who earlier this year was fired and then referred for criminal prosecution by the DOJ inspector general for repeatedly lying about media leaks, wrote an e-mail to top FBI officials with the subject, “Flood is coming.”

“CNN is close to going forward with the sensitive story,” McCabe wrote to Comey, Rybicki, and two others. “The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed in the brief and presented in an attachment.” He did not detail how he came to know what CNN’s “trigger” was for publishing the dossier briefing story.

How did he have the inside scoop on CNN’s information? How did he know what they were up to? It begs the question: Was McCabe CNN’s source? I wouldn’t doubt it.

Although the January 10 story from CNN also claimed that Trump was presented with a two-page summary of the dossier, which was not part of the official intelligence community assessment given to Trump, Comey himself later claimed that he did not give the two-page document to Trump, raising questions about whether McCabe himself was a source for CNN’s assertion that Trump had been given the entire two-page document during the briefing.

Was McCabe a leaker?

Shortly after sending his e-mail to Comey and other FBI officials, McCabe e-mailed then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and her deputy, Matthew Axelrod. McCabe used the subject line “News” in his e-mail to the DOJ officials.

“Just as an FYI, and as expected,” McCabe wrote, “it seems CNN is close to running a story about the sensitive reporting.” It is not clear how McCabe came to be so familiar with CNN’s understanding of the dossier, its briefing, or how close CNN was to reporting on the matter.

We’re dealing with slimy FBI officials here.

NEW FBI EMAILS REVEAL the "Sensitive Matter Team" inside the FBI that dealt with anti-Trump "dossier" and tracked the media's expected reporting on it. https://t.co/CW1XAvPNll

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) May 22, 2018

Newly released e-mails suggest Andrew McCabe discussed the Comey-Trump dossier briefing with CNN days before CNN published its story on the matter. https://t.co/WZULfhtAyR

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 22, 2018

This is a big deal!

BREAKING: E-mails Show FBI Brass Discussed Dossier Details With CNN https://t.co/8yh7EYkPHa

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 22, 2018

Soak it in. What do you think? Does McCabe strike you as a leaker?

I wouldn’t be surprised in the least.

h/t The Federalist