May 11, 2017 - Politics & Policy
A look at Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe made headlines this morning during his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding the state of the Russia investigation and James Comey's termination.
A steady hand: McCabe's testimony jived precisely with his comments in a Los Angeles Times profile last year, shortly after becoming FBI Deputy Director:
My focus is on the stuff we have done for 100 years and do every day that people never hear about.
His backstory
- He decided during a law school internship at the Department of Justice that a career as an FBI agent sounded like a "cool job."
- Commonly described as "clean cut," during an interview with the LA Times, his "only bit of flash" was his FBI badge cuff links.
- His former supervisor called him "very good with people" and a person who "wants to make sure everything is done by the book."
His focus
- "My focus is on the inside [of the FBI] and all the work we do that is not talked about in the newspaper, on CNN, on the Hill."
- Last year, McCabe said his primary concern was the "broadening and intensity of the terrorism threat," specifically the scope of its online presence.
- In 2009, he headed the FBI's High-Value Interrogation Group, charged with successfully interrogating key suspects using legal methods after President Obama prohibited the use of controversial interrogation tactics.
Some controversy
- His wife ran for a Virginia State Senate seat in 2015, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from Democratic operatives, including Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's PAC — some Republicans said this should have forced his recusal from the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
